Pavel Poluboyarov was born on June 16, 1901 (new style) in Tula in the family of a craftsman.

He graduated from the city school, after which he worked as an accountant and handyman at one of the local factories.

Imbued with the ideas of the October Revolution, he took part in political demonstrations, and in 1919 he volunteered for the Red Army.

At the origins of the armored forces

“By the standards of the Civil War, Poluboyarov, who graduated from college, was considered a well-educated person.

Such personnel were not scattered.

Therefore, after enrolling in the Red Army, he was sent to the infantry command courses, and then to the courses at the School of the High Command Personnel of the Armored Forces, "said Andrei Gorbunov, a researcher at the Victory Museum in an interview with RT.

According to the expert, in 1920 Poluboyarov was appointed commander of a heavy tank and took part in hostilities during the Civil War, in particular, in the fight against anti-Bolshevik detachments in the South Urals.

After the end of the war, he decided to become a professional soldier and remained in the army.

In 1926, Pavel Poluboyarov graduated from the Leningrad military-automobile armored school and was appointed platoon commander, first in Kharkov, and then in Berdichev.

“When Poluboyarov mastered the profession of a tanker, it was created practically from scratch.

The entire army had only a few dozen tanks.

These were, in fact, experimental troops.

It so happened that Poluboyarov was practically at the very origins of the Soviet armored forces, "said historian and writer Grigory Popov in an interview with RT.

At the end of 1929, Poluboyarov headed the armored division of the 45th Infantry Division in Kiev, and two years later, after graduating from the Technical Courses of OSOAVIAKHIM, he was appointed chief of staff of a training tank regiment.

In 1934, Poluboyarov, who by that time held the post of chief of the 1st sector of the armored forces of the Ukrainian Military District, was sent to the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army named after I.

I.V.

Stalin.

According to historians, after graduating from the academy in 1938, Poluboyarov received the highest practical assessment and was appointed chief of the armored forces of the Trans-Baikal Military District, which at that time had the most realistic prospects to take part in the war.

Already in 1939, he became a participant in the battles against Japanese troops on the Khalkhin-Gol River.

  • Soviet soldiers under cover of tanks go into battle in the area of ​​the Khalkhin-Gol river

  • RIA News

  • © Victor Temin

In 1940, Pavel Poluboyarov served for several months as deputy commander of the 17th Army in Transbaikalia.

At the end of the year, he was sent to the Advanced Training Courses for senior command personnel at the Academy of the General Staff of the Red Army, after which, according to experts, he received new "hot" appointments.

In 1941, he alternately headed the armored directorates of the Leningrad and Baltic military districts.

In the Baltic States, he was caught by the war with Nazi Germany.

"Iron General"

“In the first days of the war, Pavel Poluboyarov was appointed head of the armored directorate of the North-Western Front. It was a very difficult service. In terms of its military resources, the Northwestern Front was actually the weakest of all Soviet fronts. And Poluboyarov's tankmen had to take on the blow of two German tank groups at once - this is more than the Nazis used to capture individual European states. At the same time, the North-Western Front felt an acute shortage of tanks of a new type. But the Soviet tank crews fought to the death and successfully acted in unfavorable conditions for themselves, ”said Andrei Gorbunov.

According to him, despite human losses and loss of territories, Soviet troops did not allow the Nazis to surround themselves in the Baltic States, ensured the preservation of the Baltic Fleet and gained time to prepare the defense of Leningrad.

According to Andrei Gorbunov, this is a significant share of the merits of the tankers of Pavel Poluboyarov.

In March 1942, Poluboyarov was appointed deputy commander of the Kalinin Front for tank forces, but he sought to directly control the combat units.

In the summer, at his personal request, Poluboyarov was appointed commander of the 17th Panzer Corps, which operated as part of the Voronezh and then Southwestern Front.

“Pavel Poluboyarov began by organizing constant training for soldiers and commanders, and he personally conducted classes, including classes at the tank training ground.

He understood perfectly well that if he didn’t have time to prepare the corps for battles, then with the beginning of the offensive the unit would quickly burn in the fire of battles, ”noted Andrei Gorbunov.

At the end of 1942, the 17th Panzer Corps under the command of Poluboyarov, during the Middle Don offensive operation, broke through to the rear of the Nazis, liberated the village of Kantemirovka and cut the paths along which the Nazis were pulling up reserves to their troops.

For this feat, the 17th Panzer Corps of Poluboyarov was reorganized into the 4th Guards Kantemirovsky Tank Corps (nowadays - the Guards Tank Kantemirovskaya Order of Lenin, the Red Banner Division named after Yu.V. Andropov).

  • Pavel Poluboyarov with subordinates

  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

“Poluboyarov was able not only to prepare the corps for battles, he made it one of the best in the Red Army,” stressed Andrei Gorbunov.

According to Grigory Popov, an important role in the front-line achievements of Poluboyarov was played by the fact that he was part of the armored units of the Red Army, in fact, from the moment of their formation.

“He knew this sphere from A to Z and had an excellent command of the tactics of tank combat, skillfully organizing roundabout maneuvers, ambushes, and reflections,” the expert noted.

  • Great Patriotic War (1941-1945).

    Stalingrad, February 1943 Soviet tanks in the city

  • RIA News

  • © Georgy Zelma

In 1943, Poluboyarov's tankmen took part in the battles on the Oryol-Kursk Bulge and in the liberation of the Ukrainian SSR.

“The Kantemirovsky corps turned into an elite unit, which was faced with especially difficult tasks.

The skillful actions of the Kantemirovites in the Zhitomir region forced the Nazis to flee, abandoning their equipment, and greatly facilitated the liberation of this city, ”said Andrei Gorbunov.

According to him, Poluboyarov's tankmen also became one of the creators of the victory over a large Nazi group during the Lvov-Sandomierz operation near Brody in 1944.

  • Soviet soldiers are fighting on the streets of Lviv

  • © Wikimedia Commons

As Grigory Popov noted, thanks in large part to the successful actions of the 4th Guards Tank Corps, Soviet troops managed to quickly liberate Krakow, keeping this ancient city safe and sound.

For this, the building was awarded the Order of Lenin.

In the future, the tankers of the Kantemirovsky corps distinguished themselves during the Berlin and Prague operations.

For successful actions during the capture of Dresden, Pavel Poluboyarov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on May 29, 1945.

  • Pavel Poluboyarov

  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

In 1946, Poluboyarov was appointed commander of the 5th Guards Tank Army, and three years later - first deputy commander of the armored and mechanized forces of the Soviet Army.

Since 1954, he is the head of the armored (since 1961, tank) troops of the Soviet Army.

Under his leadership, the reorganization and rearmament of the tank units of the USSR was carried out.

According to historians, Soviet tank forces became the strongest in the world.

In 1962 Poluboyarov was promoted to Marshal of Armored Forces.

Seven years later, he was transferred to the post of military inspector-adviser to the Group of General Inspectors of the USSR Ministry of Defense.

In parallel with his military service, Poluboyarov was actively involved in social and scientific activities.

He was repeatedly elected as a deputy to councils of various levels, wrote several books.

Pavel Poluboyarov died on September 17, 1984.

His name was given to streets and educational institutions in various cities of Russia, as well as to one of the regiments of the Kantemirovsk division.

  • Pavel Poluboyarov

  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

“During the Great Patriotic War, Poluboyarov showed himself as a talented corps commander. For decisiveness and bravery, the tankers gave him the nickname "Iron General". Subordinates loved him, and the command appreciated. He was a high-level military leader who made a great contribution to the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and to the creation of the strongest tank forces in the post-war period, "summed up Andrei Gorbunov.