OMSBON - Independent Special Purpose Motorized Brigade

Usually OMSBON men were entrusted with the most dangerous missions. They covered withdrawing units, defended crossings, and made up the core of breakthrough groups. Thus, describing a battle with a punitive expedition in the summer of 1943 in the Bobruysk forests, I. F. Zolotar emphasized the following: «The support of the Moscow submachine gunners from the Ozmitel' and Galushkin detachments was especially valuable in this battle.» A year later, in June 1944, they both were leading battles against punitive expeditions during the fascist blockade of the partisan zone. Lieutenant B. L. Galushkin was a participant in the defense of Leningrad and Moscow, and twice went on special assignment into the enemy rear in 1942–1943. During his third mission, he became a detachment commander. In the forests around Bobruysk, he commanded an assault group and supported the breakout of the detachment from encirclement. Mortally wounded, he fell a hero in that same battle. Senior Lieutenant F. F. Ozmitel' also commanded an assault group during the breaking of an enemy blockade in the Narovlyan forests. Confusing the enemy, he twice broke through the ring and purposely went back inside, drawing the punitive forces away from the partisan main force. Wounded, he blew himself up with a grenade to avoid capture.

In May-June 1944, the enemy attempted to destroy the partisan in the Minsk-Slutsk-Osipovichi triangle. The assault force of the partisans' defense was the Gradov formation, which had received reinforcements from Moscow in the form of D. M. Kuznetsov's special detachment (forty submachine gunners). They covered the crossing of the Ptich' River while the main body of the partisans and local inhabitants fled from the punitive expedition, and successfully repelled the sudden enemy attacks. The last day of the fascist blockade of this region was 6 June. Having withstood twelve attacks, the submachine gunners moved to break out. «I led Dmitriy Kuznetsov's group of submachine gunners to the place chosen for the breakout,» recalled Gradov. «We met the enemy face to face, and fired at point-blank range. The enemy could not withstand our assault, and fled.» The mass of those who had been blockaded poured into the space that had been formed, and withdrew with almost no losses.

The combat path of the partisan formation named in honor of Alexandr Nevskiy, the core of which was V. A. Karasev's detachment, which fought in Ukraine, Byelorussia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary, covered 12,000 kilometers. It was sent to Poland at the request of the leadership of the Polish Workers' Party and operated there in contact with the detachments of the People's Army and the underground.Junior Lieutenant M. M. Petrov died a hero in the summer of 1944 in Janovsky Forest (Lublin province). The fascists continuously attacked and bombed the partisan positions, and then set the forest ablaze. Having repelled the sixteenth enemy attack, Petrov's men rose up in a bayonet attack and broke the ring of encirclement. But the commander was cut down by a burst of submachine gun fire. In August 1944, V. A. Krasev's formation was sent into Czechoslovakia to aid the Slovak uprising. It also operated with I. Fabra's Hungarian partisans in early 1945.

The fifteen-man operational group Formidible was inserted by parachute into the Berlin area on a January night in 1945. Each of the men already was experienced in combat operations in the enemy rear. But now they had to operate under especially complex conditions, in the immediate vicinity of the fascist capital. Their assault went undetected. Before dawn, the group managed to get to the nearest forest, where the assault force spent its first day on German territory. With the approach of darkness, it went deeper into the woods, where it came upon a single house. Surrounding it, and believing that only peaceful civilians were inside, the agents went in. Former detachment radio operator V. G. Rikhter recalls, «At the table sat several women, who were eating. Our sudden appearance brought terror to them. This was completely understandable, given the manner in which the Germans had portrayed us, and Goebbel's propaganda methods for instilling terror in the German people concerning the approach of the Red Army. And here we were, standing at the threshold... The women calmed down a bit. We found out our location, and clarified the situation.» The group had landed in the Althorst district, 100 kilometers northeast of Berlin. There it operated successfully well into the spring of 1945, when the front line grew nearer. The whole time, the agents radioed back information to the command about the disposition of enemy forces, the location of military installations, and the construction of defensive fortifications on the approaches to Berlin. Another large group of OMSBON men greeted the Day of Victory [9 May 1945] in defeated Berlin.

Brigade operators had a significant role in the struggle against bourgeoisie nationalists in Ukraine and the Baltic regions. We will highlight only one fact. While carrying out a special mission, the detachment named in honor of Bogdan Khmel'nitskiy (commanded by V. V. Lebed') simultaneously conducted a struggle with the Banderovs in the area of the cities Rovno and Poles'ye. A female agent of the detachment penetrated the Banderov headquarters under the guise of a representative of a nationalistically inclined youth, and over an extended period of time reported information about the proposed actions of the armed bands.

In the summer of 1945, the OMSBON command summed up the results of the brigade's combat activities from 1941–1945. Its soldiers had derailed 1,415 enemy trains and 5 armored trains, destroyed 1,232 locomotives, 13,181 rail cars, 145 tanks and armored cars, 2,177 wheeled vehicles, prime movers, and motorcycles, blown up 148 kilometers of rail line, 335 rail and highway bridges, shot down 51 aircraft, destroyed 122 garrisons and headquarters, destroyed 700 kilometers of telephone and telegraph line, committed more than 400 other acts of sabotage, engaged the enemy in 1,084 battles, killing approximately 137,000 enemy soldiers and officers, and liquidated 87 important occupation authorities and 2,045 fascist agents and accomplices. They did not include the results of reconnaissance activities, nor did they take into account the contribution of OMSBON to the organization of the partisan movement.

More than 1,000 brigade soldiers and officers perished while carrying out these missions. The Motherland holds their memory sacred. The streets of many of our cities are called by the names of D. N. Medvedev, N. I. Kuznetsov, L. Kh. Papernik, B. L. Galushkin, and other Chekists. Memorials have been erected in Moscow to OMSBON athletes D. N. Medvedev and L. V. Kulakov, in L'vov to N. I. Kuznetsov, on Malov field (Borisov region) to F. F. Ozmitel' and B. L. Galushkin, and in the village Khludnevo (Kaluga area) to twenty-three hero-skiers. A monument to P. F. Pilyugin and A. V. Malyugin is in the village of Privol'ye (Smolensk area), and an obelisk is at the grave of A. M. Dolgushin at Gomelshchina. The names of a number of the brigade's heroes are immortalized in the names of enterprises, schools, sports complexes, frontier posts, and in museum displays.

The exploits of Chekists are highly regarded by the Motherland. The rank Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to S. A. Vaupshasov, B. L. Galushkin, V. A. Karasev, N. I. Kuznetsov, P. G. Lopatin, D. N. Medvedev, Ye. I. Mirkovskiy, F. F. Ozmitel', K. P. Orlovskiy, L. Kh. Papernik, N. A. Prokopyuk, M. I. Petrov, M. S. Prudnikov, A. M. Rabtsevich, and A. N. Shikov. Orders and medals were awarded to 5,172 soldiers of the brigade, 3,934 of whom were Communists of Komsomol members. Many were given awards by Bulgaria, GDR, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. The newspaper Victory for Us wrote on 27 June 1945, «Our organization is of the same age as the Great Patriotic War. It was created in June 1941, and traveled the great path from Moscow to Berlin. The missions which our soldiers, sergeants, and officers fulfilled were difficult and unusual. Operating in the deep rear of the enemy, mining the approaches to the capital, conducting reconnaissance work at the fronts, forming partisan detachments, they always displayed courage and heroism, and exemplified models of military expertise, endurance, boldness... The sons of the Party of Lenin were out in front at the most difficult moments of the battle. They led the young patriots in the attack and in the defeat of the enemy.»

OMSBON veterans are at work today. Among them are workers, collective farmers, scientists, managers of enterprises and government departments, journalists, and writers. Several devoted themselves to Chekist work. Many have been awarded orders and medals for labor heroism, and former demolitions expert of the detachment named in honor of Aleksandr Nevskiy, D. I. Chervyakov, who was associated with the Minsk machine works, was awarded the honor Hero of Socialist Labor. Even in peacetime, OMSBON men continue the glorious traditions of their brigade.

Source: F. L. Kurlat, L. A. Studnikov, «Voprosy istorii», #10 1982;
Translated by: James F. Gebhardt