To avenge her dead husband, she bought a tank. And she went on it to take revenge on the Nazis.
Before the war
Maria Vasilievna Oktyabrskaya was an exemplary wife of an officer. Having married cavalry school cadet Ilya Ryadnenko in 1925, Masha, née Garagulya, agreed with her husband’s opinion that now, since a new Soviet family had arisen, everything should be new, including the surname. And the young couple took the surname Oktyabrsky. Born into a large peasant family, Maria was a good housewife and a skilled craftswoman in everything related to women's handicrafts. She ran the house exemplarily, cooked well and always looked great. Moving with her officer husband from garrison to garrison, Maria invariably became a trendsetter among other officers' wives; they learned from her to dress tastefully and behave with dignity. At the same time, Maria was by no means a “muslin young lady” - she learned to shoot a machine gun, drive a car, took courses medical care. When the war began, Maria and her husband lived in Chisinau. Ilya Oktyabrsky then served in the 134th howitzer artillery regiment.
In evacuation
The day after the start of the war, Maria Oktyabrskaya, along with other members of the officers’ families, was evacuated to Tomsk. Here she remembered her pre-war profession, starting to work as a telephone operator. In August 1941, Maria Vasilievna received a “funeral certificate” for her husband. Regimental Commissar Oktyabrsky himself led the soldiers into the attack, and was hit by machine-gun fire. Maria immediately rushed to the military registration and enlistment office with a request to send her to the front. She knows how to shoot, she took a medical instructor course, she can handle it! However, all requests were refused. Maria suffered a serious illness - tuberculosis cervical vertebra, and she is not very young for the front, she is already 36 years old. And then Maria Oktyabrskaya decides to buy a tank. There was nothing incredible in such a plan; at that time, funds were being raised throughout the country for military equipment and weapons. However, the tank is very expensive! Even if she sold everything she had, the woman would hardly be able to save enough for a combat vehicle. This is where the skills of a skilled embroiderer came in handy. Arriving home from duty at the telephone exchange, Maria sits down at the hoop and embroiders napkins, tablecloths, and towels. All this beauty is going down the drain, and more and more orders are coming in. And so - month after month. The required amount - 50 thousand rubles - was collected and sent to the State Bank by the spring of 1943.
Telegram to the Kremlin
Having collected the money, Maria takes a desperate step; she sends a telegram to Stalin. This is what it said: “Dear Joseph Vissarionovich! My husband, regimental commissar Ilya Fedotovich Oktyabrsky, died in the battles for the Motherland. For his death, for the death of all Soviet people tortured by fascist barbarians, I want to take revenge on the fascist dogs, for which I deposited all my personal savings - 50,000 rubles - into the state bank to build a tank. Please name the tank " Fighting girlfriend"and send me to the front as the driver of this tank. I have a specialty as a driver, I have excellent command of a machine gun, and I am a Voroshilov marksman. I send you warm greetings and wish you long health, long years for the fear of enemies and for the glory of our Motherland. Oktyabrskaya Maria Vasilievna.” And very soon the answer came: “Comrade. Oktyabrskaya Maria Vasilievna. Thank you, Maria Vasilievna, for your concern for the armored forces of the Red Army. Your wish will be fulfilled. Please accept my regards. I. Stalin."
The crew of "Fighting Girlfriend"
In the fall of 1943 in Belarus, as part of the 2nd battalion of the 26th Guards tank brigade A tank appeared on the turret of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps with the inscription “Battle Friend” on it. The crew of the "thirty-four" consisted of the commander - Lieutenant Pyotr Chebotko, Sergeant Gennady Yasko, gunner-radio operator Mikhail Galkin and driver-mechanic Sergeant Maria Oktyabrskaya. The fighters, of course, were simply dumbfounded when they saw a woman in the crew of the combat vehicle. Soon her story spread throughout the entire tank corps. And, I must say, none of the tankers would ever say that Maria is here simply because of “female whim.” Having graduated with honors from the Omsk Tank School, she fought no worse than the most seasoned fighters, in a difficult combat situation she was not lost or afraid, driving a tank with the same virtuoso skill with which she had previously handled a needle. For example, in the battle for the village of Novoe Selo, the “Battle Friend” tank destroyed a cannon and 50 German soldiers and officers. The car was hit and could not leave the battlefield. The crew did not leave the tank and for two days they fired at the Germans with fire from onboard and personal weapons until their own people came to the rescue. The tank had to be towed for repairs, and Maria was slightly wounded in that battle. But she did not leave the front and continued to fight.
Last Stand
In January, near Vitebsk, where heavy fighting took place, in one of the battles near the Krynki railway station, the mechanic-driver of the “Fighting Girlfriend” tank crushed 2 machine-gun emplacements and two dozen enemy soldiers and officers with her combat vehicle. The tank's track was damaged by a shell. The driver-mechanic Oktyabrskaya began repairs under enemy fire. And she received a serious wound to the head. Doctors at the hospital in Smolensk, where the woman was taken, did everything they could to save her, but the wound turned out to be too severe: the shrapnel reached the hemisphere of the brain.
Letter from "sons"
Maria Oktyabrskaya had no children, it just so happened. However, all the young tankers, her colleagues, called her mom. This is the letter Maria Oktyabrskaya received from her betrothed sons when she was in the hospital: “Hello, our mother Maria Vasilievna! We wish you a speedy recovery. We deeply believe that our “Fighting Friend” will reach Berlin. For your injury, we will mercilessly take revenge on the enemy. In an hour we leave for battle. Hugs to you all. Our “Fighting Friend” sends greetings to you. This letter was delivered to her by Major Topok. He became the last visitor whom the doctors allowed to see the wounded woman. After this, her condition began to deteriorate. She was unconscious almost all the time, and on March 15, 1944, she passed away.
Memory
On August 2, 1944, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Guard Sergeant Maria Vasilievna Oktyabrskaya was awarded the title of Hero for courage and heroism shown in battles Soviet Union(posthumously). The tank purchased by Maria Vasilyevna was destroyed by the Germans in one of the battles. However, young tankers, in memory of their deceased mother, wrote the words “Battle Friend” on the turret of one of the new tanks. After the battles for Minsk, this tank was written off. But a proud inscription appeared on the turret of the next tank, and after this tank was knocked out, on the turret of another one, and “Battle Friend” continued to fight the Germans all the way to Koenigsberg, where she ended the war.
In April 1945, when the last salvos of the operation to capture Koenigsberg died down, Soviet soldiers, taking a break from the fighting, looked with surprise at one of the T-34 tanks that took part in the assault.
A tank is like a tank, only on its turret there was not the most ordinary inscription - “Battle Friend”. Some grinned, amazed at the prowess of the tankers, and those who were older shook their heads disapprovingly - now was not the time for such bravado.
But almost no one knew that this inscription is a memory of a woman who did not live to see the Victory, but gave everything for it, including her own life.
Officer's Wife
Masha Garagulya born in 1905 in Crimea, in big family Ukrainian peasants. She spent her childhood in Sevastopol and Dzhankoy, and graduated from school in Simferopol. After graduation, she went to work at a cannery, then mastered the specialty of a telephone operator.
In Simferopol, Maria met cadet of the cavalry school Ilya Ryadnenko, and in 1925 the romance ended with a wedding. The newlyweds decided that their new family should receive a new surname. So the couple became Oktyabrsky.
After Ilya graduated from college, Maria became the classic wife of an officer. Moving from place to place, not the most settled life - none of this frightened her, she was happy next to her loved one. In the military garrisons, Maria did not waste time, mastered the craft of driving, took medical courses, and learned to shoot a machine gun.
At the same time, she remained feminine, among the wives of the command staff she was famous for the most refined taste in clothes, in the Oktyabrsky apartment there was always a reign of perfect order. And Maria Oktyabrskaya was also known as great master handicrafts.
In 1940, the 134th howitzer artillery regiment, in which Ilya Oktyabrsky served, was transferred to Chisinau. Maria, as usual, followed her husband. They met in Chisinau on June 22, 1941.
Maria and Ilya Oktyabrsky. Photo: Frame youtube.com
“Your husband died a heroic death”
The next day, family members of the command staff were sent for evacuation. It took a long time to travel to the east, and only in August they were finally placed in Tomsk. Here Maria again began working as a telephone operator.
She was still getting used to the new place, listening with alarm to reports from the front, when one day at the end of August they brought her that very official letter that all women were afraid of - the “funeral”: “Your husband, regimental commissar Ilya Fedotovich Oktyabrsky, died a heroic death 9 August 1941 in one of the battles in Ukraine.”
In his last battle, regimental commissar Oktyabrsky personally led the fighters in a counterattack until he was hit by machine-gun fire.
Maria lived by inertia for some time. Her husband was everything to her, they had no children - why is she in this world now?
Maria turns to the military registration and enlistment office with a request to send her to the active army, but is refused - she is already 36 years old, she suffered from tuberculosis of the cervical vertebra. The woman makes several more attempts, but to no avail.
Telegram to Stalin
The country was collecting Money for the defense of the country - for the construction of aircraft, tanks, armored vehicles. Maria decides that she will also start collecting money to buy a tank herself. But all the things she has are not enough to gain the required amount.
And then she remembered about needlework. Her skillful embroidery was popular everywhere. Maria begins making napkins, scarves, tablecloths, and pillowcases for sale. Despite the war, her products sell with a bang in Tomsk. All free time From her work as a telephone operator she devotes herself to embroidery. This continues day after day, week after week, month after month.
Finally, by the spring of 1943, 50 thousand rubles were collected and transferred to the State Bank. After this, on March 3, Maria Oktyabrskaya sent a telegram to... the Kremlin:
"To the Chairman State Committee defense Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
Dear Joseph Vissarionovich!
My husband, regimental commissar Ilya Fedotovich Oktyabrsky, died in the battles for the Motherland. For his death, for the death of all Soviet people tortured by fascist barbarians, I want to take revenge on the fascist dogs, for which I deposited all my personal savings - 50,000 rubles - into the state bank to build a tank. I ask you to name the tank “Battle Friend” and send me to the front as the driver of this tank. I have a specialty as a driver, I have excellent command of a machine gun, and I am a Voroshilov marksman.
I send you warm greetings and wish you good health for many, many years to come, to the fear of your enemies and to the glory of our Motherland.
Oktyabrskaya Maria Vasilievna.”
Few people believed in the answer, except Mary, but he came:
"Comrade Oktyabrskaya Maria Vasilievna
Thank you, Maria Vasilievna, for your concern for the armored forces of the Red Army.
Your wish will be fulfilled.
Please accept my regards.
I. Stalin."
Crew
On May 3, 1943, Maria Oktyabrskaya was enrolled in the Omsk Tank School and became the country's first female tank driver.
She studied with excellent marks, and by the fall of 1943 she was released from school with the rank of sergeant. Maria was included in the crew junior lieutenant Peter Chebotko, which also included Sergeant Gennady Yasko And gunner-radio operator Mikhail Galkin. On the turret of the new “thirty-four”, “Battle Friend” was painted in white on both sides.
Tank T-34 “Battle Friend”. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
The crew was included in the 2nd battalion of the 26th Guards Tank Brigade of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps. When the “Fighting Friend” first arrived at the front, soldiers and officers were initially dumbfounded when they saw a woman in the driver’s seat.
Of course, they knew about her story, and no one would dare to say that she was out of place. But they still doubted whether she could bear the burden that she had taken upon herself.
But from the very first battle, doubts were dispelled - under enemy fire, Sergeant Oktyabrskaya skillfully controlled the “Battle Friend”, without faltering or getting lost.
In the battles for the village of Novoye Selo, in the Vitebsk region, the “Battle Friend” tank broke into the ranks of the enemy’s defense, destroyed a cannon and about 50 German soldiers and officers. The Thirty-Four was hit and rolled into a small ravine, where enemy guns could not reach it. It was not possible to tow the tank from the battlefield, but the crew decided not to abandon the vehicle. For another two days, the tankers fought off the Germans’ attempts to finish off the “Fighting Girlfriend” with fire from on-board and personal weapons, until she was finally able to be taken out for repairs. In that battle, Maria was slightly wounded, but remained with her comrades.
The battalion commander set the crew of the “Fighting Girlfriend” as an example to others.
Maria Oktyabrskaya. Photo: Frame youtube.com
Last Stand
Guard Sergeant Oktyabrskaya continued to beat the Nazis. In January 1944, her battalion fought heavy battles near Vitebsk, in the area of the railway station and the Krynki state farm. In the battle on January 18, driver Oktyabrskaya crushed 3 machine-gun emplacements and up to 20 enemy soldiers and officers with her tank. At the height of the battle, the tank's track was broken.
Despite enemy fire, the driver began repairs. At that moment, a mine exploded not far from her.
Maria was seriously wounded in the eye area. She was taken from the battlefield and evacuated to the rear.
The wounded woman was taken to a hospital located in Smolensk. Experienced surgeons shook their heads sadly - a fragment, having pierced the eye, touched the cerebral hemisphere. They did everything in their power, but the life of Maria Oktyabrskaya hung in the balance.
Visited her member of the military council Western Front Lev Mehlis. Having learned from the doctors about the patient’s condition, he ordered her to be prepared for transportation to Moscow, where it was planned to use the best surgeons in the country to save her.
But the woman’s condition precluded transportation. She became more and more oblivious and had blackouts.
Letter to "Mom"
Her colleagues, young tank crews, called her “mom.” He came to her from the regiment Major Topok, who brought a letter from his “sons”: “Hello, our mother Maria Vasilievna! We wish you a speedy recovery. We deeply believe that our “Fighting Friend” will reach Berlin. For your injury, we will mercilessly take revenge on the enemy. In an hour we leave for battle. Hugs to you all. Our “Fighting Friend” sends greetings to you.
Insignia of a sniper-tanker of the 68th Guards Tank Regiment "Baidovsky Shooter" ( Chest sign). On the tank turret (in the center) there is an inscription: “Front-line girlfriend” Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Major Topok became the last visitor whom the doctors allowed to see Maria. Then her condition no longer allowed anyone to visit her; she was unconscious almost all the time.
Harsh and strong men those who knew her story clenched their fists and, like a spell, like a prayer, repeated: “Survive, well, please survive!”
The doctors fulfilled their duty to the end, but could not perform a miracle. At dawn on March 15, 1944, Maria Oktyabrskaya passed away.
She was buried with military honors on the banks of the Dnieper, next to the heroes who fell during the defense of Smolensk during Patriotic War 1812.
The name that reached Victory
Commander of the 26th Guards Tank Brigade Stepan Nesterov signed the award sheet, which stated: “During the period of combat operations and during the formation of the brigade, Comrade. Oktyabrskaya treated the combat vehicle with love and care. Her tank had no forced stops or breakdowns. Comrade Oktyabrskaya on the tank she purchased for cash took revenge on the Nazis for the death of her husband. Comrade Oktyabrskaya is a brave, fearless warrior.” Colonel Nesterov signed this presentation for the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, when Maria was still alive.
On August 2, 1944, by a Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Guard Sergeant Maria Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously) for the courage and heroism shown in battles.
Brigade commander Nesterov repeated the fate of his subordinate. On October 20, 1944, he died on the outskirts of the city of Stallupönen in East Prussia. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 19, 1945, for the courage and heroism shown in the fight against the Nazi invaders, Guard Colonel Stepan Kuzmich Nesterov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The tank purchased by Maria Oktyabrskaya was destroyed by the Germans in one of the battles. And then the young tankers, in memory of their deceased “mother,” wrote “Battle Friend” on one of the new vehicles. This tank was decommissioned after the battles for Minsk, but the tankers called another one that replaced it “Battle Friend”. The third car died near the Prussian city of Gumbinen. The fourth tank, named “Battle Friend,” reached Konigsberg, where it ended the war.
Streets in Dzhankoy and Smolensk are named after Maria Oktyabrskaya. And at the place where she received her last Stand, a monument was erected on which it is written: “Here in January 1944, the glorious Soviet patriot, Hero of the Soviet Union, tanker Maria Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya fearlessly crushed the enemy on the “Battle Friend” tank and died a heroic death in battles with the Nazi invaders.”
To avenge her dead husband, she bought a tank. And she went on it to take revenge on the Nazis.
Before the war
Maria Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya was an exemplary wife of an officer. Having married cavalry school cadet Ilya Ryadnenko in 1925, Masha, née Garagulya, agreed with her husband’s opinion that now, since a new Soviet family had arisen, everything should be new, including the surname. And the young couple took the surname Oktyabrsky.
Born into a large peasant family, Maria was a good housewife and a skilled craftswoman in everything related to women's handicrafts. She ran the house exemplarily, cooked beautifully and always looked great. Moving with her officer husband from garrison to garrison, Maria invariably became a trendsetter among other officers' wives; they learned from her to dress tastefully and behave with dignity.
At the same time, Maria was by no means a “muslin young lady” - she learned to shoot a machine gun, drive a car, and took medical assistance courses.
When the war began, Maria and her husband lived in Chisinau. Ilya Oktyabrsky then served in the 134th howitzer artillery regiment.
In evacuation
The day after the start of the war, Maria Oktyabrskaya, along with other members of the officers’ families, was evacuated to Tomsk. Here she remembered her pre-war profession, starting to work as a telephone operator.
In August 1941, Maria Vasilievna received a “funeral certificate” for her husband. Regimental Commissar Oktyabrsky himself led the soldiers into the attack, and was hit by machine-gun fire.
Maria immediately rushed to the military registration and enlistment office with a request to send her to the front. She knows how to shoot, she took a medical instructor course, she can handle it! However, all requests were refused. Maria suffered a serious illness - tuberculosis of the cervical vertebra, and she is not very young for the front, she is already 36 years old.
And then Maria Oktyabrskaya decides to buy a tank. There was nothing incredible in such a plan; at that time, funds were being raised throughout the country for military equipment and weapons. However, the tank is very expensive! Even if she sold everything she had, the woman would hardly be able to save enough for a combat vehicle. This is where the skills of a skilled embroiderer come in handy. Arriving home from duty at the telephone exchange, Maria sits down at the hoop and embroiders napkins, tablecloths, and towels. All this beauty is going down the drain, and more and more orders are coming in. And so - month after month. The required amount - 50 thousand rubles - was collected and sent to the State Bank by the spring of 1943.
Telegram to the Kremlin
Having collected the money, Maria takes a desperate step; she sends a telegram to Stalin. This is what it said: “ Dear Joseph Vissarionovich! My husband, regimental commissar Oktyabrsky Ilya Fedotovich, died in the battles for the Motherland. For his death, for the death of all Soviet people tortured by fascist barbarians, I want to take revenge on the fascist dogs, for which I deposited all my personal savings - 50,000 rubles - into the state bank to build a tank. I ask you to name the tank “Battle Friend” and send me to the front as the driver of this tank. I have a specialty as a driver, I have excellent command of a machine gun, and I am a Voroshilov marksman. I send you warm greetings and wish you good health for many, many years to come, to the fear of your enemies and to the glory of our Motherland. Oktyabrskaya Maria Vasilievna.”
And very soon the answer came: “Comrade. Oktyabrskaya Maria Vasilievna. Thank you, Maria Vasilievna, for your concern for the armored forces of the Red Army. Your wish will be fulfilled. Please accept my regards. I. Stalin."
The crew of "Fighting Girlfriend"
In the fall of 1943, in Belarus, as part of the 2nd battalion of the 26th Guards Tank Brigade of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps, a tank appeared with the inscription “Battle Friend” on the turret. The crew of the "thirty-four" consisted of the commander - Lieutenant Pyotr Chebotko, Sergeant Gennady Yasko, gunner-radio operator Mikhail Galkin and driver-mechanic Sergeant Maria Oktyabrskaya.
The fighters, of course, were simply dumbfounded when they saw a woman in the crew of the combat vehicle. Soon her story spread throughout the entire tank corps. And, I must say, none of the tankers would ever say that Maria is here simply because of “female whim.” Having graduated with honors from the Omsk Tank School, she fought no worse than the most seasoned fighters, in a difficult combat situation she was not lost or afraid, driving a tank with the same virtuoso skill with which she had previously handled a needle. For example, in the battle for the village of Novoe Selo, the “Battle Friend” tank destroyed a cannon and 50 German soldiers and officers. The car was hit and could not leave the battlefield. The crew did not leave the tank and for two days they fired at the Germans with fire from onboard and personal weapons until their own people came to the rescue. The tank had to be towed for repairs, and Maria was slightly wounded in that battle. But she did not leave the front and continued to fight.
Last Stand
In January, near Vitebsk, where heavy fighting took place, in one of the battles near the Krynki railway station, the mechanic-driver of the “Fighting Girlfriend” tank crushed 2 machine-gun emplacements and two dozen enemy soldiers and officers with her combat vehicle. The tank's track was damaged by a shell. The driver-mechanic Oktyabrskaya began repairs under enemy fire. And she received a serious wound to the head.
Doctors at the hospital in Smolensk, where the woman was taken, did everything they could to save her, but the wound turned out to be too severe: the shrapnel reached the hemisphere of the brain.
Letter from "sons"
Maria Oktyabrskaya had no children, it just so happened. However, all the young tankers, her colleagues, called her mom. This is the letter Maria Oktyabrskaya received from her betrothed sons when she was in the hospital: “Hello, our mother Maria Vasilievna! We wish you a speedy recovery. We deeply believe that our “Fighting Friend” will reach Berlin. For your injury, we will mercilessly take revenge on the enemy. In an hour we leave for battle. Hugs to you all. Our “Fighting Friend” sends greetings to you. This letter was delivered to her by Major Topok. He became the last visitor whom the doctors allowed to see the wounded woman.
After this, her condition began to deteriorate. She was unconscious almost all the time, and on March 15, 1944, she passed away.
Memory
On August 2, 1944, by a Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Guard Sergeant Maria Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously) for the courage and heroism shown in battles.
The tank purchased by Maria Vasilyevna was destroyed by the Germans in one of the battles. However, young tankers, in memory of their deceased mother, wrote the words “Battle Friend” on the turret of one of the new tanks. After the battles for Minsk, this tank was written off. But a proud inscription appeared on the turret of the next tank, and after this tank was knocked out, on the turret of another one, and “Battle Friend” continued to fight the Germans all the way to Koenigsberg, where she ended the war.
“Russian Planet” remembers a resident of Tomsk who bought a tank for the front and became the first woman tank driver
Danish director Gert Friborg visited Tomsk, where he shot some scenes for his short film “Fighting Friend” - a biographical film about the life of Maria Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya. Most of the material was prepared in the director’s homeland, but it was decided to film some scenes in a city that is closely intertwined with fate main character. The story of an extraordinary woman awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, in the material of “Russian Planet”.
Daughter of exiles, Komsomol member and wife of a commissar
Maria Garagulya was born in the Tauride province (Crimea) on August 16, 1905* in the village of Kiyat, now renamed the village of Blizhnoe. She grew up in a family of peasants who, after dispossession in 1930, were exiled to the Urals. Elementary education, six classes, Maria received in the city of Dzhankoy in the south of Crimea, where she moved in 1921. From there, four years later, she moved to Sevastopol. There she managed to work at a cannery, then was a telephone operator at a local telephone exchange.
In Sevastopol, Maria met her future husband, cadet Ilya Ryadnenko, whom she married in 1925. During the wedding, she both changed their last name, becoming Oktyabrsky. After graduating from college, Ilya Oktyabrsky was sent from one city to another, and Maria followed him.
According to Galina Bitko, who heads the cultural and educational department of the Tomsk Regional Museum of Local Lore, few personal belongings that belonged to Maria Oktyabrskaya have survived to this day. Memories, notes and memoirs of fellow soldiers and contemporaries have been preserved. They all speak with equal warmth about Maria Vasilievna’s pre-war life.
“Cheerful, cheerful, friendly and beautifully dressed, she always attracted people to her. Organized an embroidery class for the wives of commanders. She herself is a real needlewoman, - this is how Irina Levchenko, a participant in the Great Patriotic War, spoke about the woman. - Thanks to the care of Maria Vasilievna, the soldiers’ barracks became cozy, home view. They featured curtains on the windows and doors, embroidered with crosses and satin stitch, and napkins on the bedside tables. And flowers, even if not in vases - in jars, but still alive.”
To all questions about how she manages everything, Maria proudly answered: “The commissioner’s wife should set an example in everything!” She was constantly elected to the women's councils of units and garrisons, to which Maria came after her husband. She was an active participant and organizer of defense and cultural events among families of officers, as well as in amateur performances.
After completing the medical service course, she studied marksmanship and completed a driver's course. It is also known that out of 50 shots from a rifle, she hit 48 targets, threw a grenade well, put a shot and threw a discus. Ilya Oktyabrsky was proud of his beloved wife.
In 1941, fate separated them. A day after the start of the war, Maria, along with other members of the officers’ families, was evacuated to Tomsk, where she was able to arrive only in August. In her new place, she immediately began working at a local construction site, and then at the Leningrad Technical School of Anti-Aircraft Artillery, which was also evacuated to Tomsk. At the end of the summer, she learned of her husband's death. Ilya Oktyabrsky died on August 9 near Kyiv.
Buying a tank and a letter to the leader
Maria Oktyabrskaya went to Novosibirsk to meet with the wives of officers who died in the war. After this, she decided to join the Red Army. By that time she was almost 40 years old, and therefore she received refusal letters asking her to send her to the front.
Tuberculosis of the cervical vertebra, which Maria Vasilievna once suffered from, also prevented her from getting back into action.
Then the widow of Commissar Oktyabrsky began saving money for a tank. To begin with, with the help of her sister, she sold all the property that she had managed to accumulate by that time. After that I took up embroidery because necessary funds It was not possible to receive any belongings from the sale. When the entire amount - 50 thousand rubles - was in hand, she took the money to the State Bank. And she wrote a telegram to Joseph Stalin, which was published in March 1943 by the Red Banner newspaper. In her appeal to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Maria asked to build a tank with her personal savings, and to send her with him to the front as a driver. The same newspaper published the response of the Leader of the Nations:
“Thank you, Maria Vasilievna, for your concern for the armored forces of the Red Army. Your wish will be fulfilled. Please accept my greetings, I. Stalin.”
As the mechanic Oktyabrskaya requested, the tank was named “Battle Girlfriend”. While it was being assembled, Maria was sent for training to Omsk, where she was supposed to learn driving. As Galina Bitko notes, she passed all exams with excellent marks. After that, I went to the Urals and received the car straight from the assembly line.
Tank T-34 “Fighting Girlfriend” at the moment of its transfer to the crew by the team of the Sverdlovsk bread and pasta plant, winter 1943. Photo: tankfront.ru
After this, Maria Oktyabrskaya was sent to the Western Front, near Smolensk. There she, along with the tank, joined the 26th Elninsky Guards Tank Brigade. In mid-September 1943, the “Battle Friend” tank arrived at the Tatsinsky Corps. The crew of the tank is also known: commander - junior lieutenant Pyotr Chebotko, gunner - Gennady Yasko, radio operator - Mikhail Galkin, driver - Maria Oktyabrskaya. Moreover, all crew members are front-line soldiers, awarded with orders and medals. According to a museum employee, the crew of the tank called the mechanic only “Mama Vasilyevna,” to which she always answered them “sons.”
Death of the "Fighting Friend"
It is well known about the two battles of the crew members of the “Fighting Girlfriend” and Maria Oktyabrskaya. One of the combat missions in November 1943 was the need to cut the railway line near the settlement of Novoye Selo in the Sennensky district of the Vitebsk region of the Republic of Belarus. The task was complicated by the accumulation of enemy troops, whose detachments had to be defeated in order to complete the task. Oktyabrskaya, who at that time had already become a guard sergeant, together with her tank was among the first to arrive at the German positions.
For three days, the seriously wounded Maria repaired her “Battle Friend,” which had been knocked out during the battle. Before breaking down, the tank managed to destroy more than 50 German soldiers and officers, and also knock out an enemy cannon. After Oktyabrskaya was able to repair the tank, the entire crew returned to the unit’s location. For this battle, the woman received the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.
The second famous battle in the biography of the war heroine took place near the Krynka station in the Vitebsk region. In mid-January 1944, a tank attack on the railway station began. Among the attackers was the “Battle Friend”, which crushed several anti-tank guns located in locality. During the battle, an enemy shell hit the “sloth” of the tank - one of the guide wheels of the combat vehicle. Due to the damage, the equipment stopped working, and Maria, despite the fierce shooting, went outside for repairs.
When almost everything was ready, a mine exploded not far from Maria Oktyabrskaya. Several shrapnel wounded her in the head. Nevertheless, she was able to get the tank moving this time too. After she returned to the unit, the first operation was performed at the field hospital, during which it became clear that more serious surgical intervention was necessary.
Death and memory
During Maria Oktyabrskaya's stay in the hospital, she was awarded an order for the battle near Novy Selo. During the presentation, the entire cast of “Fighting Girlfriend” was present. Then, on February 16, the driver was transported by plane to Smolensk. She spent almost a month in the hospital, but the doctors could not help her, and on March 15, 1944, Maria Oktyabrskaya died. In early August of the same year, by decree of Joseph Stalin, she was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
As a result, the tank crew replaced three vehicles that were damaged and burned during the war. On the fourth car they managed to end the war, reaching Konigsberg. As a sign of respect and memory of Maria Oktyabrskaya, on each new tank received to replace the burned one, the crew displayed the name of the very first tank - “Battle Friend”.
Tomsk residents honor the memory of the heroine. So, for example, on the wall of the building of the electric lamp plant there is a memorial plaque with the following text: “On this place stood the house in which Maria Oktyabrskaya, Hero of the Soviet Union, sergeant, driver-mechanic of the “Fighting Girlfriend” tank, lived in 1941–1943, built with her personal savings. She died in battles for her homeland in 1944.” In addition, a monument was erected to her near gymnasium No. 24. Contrary to some opinions, Tomsk Oktyabrskaya Street has nothing to do with the heroine. But one of the streets of Smolensk is named in honor of Maria.
* Date of birth is indicated according to award documents. Some sources indicate the date of birth as July 21, 1902.
“My dear friends! I am proud that I will fight a hated enemy as part of a renowned military unit. I know what his soldier should be like. The German border is not that close yet, but we will get there. We will reach the lair of the beast and forever discourage the desire to fight against our country. I swear to you that the crew of the “Battle Friend” tank will not leave you behind. I will defeat the fascists as long as my heart beats,” with these words, upon arriving at the front, Maria Oktyabrskaya, the only woman Hero of the Soviet Union who fought in armored units, addressed her comrades.
She is one of those fighters who led, inspired with her exploits, who gave everything she had for the good of the Motherland. Among her awards are the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree (1944), the Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union (August 2, 1944, posthumously), and the Order of Lenin (August 2, 1944, posthumously).
Maria Vasilievna Oktyabrskaya(nee Garagulya) was born on August 16, 1902 in the village of Kiyat, near the Dzhankoy station in the Crimean region into a large peasant family.
The family had so much trouble that they did not manage to send Maria to school on time. To give his daughter at least some education, the father took Maria to Dzhankoy to visit relatives. Due to the fact that the school was reluctant to accept children who entered first grade later than the required age, Maria’s age was “reduced” by three years - therefore, some documents indicate a different date of her birth - 1905.
In 1919, Maria's mother died and she, having completed only six classes, had to return home to help her father run the household. Two years later, Maria went to Simferopol to work at a cannery, where she completed courses for telephone operators and went to work at the Simferopol telephone exchange.
Soon the girl met Ilya Fedotovich Ryadnenko, a participant Civil War, a cadet at a cavalry school. On December 22, 1925, they got married and took the surname Oktyabrsky.
Maria took the role of the Red commander’s wife very responsibly and formulated a credo:
“You married a warrior and you serve in the army; The commander’s wife is a proud and binding title.”
So that her husband could be proud of her, the woman learned to drive a car, shoot a rifle, a machine gun, throw grenades, and completed nursing courses.
Maria devoted herself not only to “soldier’s” men’s affairs - she also sang beautifully, performed for soldiers in Red Army amateur groups, and was a jack of all trades. She was especially good at artistic embroidery. Subsequently, it was this talent that played a fateful role in Oktyabrskaya’s life. With her wonderful napkins, Maria Vasilievna decorated the austere soldiers’ barracks. The needlewoman was especially fond of flowers - she not only embroidered them everywhere, but also brought bouquets of wild flowers from the forest. Her embroidery with Crimean roses on cream silk is kept in the Museum of the Armed Forces.
In the 1930s, Maria and her husband traveled all over the country - from one military garrison to another, where their difficult military fate threw them. Ilya Oktyabrsky, commissar of the 134th howitzer artillery regiment, had a chance to take part in the war with the Finns.
When the Great Patriotic War began, the couple were in Chisinau. Maria, along with other members of the commander's families, was evacuated to Tomsk, where she immediately went to work in construction, but was soon forced to choose a more gentle occupation (she became a telephone operator at a military school) due to chronic disease- tuberculosis of the cervical vertebra.
“Believe, dear, believe, victory will definitely be ours. We will destroy the fascists,” I. Oktyabrsky wrote to his wife in his first and only letter from the front. Soon Maria's husband was killed. The funeral service stated that “Regimental Commissar Ilya Fedotovich Oktyabrsky died a heroic death on August 9, 1941 in one of the battles in Ukraine.”
Hardly experiencing the loss, Maria Vasilievna went to a women's congress in Novosibirsk, where the mothers and wives of soldiers who died at the front shared their experiences, told how they cope with their grief, how they give all their strength, mastering difficult male professions. There, Maria made a decision - to go to the front and avenge the death of her husband. She applied to the military registration and enlistment office three times with a request to send her to the army, but each time she was refused - due to her state of health and age (she was already about 40 years old).
But Maria Oktyabrskaya did not give up on achieving her goal. She decided to buy for Soviet army tank (since the fall of 1942, the country had been raising funds for army weapons) and take it into battle. Together with their sister, they sold all the property that they managed to evacuate at the market. But even after adding the proceeds to the savings of her late husband, M. Oktyabrskaya realized that there were not enough funds to purchase a tank. And then she took up embroidery: day and night for many months, Maria embroidered and sold napkins, scarves, tablecloths, pillowcases. Her skillful products were in demand even during the war.
It is believed that she still managed to collect the necessary 50 thousand rubles, a huge amount at that time (the salary of a worker at the factory was about 200 rubles a month). Maria Vasilievna transferred the money to the account of the State Defense Committee and sent a telegram to the Kremlin to I.V. Stalin:
“Dear Joseph Vissarionovich! My husband, regimental commissar Ilya Fedotovich Oktyabrsky, died in the battles for the Motherland. For his death, for the death of all Soviet people tortured by fascist barbarians, I want to take revenge on the fascist dogs, for which I deposited all my personal savings - 50,000 rubles - into the state bank to build a tank. I ask you to name the tank “Battle Friend” and send me to the front as the driver of this tank. I have a specialty as a driver, I have excellent command of a machine gun, and I am a Voroshilov marksman. I send you warm greetings and wish you good health for many, many years to come, to the fear of our enemies and to the glory of our Motherland.”
The answer did not take long to arrive. Stalin responded like this:
“Thank you, Maria Vasilievna, for your concern for the armored forces of the Red Army. Your wish will be fulfilled. Please accept my regards. I. Stalin."
In the spring of 1943, Maria Oktyabrskaya was drafted into the Red Army and sent to Omsk for a five-month course as tank driver mechanics. It was not easy for the selfless woman, because driving a tank is physically difficult work. But perseverance gave her strength: Maria passed all the exams with excellent marks, received a driver’s certificate and the rank of sergeant.
Transfer of the “Battle Friend” tank to the Red Army.
A fellow soldier of Maria Oktyabrskaya recalled:
“When this tank arrived at our unit, the news about its owner spread instantly. After all, this T-34 came not just from the rear, but from the human heart. His armor was tempered by grief and suffering, it contained the living breath of love, and this increased our strength tenfold.”
In the early autumn of 1943, the tank crew was formed: the commander was junior lieutenant Pyotr Chebotko, who had military experience, the turret gunner was Sergeant Gennady Yasko, and the gunner-radio operator was Mikhail Galkin. The driver is Guard Sergeant Maria Oktyabrskaya. At the initiative of the crew, an inscription was made on the tank turret:
"Fighting friend." Maria attached a photograph of her husband next to the driver's seat.
The tankers ended up in the 2nd battalion of the 26th Guards “Yelninskaya” tank brigade of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps of the Western Front. Behind short term The “Battle Friend” tank covered a distance of thousands of kilometers and reached the steppe, where Commissar Oktyabrsky died in battle.
On October 21, 1943, the first battle of M. V. Oktyabrskaya took place. The tank crews were faced with the task of breaking through the powerful defenses of the Nazis and occupying the stronghold of the New Village of the Sennensky district of the Vitebsk region. Maria Vasilievna showed qualities worthy of a real warrior; she skillfully controlled a formidable machine and bravely led it into battle. The following entry was made in the combat log:
“Parts of the brigade destroyed up to 100 enemy soldiers and officers, up to 2 batteries of 71-mm guns, 15 machine guns and one Ferdinand tank.” The battalion lost 2 tanks, “Battle Friend” was shot down.”
On October 23, 1943, the tank was repaired and took part in the liberation of Novy Selo. For this battle, the crew of the “Fighting Girlfriend” was presented with government awards. In a letter to her sister M. Oktyabrskaya reported:
“You can be happy for me - I received a baptism of fire. I beat the bastards. Sometimes I can’t see the light out of anger.”
In January 1944, “Battle Friend”, as part of a unit of the 26th Guards Tank Brigade, took part in battles near the railway station and the Krynki state farm near Vitebsk. It became increasingly difficult to repel the attacks of the fascists, the forces of the fighters were running out, ammunition and the remaining provisions were running out. When the offensive resumed, “Battle Friend” rushed into battle, the last battle of Maria Oktyabrskaya. There are only a few lines left about him in the combat log:
“01/17/1944 in the area of the Krynki state farm, comrade. Oktyabrskaya took part in the attack... crushed two guns with servants with the tracks of her tank, and in the battle the “Battle Friend” tank was disabled by enemy fire. Comrade Oktyabrskaya, showing heroism, restored the tank under heavy enemy artillery fire, but was seriously wounded.”
Maria Vasilyevna was taken by plane to a field hospital in Smolensk, where she underwent surgery.
“Large loss of blood. The general condition is weak,” was written on the tanker’s card.
Doctors said there was almost no chance of survival. A mine fragment pierced the eye and touched the brain. Despite the severe wound, Maria Vasilievna regained consciousness and immediately asked if her guys were alive (that’s what she called her combat crew). The guys wrote to her from the front:
“Hello, our mother Maria Vasilievna! We wish you a speedy recovery. We deeply believe that our “Fighting Girlfriend” will reach Berlin. For your injury, we will mercilessly take revenge on the enemy. In an hour we leave for battle. Hugs to you all. Our “Fighting Friend” sends greetings to you.”
On February 16, 1944, M. Oktyabrskaya was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War in the hospital 1st degree for the battle near Novy Selo. The head of the political department of the guard brigade, Colonel Nikolai Getman, came to present the order, and the entire crew of the “Fighting Girlfriend” arrived with him to visit Maria Vasilievna. A few days later, Maria was visited by a member of the Front Military Council, Lev Mehlis, who announced that she had been nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Mehlis instructed the doctors to prepare Oktyabrskaya for departure to Moscow. But Maria Vasilievna did not have a chance to see the capital: her health condition deteriorated sharply, severe headaches began, the temperature rose, and memory loss became more frequent. At dawn on March 15, 1944 Maria Vasilievna Oktyabrskaya passed away.
The heroine was buried in the Smolensk Kremlin at the Kutuzovsky cemetery, next to the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 2, 1944, Guard Sergeant Maria Vasilievna Oktyabrskaya was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. She was forever included in the lists of the military unit.
And “Fighting Girlfriend” continued her glorious path. True, it was no longer the same tank that Maria Vasilievna had bought with such difficulty - her car was damaged. The tanks died, but the crew members remained alive, as if Maria Vasilievna was invisibly protecting her guys from heaven. They assigned the name “Fighting Friend” to their new cars - in memory of Maria Oktyabrskaya. Victory found “Fighting Girlfriend” - already the fourth - in Koenigsberg.
Tomsk school No. 24 bears the name of Maria Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya. In front of its entrance there is a monument made by sculptor Sergei Danilin, and the school museum contains a few exhibits and materials about the tank crew heroine. Students take part in the city program “Memory”; children also took a trip to the burial place of the heroine - in Smolensk. Tomsk school head teacher Natalya Prokhorova admitted:
“People there knew little about Oktyabrskaya. And everything that our children told them caused them sincere surprise and admiration. At our school for your first Classroom hour first-graders come to the museum, where they are told why the gymnasium in which they study is named after this great woman.”
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