Andrei Getman

Andrei Getman was born on 5 October 1903 in Klepaly village of Kursk Governorate to a peasant family.

After graduating from a rural school, he worked as a laborer in a sugar factory and at the Vorozhba railway station.

After joining the Red Army in 1924, Getman graduated from the Red Commanders School in 1927 and the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army in 1937.

Sent to postings in the Transbaikal Military District, he fought at the Battle of Lake Khasan and the Battle of Khalkhin Gol.

In October 1924, Getman was drafted into the Red Army.

In 1927, he graduated from the Red Commanders school (VUTSIK), after which he became a platoon commander in the 130th Rifle Regiment of the 44th Rifle Division during September.

In the same year, he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

He was promoted to become a company commander in the same regiment.

In May 1929, Getman became the assistant to the chief of the first department of staff of the division and the head of the Zhitomir House of the Red Army.

In March 1930, he became the commander of courses at the Red Commanders School.

Getman became chief of staff for the 30th Mechanized Corps on 26 March.

Between October 1931 and February 1933, Getman was the chief of the regimental school of the Krivoy Rog Rifle Regiment of the Krivoy Rog Territorial Rifle Division.

Getman was sent to study at the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army in February 1933.

He was promoted to Senior lieutenant in 1935.

In 1937, he graduated from the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army with the rank of Captain.

In June 1937, he became the head of the 5th staff department for the 7th Mechanized Corps of the Transbaikal Military District.

In February 1938, Getman became the acting commander and chief of staff of the 31st Mechanized Brigade after being promoted to major.

In August, he led the brigade during the Battle of Lake Khasan.

During the summer of 1939, he fought in the Battle of Khalkin Gol.

During battles for Remizov hill, he reportedly showed skilled leadership ability.

In September 1939, Getman became the assistant commander of the 2nd Mechanized Brigade and was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 8 October 1940.

On 11 March 1941, he was appointed to the command of the 27th Tank Division.

In April 1942, he became the commander of the 6th Tank Corps, which was converted into the 11th Guards Tank Corps for its actions in the Battle of Kursk.

Getman became the deputy commander of the 1st Guards Tank Army in August 1944.

After the war, he was commander of armored tank and mechanized troops of the Transcaucasian Military District and was chief of staff and deputy chief of armored tank and mechanized troops.

He was transferred to command the 45th Separate Light Tank Brigade, being promoted to colonel on 9 December.

Elements of the division were active in the area of Serpukhov with the 49th Army and were then assigned to Pavel Belov's group and fought in the defense of Kashira.

The division was sent to Kashira, where they fought in conjunction with Belov's 1st Guards Rifle Corps during the counterattack against Heinz Guderian's units.

The division was then transferred to support the 50th Army, where German troops had almost surrounded Tula.

On 8 December, the division was officially transferred to the 50th Army and helped capture Yasnaya Polyana.

From 1958 to 1964 he was commander of the troops of the Carpathian Military District.

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.

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.

Andrei Lavrentyevich Getman (Андре́й Лавре́нтьевич Ге́тман; Андрі́й Лавре́нтійович Ге́тьман, Andriy Lavretiyovych Hetman; 5 October (22 September OS) 1903 – 8 April 1987) was a Soviet military commander, Army General (13 April 1964) and Hero of the Soviet Union (May 7, 1965).

The division counterattacked the German tank units and linked up with the 999th Rifle Regiment of the 258th Rifle Division, opening up the Tula-Moscow highway.

Getman pushed his division forward and defeated German units at the Revyakino station on 7 December, opening the Moscow-Tula railway.

After Operation Barbarossa, Getman was sent west to command the 112th Tank Division in the defense of Moscow.

In September, Getman was appointed commander of the 112th Tank Division, which had arrived from the Transbaikal to fight in defense of Moscow.

The division distinguished itself during the battle of Moscow and the defeat of German troops near Tula.