Natan Yakovlevich Ol'kha - Saving the Sanctity of the Regiment

[redoctober]

Award Card

Order Booklet No.652913

1. Last name: Ol'ha
2. Name and patrionymic: Natan Yakovlevich
3. Rank: Guards Senior Sergeant
4. Gender: Male
5. Birthyear: 1902
6. Birthplace: City of Minsk
7. Party membership: Not a member
8. Education: Secondary
9. Nationality: Jew
10. Time in Red Army: From 1943 to 1945
11. Place of service at awarding: Senior Clerk, 55^th Guards Cavalry Regiment, 15^th Guards Cavalry Division
12. Place of work at present: URS, Central Defense Committee
13. Home address: City of Moscow, Small Meadow, Building 4/6 Apartment 15
14. Awards:

Designation	Serial Number	Document Number	Awarding Organization
For Combat Service	1224444	Temporary Award Certificate B-712701	Decree of the 55th Guards Cavalry Regiment 3/N of 11.5.44
For Bravery	1551879	Temporary Award Certificate G-008253	Decree of the 55th Guards Cavalry Regiment 13/N of 15.9.44
Patriotic War 2nd Class	182763	Temporary Award Certificate D-525040	Decree of the 15th Guards Cavalry Division 04/N of 23.2.45
Red Star	1428363	Temporary Award Certificate Zh-078867	Decree of the 7th Guards Cavalry Corps 018/N of 3.6.45

Signature of the Awardee: [signed]

 

Verified by Chief of Staff of the 3^rd Section

Captain / [signed] / Markeevich on 25^th January 1946

Award sheet

1. Family name, name and patrionymic: Ol'ha, Natan Yakovlevich
2. Rank: Guards Senior Sergeant
3. Positon: Senior Staff Clerk, 55^th Guards Cavalry Corps, 15^th Guards Mozersky Red Banner Cavalry Division, 7^th Guards Red Banner Cavalry Corps

Recommended for: The Order of the Patriotic War 2^nd Class

4. Year of birth: 1902
5. Nationality: Jew
6. Party membership: Not a member
7. Participation in combat: Since 2.1944 in Belorussia on the 1^st Belorussian Front
8. Wounds and contusions:None
9. Since when in the Red Army: Since March 1943
10. Inducted by: Marinsky Regional Military Commissariat, Novosibirsk Oblast
11. Whether recommended for an award previously, when and for what: Medal for Bravery by decree of the 55^th Guards Cavalry Regiment No.013/N of 20.8.1944
12. Address of prospective awardee and family: Novosibirsk, 30 Soviet Street, Building 17 – Wife Ol'ha Estel Abramovna

Short, concrete description of his feat of arms or accomplishments:

During the offensive operations of the regiment against the German invaders from 14.1.45 Guards Sergeant Ol'ha showed courage and vigilance.

 

In the battle for the city Pobianice on 20.01.45, Guard Sergeant Ol'ha showed great bravery and courage. When the Hitlerites severed the highway and the regimental column was cut into two parts, comrade Ol'ha found himself with a small group of soldiers guarding the regimental military banner. Leading the group, comrade Ol'ha decided it was better to die saving the sanctity of the regiment – with the regimental guards banner, under fierce enemy machine gun fire he broke through to the nearest settlement, disappearing into a barn until the danger had subsided and thereby saved the military Guards Banner.

 

For his courage and valor, and for displaying bravery, Guard Sergeant Ol'ha is worthy of being awarded the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class.

 

Commander of the 55^th Guards Cavalry Regiment

Guards Lieutenant Colonel / [signed] / Mishukov

30.1.1945

A very beautiful example without mintmark

 

 

 

[redoctober]

According to the Combat Action Log book of the regiment, they describe the action that day as:

 

The Regiment, at 8:00 made a route: Bentkuv, Chernocin, Tushin, Bogoyanitsa and Imerzadan to capture Pobianice.

The Regiment and half of the 147^th Mortar Regiment arrived at east Pobyanice at 17:30, leading the battle against small groups of enemy, moved to the north-east of Pobyanice, where they started a battle with a covering-group consisting of units of the “Hermann Goring” Tank Regiment and 302^nd Artillery Regiment. As a result of which, up to 350 enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed, and up to 50 vehicles were destroyed.

In the battles for Pobyanice , Anti-Aircraft Machine Gun squadron under the command of Guards Seniour Lieutenant Sharbin distinguished themselves, as did the battery of the regiment's artillery under the command of Suards Senior Lieutenant Perov and the 4 squadrons under the command of Guards Senior Lieutenant Stepov.

After claiming the northeast Pobianice district, the regiment began to advance to Gorka-Pobianice

The reference to the Hermann Goring regiment is interesting. I wonder if any of our peers who know more of German history could enlighten us further?

 

 

[SovPha]

Thank you very much for sharing.

[redoctober]

ORAL ORDER OF THE CORPS HEADQUARTERS, SPOKEN TO, DECREE OF THE DIVISION HEADQUARTERS No.02 OF 18.1.45

 

By the oral order of the Corps commander, the divison, by 19:00 of 19.1.45 should be concentrated in the towns of Vvidzev, Pabianice and Ksaberuv.

Due to the large movement of other units along the Division's royte, traffic jams were often forming on the roads, which delayed the Division's movement. Thereby the Division did not reach it's district by 19:00.

Following the lead Regiment to it's concentration area – Shinrelpov, Petrokoza at 0:20 20.1.45 they reached the northern approaches of Pabianice, where they met a strong enemy resistance and engaged in battle.

The 57^th Guards Cavalry Regiment following through towards the center of Pabianits in it's southeastern outskirts came across the enemy and engaged in combat. After a stubborn battle, the 55^th and 57^th Guards Cavalry Regiments completely cleared Pabianice and reached the defensive line: 55^th Guards Cavalry Regiment – Shinkelyuv, Betrokozy; 57^th Guards Cavalry Regiment – Pabianice. The enemy, in an effort to retake the abandoned line and close their encirclement around Lodz, against the 55^th and 57^th Guards Cavalry Regiment's threw up to 20 Tanks and Armored Personnel Carriers at our battalion headquarters. Until 20.1.45 the units fought a heavy battle, but did not back down a single step from the milestone they had reached. In this battle, the enemy suffered serious losses in manpower and equipment.

The 53^rd Guards Cavalry Regiment, following on the tail of the Divison by 1:00pm on 20.1.45 had reached the south outskirts had reached Kol. Vola-Zaradzinsk, where they were stopped by the headquarters in readiness to distinguish the success of the 55^th and 57^th Guards Cavalry Regiments – 800 metres west. At this boundary, the division facilitated the encirclement and capture of the city of Lodz, for which in an order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Marshall of the Soviet Union Stalin, “expressed gratitude for the excellent fighting” of the Division.

From the first blow to the breakthrough from 15.1.45 to 20.1.45 the enemy suffered the following losses: 1700 Soldiers and officers destroyed, 72 vehicles, 16 tanks and APC's, 2 Anti-aircraft guns, 33 machine guns, 3 aircraft, 15 carts and up to 500 rifles and machine guns.

Captured were: 281 Soldiers and Officers, 62 Horses, 5 saddles, 10 machine guns, 200 rifles and submachine guns, 10 cars, 1 radio station and special installation, 10 motorcycles, 2 steam locomotives, 542 wagons, 10 warehouses.

In view of the fact that parts of the division were rapidly advancing forward, it was not possible to take into account all of the trophies and losses of the enemy. Seperate detachments and patrols moving on the flanks of the division, at a distance of up to 2km destroyed small enemy groups on their way and captured trophies, but often without informing the command.

 

During the same time, the Division has suffered the following loses: 45 people killed, 183 woulded, 199 horses killed, 102 horses wounded, 1 car destroyed, 1 37mm anti-aircraft gun damaged. It should also be noted that how at 3:00 on 20.1.45 our units had knocked out the main group of Germans from Pabianice, in small houses, small pockets of enemy machine gunners continued to fight until noon on 21.1.45, and only by 12:00 on 21.1.45 were the small groups of machine gunners in Pabianice completely eliminated.

At the completion of the fighting at Pabianice, on 20.1.45 an oral battle order was received from the headquarters of the Corps through the Operational Unit of the headquarters Guards Lieutenant Colonel Makarov to further pursue the enemy along the route: Pobiance, Zhitovoitsa, Babenets, Kiki, Yatyatus, Suchozheza, Viktorov, Vozniki, Seradz, Kostenzin and by 20:00 on 20.1.45 to capture the borders of: Ozhezhin, Slomkuv Mokry, Slomkuv Sukhy, Serodz and Smardzev.