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Fedor Semenovich Cherkasov (1922–1942 years): The Artilleryman's Combat Path
Authors: Aleksandr A. Cherkasov
Number of views: 4
The paper attempts to consider the combat path of the artilleryman Fedor Semenovich Cherkasov (1922–1942) during the Second World War. The work is based on archival documents from the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense (Podolsk, Russian Federation), most of which are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.
In conclusion, the author notes that Fedor Semenovich Cherkasov, who was called up for active military service in 1940, enters the 42nd Howitzer Artillery Regiment of the 42nd Tank Division as an artilleryman. By June 22, 1941, the division was stationed in the Pskov region, from there, at the beginning of the war, it was transferred to Latvia, but in early July it retreated to the Pskov region with battles. In August, Fedor Cherkasov participated in bloody battles during a counterattack near Staraya Russa in the Novgorod region. After these battles, the division in which he served was disbanded and reorganized into the 42nd Tank Brigade. The formation of the brigade took place in the Moscow region, after which the brigade was thrown to the Bryansk front near the city of Sevsk. Here, in October 1941, the brigade was surrounded, lost all tanks and artillery, but still escaped. On November 1, the brigade was disbanded, and Fedor Semenovich Cherkasov was sent to the 6th Infantry Division, where he continued his service as part of the calculation of a 45 mm artillery piece. Here the division participated in the defense of the city of Efremov in the Tula region, and from December 6, 1941 – in the strategic operation “Battle for Moscow”. On January 11, 1942, during the offensive of Soviet troops on unnamed heights, under unclear circumstances, Fedor Semenovich Cherkasov would be captured. In captivity, he refused to give the number of his unit, he was transferred to a prisoner of war camp near Kaunas in Lithuania, where he died on May 21, 1942 during an epidemic outbreak.