Romanov, Mikhail Timofeyevich (November 3, 1891, Nizhny Novgorod — December 1941, German captivity) — Soviet military commander, major general (1940), commander of the 172nd Rifle Division, which became famous for its defense of Mogilev in July 1941. A native of Nizhny Novgorod, where he spent his childhood and youth and to which he returned to serve after the Civil War.[1][2]
Early Years and Service in Nizhny Novgorod
Mikhail Romanov was born into the family of a guild craftsman, Timofey Fyodorovich Romanov. His father died when his son was 15; by then Mikhail had finished municipal school. Left as the breadwinner for his mother, Anna Nikolayevna, and his younger sister Yuliya, he earned money sewing caps at home.[2] In 1915 he was drafted into the army and graduated from the Chistopol School for Ensigns, then commanded a company of the 72nd Regiment in Rzhev with the rank of lieutenant. After the February Revolution he was elected by the soldiers to the regimental committee.[2]
He served in the Red Army from 1918. He graduated from an infantry commanders' school, fought the Kolchak forces on the Eastern Front, and then took part in the fight against the Basmachi in Turkestan. He was wounded in the head; in the hospital he was visited by M. V. Frunze. Upon recovery, he was appointed commander of the 11th Regiment for distinction in battle.[2] After the Civil War, Romanov returned to Nizhny Novgorod: he commanded the 50th Rifle Regiment of the 17th Division, which was stationed in the city.[2] His sister lived here until the end of the war — it was to her that, after 1945, a fellow soldier from Gorky came to bring word of the general's last days.[3]
Interwar Career
From 1931 to 1938, Romanov commanded the 18th Rifle Regiment in Livny. In 1938 he was appointed deputy commander of the 55th Rifle Division, and in the fall of 1939, commander of the 185th Rifle Division, then being formed near Belgorod. On November 4, 1939, he was promoted to the rank of brigade commander. In 1940, when general officer ranks were introduced, he became a major general, and after completing six-month courses at the General Staff Academy he was appointed commander of the 172nd Rifle Division. He took part in the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939–1940.[2]
The Defense of Mogilev
Romanov met the start of the Great Patriotic War as commander of the 172nd Rifle Division, which was at summer exercises in the Tesnitsky camps near Tula. On June 26, 1941, the division's first train left for the west; between June 28 and July 3 its units concentrated in the Mogilev area and began fortifying defensive lines. The division was subordinated to the headquarters of the 61st Rifle Corps under Major General F. A. Bakunin and took up defensive positions on the western bank of the Dnieper.[2]
July 5–8, 1941, saw the most ferocious fighting: attempts by enemy tank units to seize Mogilev on the move were repulsed. Units of the 172nd Division, together with detachments of the Mogilev People's Militia, held the city's perimeter defense. After the encirclement, Romanov was severely wounded in the right shoulder and in October 1941 was taken prisoner — according to an eyewitness, in civilian clothes, having been handed over to the Germans; the general himself called those who betrayed him traitors.[3] He died in a German concentration camp in December 1941.[1][4]
Legacy
A street in Mogilev bears the name of Mikhail Timofeyevich Romanov. A documentary novella about his fate has been written: I. Sidorova and I. Telnaya, "The Tale of General Romanov" (Gorky: Volgo-Vyatskoye Book Publishing House, 1968).[1] Materials about him are held in the "Memory of the People" database of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.[1]
Sources
- libmogilev.by — STREETS OF HEROES
- wiki.mogilev.by — Romanov Mikhail Timofeyevich
- sites.google.com — LIVING MEMORY OF GENERATIONS — Fedoseev I.A.
- biografiaru.wordpress.com — ROMANOV Mikhail Timofeyevich (1891–1941) — Site No. 1