50 years in the fortress
Author: V. I. PERSTNEV
The article was published in the annual issue of the historical almanac of Transnistria, No. 4, 2000, pp. 67-70. In preparing the article, materials from diaries, documents, historical references from the personal archive of M.V. Sannikov.
The second separate heavy pontoon regiment, (OTPP) or military unit No. 16922, after the end of World War II, was stationed in the Bendery fortress for almost half a century.
Remarkable is not only the combat path of the regiment, but also the uniqueness of this formation itself, which took part in the Iasi-Kishinev operation of the Soviet troops.
Honorary citizen of the city of Bendery M.V. Sannikov, the former deputy commander of the named regiment for political affairs, is one of the few living witnesses of those memorable milestones. Mikhail Vasilyevich is no less than 96 years old, but his memory still tenaciously stores names, events, dates. Where she turns out to be powerless, the gaps are filled with photographs, documents, diaries, which the veteran carefully keeps. “Like many of my comrades, I happened to serve in the 2nd Separate Heavy Pontoon Regiment of the Reserve of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command,” says Mikhail Vasilyevich. It was a pontoon regiment, not only the only one in our army, but throughout the world. A regiment capable of crossing any river barrier, and, which is especially characteristic, passing trains of any tonnage, which had no analogues in world practice. A reasonable question may arise: if the regiment wore the 2nd serial number, then where was the first one? The 1st OTPP was stationed on the Dnieper River in Kyiv and was completely destroyed by the first Nazi air raids at the beginning of the war.
The 2nd OTPP was formed during June-September 1936 in the village of Budunda, Blagoveshchensky District, Amur Region, Khabarovsk Territory, on the basis of a company of the 16th pontoon battalion of the 12th Infantry Division under the command of Major Dmitry Rusakov. The first order for the part was issued on June 6, 1936. This date became her birthday, on March 3, 1941, the regiment was given the code name - 16922.
The 2nd regiment was stationed on the Zena River and was considered the best of the engineering units in the Far East, when on September 16, 1943, by order of the Supreme High Command, it left at the disposal of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, having received an order to ensure the crossing to the river. Dnieper near the city of Dnepropetrovsk. In order to relocate a regiment consisting of two battalions, a technical company and an anti-aircraft machine gun cover company, 11 echelons with 4-axle platforms were required. On the outskirts of the city of Dnepropetrovsk, the enemy, while retreating, blew up the railway tracks in a number of places, and the pontooners, together with the railway workers, had to restore them. From November 5 to November 12, part of the trains arrived in Nizhne-Dneprovsk. It took 129 hours to ensure round-the-clock unloading of equipment, in addition, it was necessary to assemble structures and build a heavy railway bridge across the river. Dnieper, since all the bridges in the area of Dnepropetrovsk were destroyed by the Germans.
The 650-meter-long bridge was built in 2 hours and 45 minutes, and, as Mikhail Vasilyevich recalls, immediately, in the interval of 15-20 minutes, echelons with tanks, heavy artillery, ammunition and food went over it - everything that the three Ukrainian fronts needed for the offensive throughout the theater of operations. The crossing was guarded by three anti-aircraft divisions and operated for 30 days. During this time, 1,576 trains, 68,800 wagons, 3,640,000 tons of cargo, 189,000 vehicles and tractors were passed through it.
The crossing area on November 30, 1943 was placed by the deputies of the NPO of the USSR Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov, commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, General of the Army R.Ya. Malinovsky. The combat mission was carried out in extreme conditions. The ice drift that began on December 11 tore the bridge from both banks. The situation was saved by the fact that below the blown up railway bridge with its farms delayed the ferry rushing along the river with tanks and other military cargo. It took 19 days to remove the bridge from the ice and transfer it for repair to the plant. Petrovsky (in peacetime it would take 2-3 months). For the successful completion of a combat mission on the banks of the river. Marshal of the Engineer Troops Vorobyov of the Dnieper, thanked all the personnel of the unit, 215 soldiers were awarded orders and medals.
Upon completion of the repair, the regiment's park was transported by railway trains to the city of Zaporozhye and lowered into the water below the dam. Having collected it in ferries, under their own power, the pontoons departed south to the Trihata region. On May 5, 1944, a floating railway bridge with a total length of 340 meters was built near this village, after which the trains with military equipment followed the shortest route to Odessa. The regiment, on its own initiative, picked up a park abandoned by the Germans in the Bug estuary and brought a crossing from it to the river. Ingulets.
A bright page in the history of the unit was its active participation in the Iasi-Kishinev operation of the Soviet troops. The equipment of the regiment in difficult and dangerous conditions passed under its own power along the Black Sea to the Dniester estuary. 2nd battalion under the command of Captain Nikitin K.A. received a combat mission: to build a railway bridge across the mouth of the Dniester estuary 150-200 meters from the Black Sea coast in the area of Zatoka. The width of this water barrier for the SP-19 park is small, only 155-160 meters, but its depth in the area of the bridge's guidance reached 25-30 meters. At the same time, the level of the water surface was significantly affected by the proximity of the sea, its ebb and flow, water driven up and driven by the wind, especially in stormy weather. All this required constant attention to the transitional parts of the bridge.
To firmly hold the bridge in its axis, sea anchors weighing from 1.5 to 2.5 tons were used instead of the standard anchors of the SP-19 fleet, and instead of anchor chains, cables of 17-19 mm were used. During the period of unloading the park from the platforms to the water and assembling the ferry structures, one of them, under the command of senior sergeant Ananyev of the 6th company, assembled among the first, was sent to the city of Ovidiopol. One of the hospitals with all its property and a number of other military cargoes was transported along it to the city of Belgorod-Dnestrovsky.
Despite all the difficulties, the railway bridge across the mouth of the Dniester Estuary for loads of 120 tons was built on August 23, 1944 and was operated until November 1944. During this time, hundreds of steam locomotives, 40,930 wagons, and about 3,000 vehicles passed through the crossing. Thus, the steel track went further west, and the bridge made it possible to reliably provide the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front with everything necessary for the successful completion of the Iasi-Kishinev operation and further advance into the territory of Romania and Bulgaria. At that time, this was of exceptionally great importance, since all other railway bridges across the river. The Dniester was blown up and has not yet been restored.
After the successful completion of the combat mission, the 6th pontoon company and part of the park of the 8th pontoon company remained unused. With the development of the success of the Iasi-Kishinev operation, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front reached the Danube River in its lower reaches, liberated the cities of Izmail and Reni, crossed the Danube and entered the territory of Romania. It became necessary to arrange crossings across the Danube with front-line crossing facilities, since all army and corps engineering units went ahead with the advancing troops.
The command of the regiment was ordered to provide permanent crossings across the Danube in the area of the cities of Izmail and Tulcea on the territory of Romania to ensure an offensive towards the Balkans, the liberation of Romania, Bulgaria and entry into the territory of Yugoslavia.
To the commander of the 6th pontoon company, Senior Lieutenant Bogdanov K.V. an order was given under the guidance of a pilot with a map of the sea situation to leave the Dniester estuary to the Black Sea and go under its own power into one of the branches of the Danube - the Kiliya arm, climb up this arm, turn above the city of Izmail into the Sulina arm and go downstream to the city of Tulcea, where it is necessary to provide a bridge crossing for 30-ton cargo. The 6th company was given one 30-ton ferry from the 8th company under the command of senior sergeant Kuznetsov.
Ferries of the 6th company in the amount of 6 units left the Dniester estuary in early September and by the end of the day entered the mouth of the Kiliya branch, reaching the city of Vilkovo late in the evening. A minesweeper and two boats of the "Sea Hunter" type accompanied the park's column to the mouth of the Kiliya branch. The march was successful. Having reached Tulci, the company moved all the pontoons from the 60-ton structure to the 30-ton one and proceeded to build the bridge under the loads. It was not without difficulties. The width of the Sulinsky branch in the area of the bridge crossing exceeded 200 meters, and a company with a cash fleet of SP-19 in the amount of 9 units could only cover 171 meters. From another front-line engineering unit, an NLP ferry park was delivered, by means of which the rest of the water table was blocked from the side of the right bank of the arm.
The 1st pontoon battalion under the command of Major Falin P.I., the headquarters of the regiment and all support units continued to remain on the Southern Bug River in the area with. Trikhaty until the completion of the Iasi-Kishinev operation and the withdrawal of front troops to the river. Danube, when crossing facilities were urgently needed.
At the end of August 1944, the regiment without the 2nd battalion received an order from the head of the engineering troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front to redeploy from the Southern Bug to the Danube. To accomplish the task, the regiment was assigned sea tugs, minesweepers and mine defense boats, since there were many mines in the waters of the Dniester-Bug estuary and the Black Sea. Having loaded all the property of the rear, repair vehicles, the headquarters of the regiment formed 4 columns, each of which was pulled by a sea tug. Having reached the mouth of the Kiliya branch, then the battalion moved on its own to Izmail, and the third company, repeating the path of the sixth company, went to the city of Tulcha. All ferries of the first battalion were assembled in designs for 60-ton cargo.
The regiment received a new combat mission: to provide a floating bridge crossing for loads of 60 tons through the Kiliya branch in the city of Izmail and the same crossing in the Tulchi region through the Sulinsky branch. Therefore, with the approach of the 3rd company to Tulcea, the 6th company urgently opened the bridge, carried out a bulkhead of the ferries from a 30-ton structure to a 60-ton one. By joint efforts, a bridge crossing was provided through the Sulina arm for horse-drawn and automobile cargo. The rest of the units of the 1st battalion provided the arrangement of the same crossing through the Kiliya arm in the area of the city of Izmail. A through route to the southern wing of the front was opened for all army cargo. Both bridges operated until the end of October 1944.
The regiment received a new combat mission: to raise both bridges on the Danube and to march along the river to the territory of Hungary. On October 31 and November 1, both bridges were raised. The march again had to be made with the help of tugboats. Columns of ferries were formed in a 60-ton structure, port-by-rope on cable couplers. The first to leave on November 2, 1944 was the column of the sixth company. She was towed by a Romanian diesel tug "Zhiul" with a capacity of 1200 horsepower. It was followed by a column of the third company in tow, and behind it were the other companies of the 1st battalion. In the sixth company there was a platoon of anti-aircraft DShKs of an anti-aircraft machine-gun company and part of a reconnaissance platoon of the regiment under the command of junior lieutenant Klimenko.
On November 7, 1944, the personnel of the sixth company met the holiday on the raid of the river. Danube in the Bulgarian city of Rusa. The march of the company and battalion in tugboats up to the Iron Gate roll went well. At one time, on this rift for escorting ships going up the river. Danube, a canal 1600 meters long and 30-35 meters wide was built near the right bank. The speed of the current in the channel reached 30 meters per second. A railway track was laid along the mainland shore of the canal, along which a steam locomotive ran, designed to tow ships along the canal. The loaf of the sixth company was divided in half, i.e. three ferries each, a towing cable was brought from the locomotive to the tugboat and safely passed the canal. But when leaving the canal, when the towing cable was released, one diesel on the Zhiul stalled, and the whole caravan was pulled back into the canal, which threatened with a big accident. The emergency situation was saved by the team serving the canal. The cable to the tug was again filed and the locomotive kept the caravan in the canal until the start of the second diesel engine in tow. The second part of the caravan was pulled over the rift by another, more powerful tug of 2400 horsepower, which took the remaining ferries through. "Iron Gates" is a very insidious roll. There, due to the confusion of the helmsman, even the armored boat of the Danube flotilla was sunk. The same fate, when escorting one of the companies of the 1st battalion, befell a semi-glider with personal belongings of the battalion commander, Major Falin.
No less dangerous was the roll at the city of Orshevo, upstream of the city of Turku-Severin. To escort the caravan of the sixth company through this rift, a powerful tug of 2400 horsepower was again called. To prevent our boats from being flooded with water from the tug wheels, we had to bring a large wooden barge with cargo between the ship and the caravan, and batten down the hatches of the cabins and compartments on our boats. The current on the rift is very strong, so it took a long time to overcome it.
In the capital of Yugoslavia, Belgrade, the caravan of the sixth company arrived white of emergency, but all the way from the cities of Vitin and Kalafat it was accompanied by minesweepers of the Danube Flotilla. Starting from the city of Turku Severin, the Danube was heavily littered with multi-pulse electromagnetic mines weighing 0.5 and 0.7 kg, which were dropped into the Danube by German aircraft. The peculiarity of these mines was that they reacted to the metal not once, but many times. The fuse of such a mine can work for the first, and for the tenth, and for the hundredth time when a ship with a metal hull passes through it. This is her insidiousness.
From the city of Belgrade, the rear command of the 3rd Ukrainian Front and the Danube Flotilla formed a huge caravan of various ships loaded with everything necessary for the troops of the front, which, accompanied by six minesweepers, stretched along the river for 25-30 km. It was headed by the headquarters of the Danube Flotilla, located on the Bulgarian passenger steamer "Queen Joanna".
At the mouth of the Danube, the unit ensured the passage of the tank corps to destroy the Balaton grouping. The final stop of the 2nd Separate heavy pontoon regiment is Baia (Hungary). Having relocated under its own power to this area during November-December 1944, the regiment sent a railway pontoon regiment during December 25. Two days later, in connection with the beginning of the ice drift, the unit received the task of organizing a ferry crossing. For the period from December 27 to February 15, 8,734 vehicles, 2,687 fuel trucks, 24,353 tons of ammunition, 24,416 tons of fuel, 686 guns were transported on ferries.
In 1946, after the end of the Great Patriotic War, the regiment departed for the place of its permanent deployment - the city of Bendery.
…TO unfortunately, There is occasion speak And about historical injustice: 2-Ouch Separate heavy pontoon polk, perhaps, the only thing compound, not awarded V years wars neither high awards, neither honorarynaming. Already V peaceful time management parts addressed To command engineering troops Russian armies And Odessa military districts With petition O appropriation shelf denominations "Dnepropetrovsk","Danubian", But question So And Not was resolved.
New times could not but affect the further fate of the unit. IN March–august 1993 of the year The 2nd Separate Heavy Pontoon Regiment was withdrawn from the city of Bendery to Russia. A few years ago it ceased to exist, the regimental banner was handed over to the Podolsky military archive (Moscow region).
I would like to say about something else. Over the years, a special, almost family atmosphere has developed in the regiment. There is a simple explanation for this. Due to the fact that the regiment was the only unit of its kind, officers and ensigns served in Bendery almost on a permanent basis.
Together with their families, pontooners celebrated holidays, went to may days. Women's amateur performances were active in the regiment. To this day, the wives of officers and ensigns proudly call themselves "pontooners". The regiment is no longer there, but its veterans, their wives, widows gather meetings, run a joint mutual fund.
The 2nd Separate heavy pontoon regiment took its special place in the history of the city along with the famous 55th Russian infantry regiment Podolsky.
