Kolobanov Zinovy Grigorievich was born on December 25, 1910. Graduated from the Frunze Armored School with honors. Participated in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939 - 1940. He burned three times in a tank, for which he was awarded the Order of Lenin. Zinovy Grigorievich met the Great Patriotic War with the rank of senior lieutenant and company commander of heavy tanks. He was subordinate to 5 heavy KV-1 tanks.
On August 19, 1941, Zinovy Grigorievich received an order to cover 3 roads leading to the city of Krasnogvardeysk (Gatchina). After analyzing the terrain, Kolobanov sent 2 tanks into an ambush on the Luga road, two on the Kingsepp road, and he himself remained to guard the seaside direction. Kolobanov took up a position opposite the T-junction. A special trench was dug for the tank, which was perfectly camouflaged. As a result, German intelligence on motorcycles did not notice the camouflaged tank. A fallback position has also been prepared. The location for the ambush was very well chosen. On both sides of the road there were swampy fields, which made it difficult for German technology to maneuver. The commander placed the infantry that arrived to support them in a nearby forest so that they would not fall under tank fire.
The next day, 22 German Pz. Kpfw III tanks appeared on the horizon. Kolobanov let the tanks go as close as possible and gave the order to open fire on the leading tanks under the cross.
Accurate shots of the gun commander, Usov Andrey Mikhailovich, knocked out 2 head tanks. Confusion arose in the ranks of the enemy. The tanks began to bump into each other. And after 2 trailing tanks were knocked out, the German column was trapped. At first, the Germans, not seeing their enemy, opened indiscriminate fire on the haystacks, mistaking them for camouflaged tanks. But having identified the source of the fire, they began to intensively fire at Kolobanov's tank. Although the advancing Hitlerites had a numerical superiority, their 37-caliber armor-piercing shells bounced off the reinforced KV-1 armor, while strongly stunning the Soviet tankers. The tank sustained about 156 hits. The Germans tried to turn off the road in the field, but began to get stuck in the marshy area. The tank's crew methodically destroyed all the German tanks, but then the enemy rolled out anti-tank guns to the position.
A shell from one of them shot down the tank's periscope. Then the senior sergeant gunner-radio operator of the tank - Pavel Ivanovich Kiselkov climbed onto the tank and replaced the broken device under heavy fire. After another hit by an anti-tank gun, the tank's turret jammed. But the senior mechanic driver, Nikolai Ivanovich Nikiforov, with skillful tank maneuvers ensured precise aiming of the gun at the remaining German equipment. As a result, the entire enemy column was completely destroyed.
After this battle, the entire crew was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but, for some unknown reason, the fighters received more modest awards: Kolobanov Z. G., Nikiforov N. I. were awarded the orders of the red banner, Usov A. M. was awarded the Order of Lenin and Kiselkov P. I. received a medal for courage.
Kolobanov Zinovy Georgievich died on August 8, 1994, without waiting for the Hero's star for his outstanding feat. An action to collect signatures under a petition to the President to assign Z. G. Kolobanov has started in St. Petersburg. title of Hero (posthumously). 102,000 signatures have already been collected. As many people as possible should say their firm “for”, and then the historical injustice will be corrected. The hero will receive his reward, albeit posthumously. But then we can say with confidence: "No one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten."
