Ivan Chekhov is one of the heroes of the USSR, a participant in the Great Patriotic War. He fought at the front since August 1941, was a radio operator. He received the title of Hero in the battles for forcing the Dnieper, when with a radio station on his shoulder, he swam to the other side under heavy fire of the Nazis and thereby ensured uninterrupted communication between the company and the commanding staff.
Biography: early years
Ivan Mitrofanovich Chekhov was born on June 13, 1920 in the village of Podgornoye, in the Rossoshansky district of the Voronezh region. Parents were collective farmers. After finishing seven classes, he also went to work on a collective farm.
When Ivan was 18 years old, he went to the Donbass. At that time, it was possible to make good money in this coal land. In one of the Donbass mines Chekhov worked as a horse-drawn driver. His responsibilities included managing the horses that pulled the coal-laden trolleys. The work was harmful and exhausting.
In 1940, Chekhov was drafted into the army. There was only a year left before the war.
The Great Patriotic War
Ivan Chekhov came to the front in August 1941. By that time, he was barely 21 years old. He participated in various battles in different directions. He was on the Stepnoy, Donskoy, 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts.
Ivan Chekhov proved himself during the crossing of the Dnieper in the framework of the Poltava-Kremenchug operation. In October 1943, our soldiers fought offensively. Chekhov was one of the first to sail across the Dnieper under the fire of enemy machine guns and mortars. He established contact with regimental commanders, which allowed the soldiers to successfully complete a number of combat missions. Being on the bridgehead, Ivan also corrected the actions of Soviet artillery. Later, for his fearlessness and contribution to the overall victory, Chekhov was awarded the title Hero of the USSR.
Ivan Chekhov also participated in the counteroffensives of the Soviet army near Stalingrad in the period from November 1942 to February 1943. These battles were called Operation Uranus.
He took part in the final battles on the Kursk. His division liberated Kharkov and Belgorod. For participating in these battles, he was awarded the medal "For Courage". Chekhov returned from the front with the rank of lieutenant.
Life after the war
Ivan Chekhov came from the front to his native village. Soon he moved to neighboring Kursk. There he enrolled in courses where he mastered the specialty of railway transport technician. Chekhov dreamed of continuing his career as a signalman in peaceful life.
In 1951, he was admitted to the Signaling and Communication Distance of the Kursk Railway Department, where he became a senior electrician. Now on the building where he worked for two years, there is a memorial tablet.
In 1956, Chekhov successfully graduated from the Soviet party school. Later he began working at the local plant of mobile units as the head of the regulatory bureau.
