Product Code Database
Aleksey Semenovich Zhadov (), born with the surname " Zhidov" (, 30 March 1901 – 30 November 1977), was a Soviet military officer in the Red Army, who during World War II commanded the 66th Army, later renamed the 5th Guards Army, from the Battle of Stalingrad up till the end of the war. For his leadership of the army, Zhadov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. Postwar, Zhadov commanded the Central Group of Forces and was deputy commander of the Soviet Ground Forces.
On 27 June, the panzer groups of the German Army Group Center reached the outskirts of Minsk. Zhadov and Naumenko, instead of continuing to Minsk from Borisov, headed southeast to the headquarters of the Western Front located at a forest near Mogilev. On the morning of 28 June, he reported to the commander of the Western Front, General Dmitry Grigoryevich Pavlov, who simply briefed him: "The situation is complex, difficult, and most importantly is unclear." The forces of the Western Front were being mauled by German forces of Army Group Center in the Battle of Białystok–Minsk.
Minsk fell to the German panzer groups of Army Group Center on 28 June, resulting in the encirclement of most of the Western Front's units. On that same day, Pavlov issued orders for the 214th Airborne Brigade of the 4th Airborne Corps to launch an airborne assault in support of Major General Andrei Grigorevich Nikitin's 20th Mechanized Corps against the supply lines of Generaloberst Heinz Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group, but there was little information on the condition of 4th Airborne Corps or exactly where it was. On 27 June, the corps had been ordered by the Western Front headquarters to withdraw to the region of the Berezina River beyond the German encirclement, therefore Zhadov had to drive down to the area in hopes of finding any personnel from the unit's headquarters. At first, he couldn't locate his unit, but after a few more trials, he made contact and joined the unit on the night of 29 June.
In Zhadov's absence, the corps' Chief of Staff Colonel Alexander Fedorovich Kazankin had been commanding the unit, and had started preparations to execute Pavlov's orders of 28 June. On 30 June, the 214th Airborne Brigade began their attack, but since its paratroopers lacked the aircraft necessary to launch the airborne assault they deployed on trucks. The brigade failed to link up with the 20th Mechanized Corps, and both forces were easily defeated by the 2nd Panzer Group. The remnants of the brigade fought on for 3 months in the German rear and in the frontlines alongside other Soviet units. Throughout the first week of July, the 7th and 8th Airborne Brigades of the 4th Airborne Corps dug-in and defended along the banks of Berezina River. But by 7 July, the German 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions had reached the Dnieper River far to the rear of Zhadov's two airborne brigades, which both still held their positions along the Berezina River. Therefore, Zhadov's units withdrew towards the Dnieper River to avoid being completely cut off, and by 13 July have joined up with Soviet forces defending along the river. In late September, the remnants of the 214th Airborne Brigade were trapped in an encirclement during the Battle of Kiev, but on 24 September 200 survivors escaped the pocket and reached Soviet lines near Lebedyn. On 28 September the survivors reunited with their parent corps at Engel Air Base near Moscow.
On 25 April 1945, the 58th Guards Rifle Division of Zhadov's 5th Guards Army met the 69th Infantry Division of the United States First Army at the Elbe River, effectively cutting Germany in two. On 27 April in Torgau on the banks of the Elbe, the formal Handshake of Torgau was commemorated in front of cameras. On 30 April Zhadov hosted a boisterous victory party for the commanders and officers of the United States First Army and his 5th Guards Army, which included a banquet and carouse. During the party, he presented the First Army's commander, General Courtney Hodges, with the plaque of the 5th Guards Army received from the incumbent Soviet premier Joseph Stalin, and Hodges reciprocated by presenting the First Army's flag to him.
| Hero of the Soviet Union (6 April 1945) | |
| Order of Lenin, thrice (4 June 1944, 21 February 1945, 6 April 1945) | |
| Order of the October Revolution | |
| Order of the Red Banner, five times (12 February 1943, 27 August 1943, 3 November 1944, 2 September 1950, 15 November 1950) | |
| Order of Suvorov, 1st class, twice (22 February 1944, 29 May 1945) | |
| Order of Kutuzov, 1st class (28 January 1943) | |
| Order of the Red Star (15 June 1940) | |
| Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR, 3rd class (30 April 1975) | |
| Medal "For the Defence of Stalingrad" (1942) | |
| Medal "For the Defence of Moscow" (1944) | |
| Medal "For the Liberation of Prague" (1945) | |
| Medal "For the Capture of Berlin" (1945) | |
| Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1945) | |
| Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945" (1965) | |
| Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1975) | |
| Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1985) | |
| Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" (1969) | |
| Medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1976) | |
| Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" (1938) | |
| Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy" (1948) | |
| Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1958) | |
| Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1968) | |
| Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow" (1947) | |
| Medal of Sino-Soviet Friendship (China) | |
| Military Order of the White Lion "For Victory", 1st class (Czechoslovakia) | |
| Military Order of the White Lion "For Victory", 2nd class (Czechoslovakia) | |
| War Cross 1939–1945 (Czechoslovakia) | |
| Medal “For Strengthening Friendship in Arms”, Golden class (Czechoslovakia) | |
| Medal "In Commemoration of the Battle of Dukla Pass" (Czechoslovakia) | |
| Combat Order for Services to the People and the Fatherland, Gold (East Germany) | |
| Commander's Cross of the Virtuti Militari, twice (Poland) | |
| Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Poland) | |
| Cross of Valour (Poland) | |
| Order of the Cross of Grunwald, 3rd class (Poland) | |
| Medal "For Oder, Neisse and the Baltic" (Poland) | |
| Medal "For Warsaw 1939-1945" (Poland) | |
| Medal of Victory and Freedom 1945 (Poland) | |
| Order of the Red Banner (Mongolia) | |
| Medal "30 Years of the Victory in Khalkhin-Gol" (Mongolia) | |
| Medal "50 Years of the Mongolian People's Revolution" (Mongolia) | |
| Medal "50 Years of the Mongolian People's Army" (Mongolia) | |
| Order of Tudor Vladimirescu, 1st class, twice (Romania) | |
| Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States) | |
|
|
