Pavel Ivanovich Batov | |
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| Born | (1897-06-01)June 1, 1897 Filisovo,Rybinsk,Yaroslavl Governorate,Russian Empire |
| Died | April 19, 1985(1985-04-19) (aged 88) Moscow,Russian SFSR,Soviet Union |
| Buried | Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow |
| Allegiance |  Russian Empire (1915–1917) Soviet Union (1917–1965) |
| Years of service | 1915–1965 |
| Rank | General of the Army |
| Commands | 10th Rifle Corps 3rd Rifle Corps 9th Separate Rifle Corps 51st Army 3rd Army 4th Tank Army 65th Army 7th Mechanised Army 11th Guards Army Carpathian Military District Baltic Military District Southern Group of Forces |
| Battles / wars | World War I Russian Civil War World War II |
| Awards | Hero of the Soviet Union (twice) Cross of St. George |
| Other work | Chief of the Soviet Veterans Committee (1970-1981) |
Pavel Ivanovich Batov (Russian:Па́вел Ива́нович Ба́тов; June 1 [O.S. May 20] 1897 – April 19, 1985)[1] was a seniorRed Army general during theSecond World War and afterwards, twiceHero of the Soviet Union. Batov fought inWorld War I, where he was awarded theCross of St. George twice. After being wounded in 1917, he was sent to a school in Petrograd and joined theBolsheviks. He fought in theRussian Civil War and became an advisor with theXII International Brigade during theSpanish Civil War. DuringWorld War II, Batov commanded the51st Army in theCrimea. In 1942, he became the commander of the3rd Army and then the 4th Tank Army, which was renamed the65th Army. Postwar, Batov commanded theCarpathian Military District.[2]
Born in Filisovo in 1897, Batov began his military career duringWorld War I. In 1915, he enlisted in a student command and then served as a scout in the 3rd Infantry Regiment of theLife Guards. During this service, he displayed considerable bravery and was awarded with twoCrosses of St. George and two lesser medals. After being wounded in action in 1917, he was assigned to an NCO school in Petrograd where political agitator A. Savkov brought him into theBolshevik movement.[3]
Batov served for four years in the Red Army during thecivil war, initially as a machine gunner, and also as assistant military chief of theRybinsk Military Committee, his first staff work. He was given command of a company in 1926, and was chosen to attend theVystrel Officer's School the same year, where he met many future senior officers of the wartime Red Army. He joined the Communist Party in 1929.[4]
In 1927, Batov was promoted to command a battalion of the prestigious1st Moscow Proletarian Rifle Division. He would serve in this unit for the next nine years, rising to command of the 3rd Regiment. His divisional commander in 1936 wrote:
Comrade Batov has commanded a regiment for more than three years. In the course of that time, the regiment has occupied first place in the division in all categories of combat and political training. In tactical training, the regiment stands out as superb; I always sent the regiment out on the main axis.[5]
Batov soon received the "Sign of Honour" medal, and completed theFrunze Academy by correspondence course.[6]
Batov was selected to "volunteer" for service in the Spanish Civil War, under thenom de guerre Fritz Pablo. He first served as military adviser to the Hungarian communistMáté Zalka, who commanded theXII International Brigade defending the approaches toMadrid. He fought on theTeruel Front and was wounded twice and won his first Orders of Lenin and of the Red Banner as a result. After recovering, he fought atJarama, alongsideA.I Rodimtsev, at theGuadalajara and on theAragon front, where he was wounded again.[7]
Returning to the Soviet Union in December 1937, Batov successively commanded the10th Rifle Corps and3rd Rifle Corps, the latter of which he led in theSoviet occupation of eastern Poland in September 1939. The corps later transferred to the Finnish front, and fought in the second phase (February – March 1940) of theRussian-Finnish War in theKarelian sector under13th Army. For his services in Finland, Batov was awarded a second Order of Lenin, promoted to divisional commander (Komdiv) and, in June, to lieutenant general. He was then appointed deputy commander of theTranscaucasus Military District. The outbreak of war with Germany would find him deep in the south of the USSR.[8]
In June 1941, Batov was in command of the9th Separate Rifle Corps, which comprised the106th and156th Rifle Divisions and the32nd Cavalry Division, with a total strength of about 35,000 men. This corps was the only major Red Army formation in theCrimea at the outbreak of OperationBarbarossa, and Batov had arrived at its headquarters inSimferopol just two days earlier.[9][10] Later in 1941, he was made deputy commander of the51st Army, and following the evacuation of that army from theKerch Peninsula he rose again to full command. Although the Crimea had been lost, Batov was exonerated by Stalin.[11]
In January 1942, he joined theBryansk Front as commander of the3rd Army, and later as deputy commander for training of the Front, under Lt. Gen.K. K. Rokossovski. Rokossovski noted that Batov preferred active command to "sit[ing] in the headquarters", and that his current role was "a burden" to him.[12] Batov and Rokossovski formed a professional and personal bond that would last beyond the latter's death in 1968, and Batov would continue to serve under Rokossovski's command until the end of the war.[13]
On October 22, 1942, Batov was moved to command of the4th Tank Army on the approaches toStalingrad, replacing Mjr. Gen.V.D. Kryuchenkin. This army, soon renamed the 65th Army, formed part of Rokossovski'sDon Front. Batov remained in command of 65th Army for the duration. He helped to plan the Soviet counteroffensive,Operation Uranus, providing key intelligence toGen. Zhukov regarding the boundaries between German and Romanian forces. His army formed a key strike force in this offensive, and the subsequentOperation Ring, which reduced and defeated the encircled Axis forces. Rokossovski later wrote:
[He] displayed fine initiative with an improvised mobile task force... By striking at the enemy's flank and rear, the task force ensured the swift advance of the other units.[14]
Following this victory 65th Army was moved to the northwest, rejoining Rokossovski as part of his newCentral Front. Exploiting success, the Front was pushing hard against the weak GermanSecond Army west of Kursk, when it was brought to a halt by the springrasputitsa and German successes aroundKharkov, to the south. In July 1943, Batov's army formed part of Rokossovski's Front during the giantBattle of Kursk, on a secondary sector, and in the exploitation operations that followed the German defeat. From August through October, the 65th Army forced crossings of the rivers Sev,Desna,Sozh, and finally theDnieper, earning Batov and his army a formidable reputation in river-crossing operations.[15]
Rokossovski's command was first renamed as Belorussian Front, and later as1st Belorussian Front. In June 1944, Batov's army took part in major strategic operations inBelorussia. In a well-known confrontation at the planning stage, Rokossovski convincedStalin that, given the terrain, it was better to strike two strong blows against the German forces than just one.[16] He was counting on Batov's ability to lead his army across swampy regions south ofBobruisk, usingcorduroy roads, swamp shoes, and other means. The 65th Army did not disappoint, and within a few days the GermanNinth Army was encircled and mostly destroyed. For his performance, Batov was promoted to Colonel General.[17]
The 65th Army crossed theBug River on July 22, and pushed on to cross theNarev River, north of Warsaw, by September 4. Operation Bagration had run out of steam, but Batov's army held off strong German counterattacks against the Narev bridgehead for more than two months.[18] Following this, Rokossovski's command was renamed2nd Belorussian Front, and forces were built up in the bridgehead for an offensive to be launched in January.
During the new offensive, 65th Army forced a crossing of theVistula River in early February. Rokossovski later noted:
I had been with 65th Army since Stalingrad and had had ample opportunity to observe the splendid combat qualities of its men, commanders, and, of course, Pavel Batov, a brave and talented soldier.[19]
The winter offensive propelled Batov's army into eastern Germany, finally to theOder River, nearStettin-an-Oder, where it once again forced a difficult river crossing in April 1945. Officials of the city surrendered to Batov's193rd Rifle Division on April 26.[20]
After the war, Batov held various senior commands. In the summer of 1945, he was appointed to command the 7th Mechanized Army in Poland, and as force levels decreased, the11th Guards Army, headquartered inKaliningrad, in 1947. In 1949, he became First Deputy Commander of the Group of Soviet Forces, Germany, for a brief period before attending theVoroshilov General Staff Academy. During this time he also became a prolific writer on military theory. His treatise on river-crossing operations is still consulted to this day.[21]
Batov became the commander of theCarpathian Military District from 1955 to 1958. In this period, he participated in the suppression of the1956 Hungarian Revolt.[22] He was transferred to command theBaltic Military District (1958-1959), theSouthern Group of Forces (1960-1962), and finally Deputy Chief of Staff of Warsaw Pact Forces (1962-1965), replacing the deceased General A. I. Antonov. Batov resigned as an active Soviet Army officer in 1965, but continued to work in the Defense Ministry Inspectorate, and from 1970 to 1981 as Chief of the Soviet Veterans Committee. He wrote his memoirs during this time.[23] He remained a close personal friend of Rokossovski until the latter's death in 1968, and was entrusted with the task of editing and publishing his former commander's memoirs.[24]
Although mostly unknown to the general public, Batov had a well-deserved reputation of competence and takes place among the myriad of the talented generals who, after surviving the first part of the Soviet-Nazi war, greatly contributed to the final victory over the Nazis. He was fond of saying, "One must beat the enemy artfully, and that means with little blood." A post-war Western intelligence assessment summed him up as follows:
During World War II, Batov enjoyed much confidence and great respect from the troops because he was one of the few senior officers who went to the front lines during battles and conversed with the soldiers. He was much admired by the soldiers for this very fact. He proved himself a capable and talented military leader and teacher of troops during the war.[25]
Batov died on April 19, 1985, in Moscow and was buried inNovodevichy Cemetery.
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