The commander of the 1st Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel Alexander Ilich Lizyukov (1900-1942) talks with Soviet tankmen.
Alexander Lizyukov took command of the 1st Moscow Motorized Rifle Division in August 1941. The division held defense along the Vopi River northeast of the town of Yartsevo. In early September 1941, the division pushed the Germans off the east bank of the river, crossed it and became entrenched on the bridgehead. The division held a foothold throughout September and chained to itself significant enemy forces. For these heroic actions on was transformed into the 1st Guards Motorized Rifle Division.
A.I. Lizyukov, already in the rank of Major-General and commanding the 5th Tank Army, died in battle on July 23, 1942.
Location: USSR
Date: 1941
Author: Dmitry Chernov