For more than half a century, one of the streets in the Presnensky district of Moscow bears the name of Sergey Makeev, who lived there before the war. Commanding a tank platoon, he destroyed 40 enemy vehicles with weapons. For his courage, he was awarded the title of Hero of the USSR. Shortly before this, he died in an unequal battle near Zhytomyr, having never learned of a high award.
Biography: life before the war
Sergey Fedorovich Makeev was born in 1909 in the village of Stolbovo, near Podolsk. He comes from a common people. Father was a peasant and had a tiny allotment. By modern standards, "below the subsistence level." The Makeev family was large and eked out a miserable existence. However, in tsarist Russia, peasants were already living unsweetened. In 1917, the situation in the country changed. However, with the Bolsheviks coming to power, the Makeevs' lives did not change dramatically. There was still not enough money. To contribute to family life, Sergei left his parents at the age of 16 and went to work in Moscow.
Makeev got a job at a brick factory located in Shcherbinka. At that time, they paid well there, but the work required high physical stamina. Sergei was a teenager and could not work at this pace for a long time. He had to return home. Soon, Sergey got a job as a mechanic at a factory in Podolsk. In parallel, he graduated from a driving school and became a member of the Communist Party. After some time, he got a job as a first-class driver in the transport department of the Central Committee of the party. Without interruption from work, Sergei studied at evening high school.
In 1931 he was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army. Since 1934, Makeev worked in various positions at Moscow industrial enterprises.
Life during the war
When the Great Patriotic War began, Makeev was 32 years old. In June 1941, he was called up to the Krasnogvardeisky district military registration and enlistment office of Moscow for mobilization gatherings as a military reserve. Soon, Sergei was sent to the newly formed 2nd Gorky Automobile and Motorcycle School for training. At that time, he was led by Colonel Fedor Raevsky. At first, the school was located in the famous Gorokhovets military camps. This place was strictly classified at that time. Subsequently, he was transferred to Vetluga, and soon reorganized into a tank school.
Military science was easy for Makeev. Future tank commanders studied in the new on the legendary T-34. The first graduation of officers at the school took place in April 1943. Makeev passed the main exams (materiel, tactics, topography, shooting, driving) with excellent marks. For brilliant successes, he was awarded the rank of lieutenant guard. After training, he was there for several months as an instructor.
Makeev came to the front in September 1943. He commanded a whole platoon of tanks. Baptism of fire took place in fierce battles for the Dnieper, which began in August 1943.
In November of that year, during the battles near Kiev, Makeev’s tank platoon operated in the head unit. As the offensive developed, the battalion was tasked with capturing the nearby settlement of Glevakh. The Nazis were located there, to which several more columns of cars and carts with equipment, ammunition, weapons and provisions were pulled. The enemy, sensing something was amiss, opened powerful fire on Makeev’s platoon. Despite the whistling bullets, he boldly burst forward and with the caterpillars of the tank began to crush the fascist cars with cargo. He destroyed about 40 vehicles, 120 carts and more than 200 German soldiers, including officers.
Continuing the movement, Makeev was the first to enter the village of Glevakha. Other tank crews followed his example. Thanks to this, enemy forces of up to the battalion were surrounded and eliminated. Sergei was injured, but did not leave the battlefield, continuing to fire on the hastily retreating Nazis.
As a result of a four-month operation on the banks of the Dnieper, most of Ukraine was almost completely liberated by the Red Army from fascist invaders. During the operation, Soviet troops crossed the river, created several strategic bridgeheads on the right bank, and also liberated the city of Kiev. The battle for the Dnieper has become one of the largest battles in world history. Makeev contributed to this victory. In January 1944, by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, he was awarded the title Hero of the USSR for exemplary performance of the combat missions of command at the front and thus showing courage and heroism.
Sergei did not know about such a loud title. A week after that, he was mortally wounded near Zhytomyr. In those days, his platoon conducted bloody battles for the village of Troyanov. He was occupied by the Nazis back in July 1941. On January 2, 1944, it was liberated from invaders by the Soviet troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front. Sergei Makeev was buried with the crew in the same village.
In May 1965, in honor of the twentieth anniversary of the victory, Sergey Makeev Street appeared in the Presnensky district of Moscow. Previously, it was called 4th Zvenigorod. Makeev lived in one of the houses on this street before the war. A memorial plaque hangs on the house. In 1978, the USSR Post issued an envelope with the image of Sergey Makeev.
Also, his portrait can be seen on the Board of Honor of the city of Podolsk, on Kirov Street, near the local administration building.
Awards
Sergey Makeev spent only four months at the front. During this time he received three awards:
- Order of the Patriotic War II degree;
- The order of Lenin;
- Medal "Golden Star" of the Hero of the USSR.
The last two awards were presented to him posthumously.
