Mikhail Panov
Encyclopedia
Mikhail Feodorovich Panov (Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

: Михаил Фёдорович Панов; 21 November 1901, Ovchinikov, Pskov Oblast
Pskov Oblast
Pskov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Pskov Oblast borders the countries of Estonia and Latvia, as well as Belarus. It is the westernmost federal subject of contiguous Russia . Its major cities are the administrative center Pskov and Velikiye Luki . Area: 55,300 km²...

, Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 - 8 May 1979, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

) was a Soviet general.

Early life

Born to a peasant family, Panov worked in a St. Peterburg factory from a young age. At 1919, he joined both the Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...

 and the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

, participating in the Civil War. On 1924 he attended a tank commanders school and underwent advanced infantry officers training at 1928. He graduated from the Stalin Academy for Motorization and Mechanization at 1938, assuming command over the 48th Light Tank Division at November that year. At March 1941, he was appointed commander of the 33rd Armored Division.

World War II

On the eve of the German invasion
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...

, the division was still organizing in Sokółka. It was part of the 3rd Army's 11th Mechanized Corps. When the Germans attacked, Panov launched a hasty counter-offensive. Eventually, with many other formations, the division was encircled in the Battle of Białystok–Minsk and practically wiped out. Panov broke out, reaching Soviet lines. On October, he was made an assistant to the Inspector-General of the Armored Automobiles Directorate.

At November 1942, Panov was sent to Tambov
Tambov
Tambov is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers southeast of Moscow...

, where the 2nd Guards Army was forming, and assigned to command its Armored and Mechanized formations. On 15 December, the Army was sent to Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...

, halting von Manstein's assault and playing a pivotal role in Operation Little Saturn.

On 26 April 1943, Panov replaced the 1st Don Guards Tank Corps's commander, who was killed. He attained the rank of Major General on 7 June 1943. Under his leadership, the corps took part in Operation Kutuzov
Operation Kutuzov
Operation Kutuzov was a military operation by the Red Army in its fight against the German Wehrmacht during World War II. It was named after Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, the Tsarist General credited with saving Russia from defeat during the invasion by Napoleon in 1812.The Operation began on 12...

, the Lower Dnieper Offensive and the Gomel-Rechitsa Offensive, as part of the Don
Don Front
The Don Front was a front of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. The name refers to Don River, Russia....

, Central and Belorussian
1st Belorussian Front
The 1st Belorussian Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during World War II...

 Fronts.

During Operation Bagration, the Corps crossed the Polesia
Polesia
Polesia is one of the largest European swampy areas, located in the south-western part of the Eastern-European Lowland, mainly within Belarus and Ukraine but also partly within Poland and Russia...

 marshes in harsh conditions, spearheading the Bobruysk Offensive. On 2 July 1944, it met with 2nd Guards Tank Corps
2nd Guards Tank Corps
The 2nd Tatsinskaya Guards Tank Corps was a Red Army armoured formation that saw service during World War II on the Eastern Front. After the war it continued to serve with Soviet occupation forces in Central Europe. It was originally the 24th Tank Corps...

 of the 3rd Belorussian Front
3rd Belorussian Front
The 3rd Belorussian Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during the Second World War...

 outside Minsk
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...

, encircling the German forces inside the city. Later, the Corps took part in the fighting in the Narew
Narew
The Narew River , in western Belarus and north-eastern Poland, is a left tributary of the Vistula river...

 area, in the Vistula-Oder Offensive
Vistula-Oder Offensive
The Vistula–Oder Offensive was a successful Red Army operation on the Eastern Front in the European Theatre of World War II; it took place between 12 January and 2 February 1945...

 and in the East-Pommeranian Campaign. It was one of the first Soviet units to reach the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...

. The commander was promoted to Lieutenant General on 19 April 1945.

Later years

After the war, Panov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...

 (Medal no. 7314), on 29 May. He continued to command the Corps until June 1946, when he took over the 4th Guards Kantemirovskaya Tank Division
4th Guards Kantemirovskaya Tank Division
The 4th Guards "Kantemirovskaya" Tank Division , more usually known as the Kantemirovskaya Division or Kantemir Division, is an elite armoured division of the Russian Ground Forces...

. He graduated from the General Staff Academy
General Staff Academy
General Staff Academy may refer to one of the following.*Soviet General Staff Academy, now the Russian Federation's General Staff Academy*General Staff Academy...

at 1958. From 1961 until his retirement at 1967 he headed a faculty in the Malinovsky Academy.

Further reading

  • Панов М. Ф., На направлении главного удара: Военно-исторический очерк о боевом пути 1-го гвардейского танкового Донского корпуса (M.F. Panov, the Direction of the Main Strike: A Historic Overview of the 1st Don Guards Tank Corps in Battle). Мoscow, 1995
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