Mishkin Nikolai Timofeevich (1922-15-10 - 1944-22-09) - company commander of the 2nd tank battalion of the 181st tank brigade of the 18th tank corps of the 53rd army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, senior lieutenant. For the heroism and courage shown in the struggle against the German invaders, he deserves the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously).
Biography
Nikolai Timofeevich Mishkin was born on October 15, 1922 in the village of Merkulevo, Bryansk Region, into a peasant family. He graduated from seven classes of secondary school, and then, in the spring of 1941 - an agricultural college. He worked in his own collective farm.
Nikolai was drafted into the army by the Bryansk RVK of the Oryol region, where he ended up in the Oryol armored school, from which he graduated in 1942. However, Nikolai got to the front only in January 1944. He fought on the 2nd Ukrainian Front. Mishkin commanded a company of the 2nd tank battalion of the 181st tank brigade of the 18th tank corps of the 53rd army of the 2nd Ukrainian front. From the first to the last days of the fighting, Nikolai Mishkin fought the enemy with courage and courage. He was able to find a way out of the most difficult situations with the least losses.
Combat path
In the conditions of real hostilities, Nikolai immediately distinguished himself. Already in January-February 1944, together with his tank company, Lieutenant Mishkin took part in the Korsun-Shevchenko offensive operation. His company had to destroy the enemy grouping, which was surrounded in the area of the village of Dzhurzhentsy, Lysyansky district, Cherkasy region.
Realizing that certain death awaits them in case of defeat, the Nazis made desperate efforts to break through to their main forces and break through the encirclement ring. However, a company of tankers under the command of Mishkin did not allow the Germans to leave. The group, numbering up to 5,000 enemy soldiers and officers, was destroyed. In addition, Soviet tank crews destroyed 7 anti-tank guns, 6 enemy tanks, more than 60 vehicles and over 700 German soldiers and officers. The commander, Lieutenant Mishkin, especially distinguished himself in battle. He destroyed more than 10 vehicles, 2 "tigers", and about 180 enemy soldiers and officers. For his courage and courage shown and the damage inflicted on the enemy, Nikolai Timofeevich was awarded the Order of the Red Star.
Feat
In 1944, Senior Lieutenant Mishkin with his company of tankmen participated in the liberation of Romania from the invaders. On September 22, the commander of the formation, Colonel Indeykin, set a task for a tank reconnaissance company under the command of Nikolai Mishkin: to raid behind enemy lines and break through the enemy defenses in the Paulim-Pau area.
Near the town of Molnor, the Nazis tried to stop the tankers with the help of artillery and aircraft. But the soldiers, following the example of their commander, fought desperately, preventing the enemy from gaining an advantage. The tankers destroyed 30 vehicles, 18 anti-tank guns, 50 wagons with military equipment and more than four hundred opponents. In the end, the company ran out of ammunition, and the Nazis rushed forward, trying to take the detachment into the ring.
Nikolai Timofeevich decided to lead a tank company into the attack.
Here is how the correspondent of the newspaper Desnyanskaya Pravda Vladimir Levin tells about this battle in his article: “According to F. Isaychikov, who studied the details of the battle, it was like this. Seeing that the gun barrel peeped out from behind a hillock to the right of the road, Mishkin realized that there was an enemy battery there. It must be destroyed. He turned his tank around and, going into the rear of the enemy battery, headed towards the village.
The position of the enemy was being opened. Nikolai stopped the tank and began to conduct aimed fire. Here one gun flew into the air, here the second, third, and fourth are disabled. The enemy's battery has ceased to exist
But then there was a crash from the garden, and immediately - the second shot. There were two more guns. Nikolai directs his tank at them. The enemy shoots at Mishkin's tank, but does not cause him significant harm. At this time, a convoy of enemy vehicles appeared from behind a bend in the road. There was no time to think. The company commander directed his tank towards a rapprochement, fired at the trailing vehicle on the way. The soldiers began to jump, and the tank stopped and smashed the car with targeted fire. Then he began to destroy others, to shoot the infantry."
The tank of the commander himself was hit by a shell and the car caught fire. Mishkin did not leave the burning tank, but directed it at the enemy's equipment. He destroyed 8 cars, 15 wagons with military equipment, six guns, about forty soldiers and officers. The enemy's resistance was broken - the tankers provided the Soviet units with the opportunity to break through the German defenses.
Unfortunately, the hero himself did not manage to escape. Senior Lieutenant Mishkin died in a burning tank, fighting to his last breath in order to inflict maximum damage on the enemy and make it easier for his comrades to break through the German defense.
Nikolai Timofeevich was buried in Romania, near the city of Arad and the place where he took his last battle. And he won. He was 22 years old.
By the decree of 1944-05-03 Nikolai Timofeevich Mishkin was awarded the Order of the Red Star, by the decree of 03.24.1945 - the Order of Lenin. 1945-24-03 Senior Lieutenant Mishkin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously.
Memory
In 2014, in the year of the seventieth anniversary of Mishkin's death, in the village of Merkulevo, in the homeland of Nikolai Timofevich, a museum exposition entitled "The Feat of a Tankman" was opened in the House of Culture, dedicated to the heroic combat path of the famous countryman.
Every year dozens of people come here, residents of Merkuliev and those who come to learn about the feat of the tanker. His contribution to the great victory will remain in the hearts of posterity.
