Andrei Getman

Andrew Lavrent'evich Getman (born 5 October (22 September OS) in 1903, in the village Klepalov in Kharkov Governorate (now Buryn Raion, Sumy Oblast of Ukraine ) - 8 April 1987, Moscow) was a Soviet military commander, Army General (13 April 1964). Hero of the Soviet Union (May 7, 1965).

In 1924, Getman volunteered for the Soviet Army. He graduated from military school in 1927 and from the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization of the RKKA (Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army) in 1937. In 1939 he took part in the battles on the Khalkhin-Gol River. During the Great Patriotic War he participated in battles on the Western, Northwestern, Voronezh, 1st Ukrainian, and 1st Belorussian Fronts; he served as commander of the 112th Tank Division (October 1941 to April 1942), commander of the 6th and later the 11th Guards Tank Corps (April 1942 to August 1944), and deputy commander of 1st Guards Tank Army (August 1944 to May 1945). After the war, he was commander of armored tank and mechanized troops of a military district and was chief of staff and deputy chief of armored tank and mechanized troops. From 1958 to 1964 he was commander of the troops of the Carpathian Military District. Beginning in June 1964 he was chairman of the Central Committee of the All-Union Voluntary Society for Assistance to the Army, Air Force, and Navy. He was deputy to the fifth through seventh convocations of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and became a candidate member of the Central Committee of the CPSU in 1961. He was awarded four Orders of Lenin, six Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov Second Class, the Order of Bodgan Khmel’nitskii Second Class, the Order of the Red Star, and several foreign orders; he has also received many medals.

112th Tank Division
112th Panzer Division was formed in August 1941, in Primorsky Krai on the basis of 112th Tank Regiment, 239th Mechanised Division, 30th Mechanised Corps, and the two brigades that gained fame in the battles on Hassan and Khalkin-Gol.

The forming of the division was entrusted to Colonel Andrei Getman. On October 8, 1940, he was awarded the title of lieutenant colonel. November 28 as chief of the Division of Fuel Supply 2nd Mechanized Brigade OKDVA he was appointed commander of the 45th Separate Light Tank Brigade, and 9 December he was awarded the next rank - colonel. On March 11, 1941, Andrei Getman was appointed commander of the 27th Tank Division, but the last appointment was quickly canceled, and on March 26 he was appointed chief of staff of the 30th Mechanised Corps, Far Eastern Front. Deputy Colonel Andrei Getman appointed Plato Y. Mikhailov, a division of profits experienced commanders: The division commissioner became regimental commissar Yefim V. Beznosov, to the post of chief of staff appointed Colonel Mikhail Leonov Trofymovych.

By mid-October 1941, the 112th Tank Division was ready to be sent to the front. On the morning of November 4, on the railway between Ryazan and Moscow, the train carrying the division headquarters were bombarded by German planes. Four soldiers were wounded and two were killed. On November 7, over two dozen trains of the division were unloaded at Podolsk station.

The 112th Division became part of the 6th Tank Corps, 1st Tank Army. Western Front headquarters created a mobile mechanized cavalry group, composed of General Belov's cavalry corps and the 112th Panzer Division, the whole commanded General Alexander Belov. The group was created to stop the enemy taking Tula. On the orders of Joseph Stalin from the Serpukhov district with right-flank connections 16th Army General Rokossovsky 112th Tank Division must strike at the flank of the German 4th Army, to make a decisive impact on Moscow.

The fighting near Moscow
The combat baptism of the division and its commander was November 16, 1941. The group together with other troops took the offensive in the direction of Maleev - Vyazovka - Vysokinichi, but, against strong resistance, failed to achieve substantial results. Within days, the division fought west and north-west of Serpukhov.

The 124th Tank Regiment, commanded by Colonel Menchov, was first to receive a baptism of fire in the battles near Tula. In defensive battles near Tula the 112th Tank Division struck the enemy counter-attack, and then went on the offensive, covering the road Serpukhov - Tula, Division entered the line Shepilova - Zelezny.

As a result, General Belov's mobile group released seven localities and thwarted the attack by the German XIII Corps and held Serpukhov. After these battles, Colonel Getman's division was urgently transferred to Kashira, where the hospitals and the front of rear services, to eliminate the German breakthrough.

In connection with a breakthrough of the Soviet defensive line near Tula by Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group, General Ivan Boldin's 50th Army was transferred to the defense and Kashira plant. Until the beginning of the counter-offensive, 112th TD served as a fire brigade, conducting counter-attacks on the flanks of groups of the enemy, supporting 49th and 50th Armies' thin line of defence.

For its performance in military operations, 112th Tank Division received the Order of the Red Banner. On January 2, 1942 the division was reorganised as the 112th Tank Brigade, maintaining its numbers and numbers of regiments, which became battalions.