Govorov Leonid Aleksandrovich (February 10 [22], 1897, the village of Butyrki, Yaransky Uyezd, Vyatka Governorate — March 19, 1955) was a Soviet military commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union, Hero of the Soviet Union, and commander of the forces of the Leningrad Front during the Great Patriotic War. He was born in territory that then belonged to the Vyatka Governorate and is now part of Kirov Region, which ties his biography to the historical Volga-Vyatka region.[2]
Origins and Education
He was born into a peasant family. He graduated from the Realschule (secondary technical school) in Yelabuga (now in the Republic of Tatarstan), after which he enrolled in the shipbuilding department of the Petrograd Polytechnic Institute. In December 1916 he was mobilized into the army and sent to the Konstantinovsky Artillery School, which he completed in June 1917 with the rank of sublieutenant.[2]
He continued his military education in the Soviet period: in 1926 he completed the Artillery Advanced Training Courses for Command Personnel of the Red Army, in 1930 the Higher Academic Courses, in 1933 the Frunze Military Academy, and in 1938 the General Staff Academy.[2]
Service Before the Great Patriotic War
After demobilization in March 1918, he returned to Yelabuga. In October 1918 he was mobilized into the White Army, assigned to a battery of the 8th Kama Rifle Division of the 2nd Ufa Army Corps, and took part in the spring offensive of Admiral A. V. Kolchak's armies. In November 1919 he left his unit, fled to Tomsk, and took part in the uprising against the White authorities. In January 1920 he voluntarily joined the Red Army as commander of an artillery battalion of the 51st Rifle Division. He fought against the army of General P. N. Wrangel and was wounded twice; for the Perekop–Chongar Operation in 1921 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.[2]
In the interwar period he served as an instructor at artillery courses (from 1931), chief of artillery of several formations, and senior instructor and docent at the Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy. He took part in the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939–1940 as chief of staff of artillery of the 7th Army. From August 1940 he was deputy inspector general of artillery of the Red Army, and from May to July 1941 he was head of the Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy.[2]
The Leningrad Front and the Defense of the City
From July 22, 1941, Govorov was chief of artillery of the Western Direction, and then of the Reserve Front. From November 18, 1941, with the rank of major general of artillery, he commanded the 5th Army in the Battle of Moscow. From April 25, 1942, he commanded the Leningrad Group of Forces, and from June 8, 1942, until July 1945 he commanded the forces of the Leningrad Front (while also commanding the 2nd Baltic Front from February 9 to March 31, 1945).[2]
Of the 900 days of the siege of Leningrad, 670 fell within Govorov's period of command. He created the Leningrad Artillery Corps, incorporating the artillery of the Baltic Fleet, organized five fortified field districts on the approaches to the city, introduced a system of continuous trenches, and built up a front-level reserve. He developed the methods and principles for using artillery in Operation Iskra, which broke the siege. Govorov's generalship also showed in the Mga, Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha, and other offensive operations.[2][1]
On August 9, 1942, Govorov devised a special military operation, "Squall" (Shkval) — suppressive fire against enemy batteries for the duration of a performance of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony in the Great Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic. The operation lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes: for 30 minutes before the concert began and for 30 minutes after it ended, the gunners kept up continuous fire on previously reconnoitered targets, expending three thousand heavy-caliber shells. During the concert not a single enemy shell fell on the city.[1]
Awards and Commemoration
He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on January 27, 1945 (medal No. 5370). The decree of the same date recognized his generalship in directing the operations of the Leningrad Front. A monument to Govorov stands in Saint Petersburg and a bust in Yelabuga; his name is commemorated on memorial and informational plaques in Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Odintsovo, and Kharkiv, as well as on a plaque on Red Square in Moscow.[2]
The Nizhny Novgorod Connection
The village of Butyrki, where Govorov was born, was part of Yaransky Uyezd of Vyatka Governorate — a region of the Volga-Vyatka area that has historically adjoined Nizhny Novgorod Governorate. The uyezd itself belonged to Vyatka rather than Nizhny Novgorod Governorate, yet the marshal's biography is inseparable from the common history of the Volga-Vyatka region, of which the Nizhny Novgorod land is also a part.[2]
Sources
- warheroes.ru — Hero of the Soviet Union Govorov Leonid Aleksandrovich — Heroes of the Country
- rcfoundation.ru — Marshal of the Soviet Union — Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov