Ivan Vasilievich Boldin

The Early Years

Ivan Boldin was born in August 1892, in the village of Vysokaya in the Penza Province, where he grew up and was educated. After the outbreak of WWI he was drafted into the 23rd Rifle Regiment. The Regiment was posted to the Turkish Front and where he took part in operations around Erzurum and Kars. After the start of the Revolution he became politically active, serving as an elected member of both his Regimental and Divisional revolutionary committees. Politics were a passion, which would characterize the remainder of his military career. After his demobilization, he continued his political activity, serving in a variety of local and regional committees and joining the Communist Party in 1918. In October 1919, as the Civil War opened he joined the Red Army, serving as a Company commander fighting Finnish forces on the Karelian Peninsula. In 1920 he was posted to the Western Front, serving as a Battalion commander in the 492nd Rifle Regiment, first along the Estonian border against White Russian forces and then against the Poles in the Russo-Polish War. In mid 1920, he was given command of the 52nd Rifle Regiment, which took part in fighting around Warsaw.
In late 1921 he began a course at the Vystrel Officer Rifle School near Kursk. It was here he first met other upcoming officers such as Purkayev and Berzarin. Following his graduation in late 1923, he was given command of the 252nd Rifle Regiment at Tula. He formed the unit from scratch and also served as a member of the Tula city Soviet. His skill at unit building was exploited again in 1924 when he was given command of the Separate Moscow Rifle Regiment in Moscow. In late 1926 he attended a short course at the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow. Following his graduation in 1926, he was appointed as Deputy Commander of the 19th 'Labour Red Banner' Division in Voronezh. In mid 1930 he became an instructor at the Lenin Military-Political Academy in Moscow, where the training of Red Army commissars took place. In mid 1931 he moved again, this time to become both Commander and Political Commissar of the 53rd Territorial Rifle Division in Samara. It was during his command that he became aquainted with Boris Shaposhnikov, then his Military District Commander, who would later become Chief of the General Staff.

A Rapid Ascendancy

In late 1934, he began a two year course at the Frunze Academy in Moscow, where he came into contact with Purkayev, Yeremenko and Konev. The officers who graduated from this and other courses at the time were earmarked to replace those who would perish during the military purges of 1937. When he graduated in early 1937, he was given command of another new division, the 18th Rifle Division in Petrograd. In 1938 he was awarded the 'Order of the Red Banner' and given command of the 17th Rifle Corps in Vinnitsa. Here he served under Timashenko, his District Commander and Krushchev, his Military District Commissar. In mid 1938, his rapid rise continued and he was assigned commander of the newly created Kalinin Military District.
As war loomed in Europe in 1939, he was given command of a Cavalry-Mechanized Group in the Western Military District. Boldin's Group spearheaded the advance of the Belorussian Fronts assault into Eastern Poland in September 1939. After the short campaign ended, he was chosen to head the military delegation, which oversaw the Russian occupation of Latvia. In October 1939 he was appointed Commander of the Odessa Military District, which in June 1940 took part in the occupation of Bessarabia. At the end of the campaign he was promoted to Lieutenant General and appointed Deputy Commander of the Western Military District under General Pavlov.

Barbarossa Begins

When the German invasion opened on the 22nd of June, Boldin was ordered by Pavlov to mount a counter attack against German forces advancing on Grodno. The almost total breakdown in command and communications made it impossible for Boldin to carry out this mission successfully, however his force, the 6th Mechanized Corps, launched repeated attacks, which although spirited were eventually smashed. By late June, the Corps, along with the 3rd, 4th and 10th Armies, were trapped in a huge pocket to the west of Minsk. Boldin, along with a group of approximately 1500 survivors spent 45 days fighting their way out through the German ring and eventually reached the safety of the Russian lines.
Following his escape, Timoshenko appointed him Deputy Commander of the Western Front under Konev. In October, German forces launched operation 'Typhoon' the offensive to capture Moscow. During the ensuing Vyazma operation, Boldin was assigned command of an operational Group and tasked with halting the rapid advance of the 3rd Panzer Group towards the city from the north. The counter attack failed and Boldin's Group was encircled to the west of Vyazma. During his successful attempt to break out of the encirclement and reach the safety of Russian lines, Boldin was wounded and subsequently hospitalized in Moscow.
After a short period of recovery, Boldin was given command of the 50th Army and tasked with the defence of Tula. With the city almost encircled, the Army launched repeated counter attacks against forces of the 2nd Panzer Army and finally stalled its advance with the help of General Belov's 1st Guards Cavalry Corps.

The Tide Turns

On the 6th of December, Boldin's 50th Army went over to the offensive and was ordered to attack south and southeast from Tula. The losses in manpower and material during the earlier defensive battles left the Army with insufficient strength to carry out the attacks with any great success, however in conjunction with attacks from the 10th and 49th Armies, 2nd Panzer was forced to withdraw across its entire front.
In February 1942, Boldin's Army took part in the Rzhev-Vyazma and Yukhnov offensives. But lack of manpower, ammunition, air support and poor ground conditions led to the offensives breaking down.
During the remainder of 1942 and early 1943, the central sector of the Eastern Front remained relatively calm. However, for the Kursk offensive in July 1943, Boldin's Army would be thrust back into battle. He was ordered to launch a secondary attack and provide flank support for 11th Guards Army in its attack against the northern flank of the Orel salient. The offensive, which began on the 13th of July, saw 50th Army locked in fierce fighting along the Zhisdra River north of Orel. Following a short pause, 50th Army took part in the Bryansk offensive. Following two secret regroupings, it attacked the weak flank of the German 9th Army south of Kirov on the 8th of September. It unhinged German defences and forced the Germans to abandon Bryansk on the 17th of September.
During the autumn of 1943, 50th Army took part in the Gomel-Rechitsa operations, launching diversionary attacks, which successfully diverted German attention from the main attack by 65th Army further south.
In June 1944, 50th Army was involved in operation Bagration as part of the 2nd Belorussian Front. It suffered heavy casualties during the capture of Mogilev and took part in the destruction of the German 4th Army east of Minsk. It then took part in the advance through Belorussia, crossing the River Neman and passing through Grodno to the frontiers of East Prussia.
In January 1945, it took part in the offensive into East Prussia. The offensive opened on the 13th of January. However, German forces had managed to withdraw from their positions in front of 50th Army undetected and it was two full days before reconnaissance patrols discovered the German positions were unoccupied. For this mistake, his Front commander, Rokassovsky, removed Boldin from his command. Despite this, in April 1945, Boldin was appointed Deputy Commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front and took part in the Prague operation in May.

The Post War Years

In 1946, he was given command of the 8th Guards Army of the Soviet Group of Occupation Forces, Germany. In 1951 he became commander of the Eastern Siberian Military District. Then in 1954 he moved again to become Deputy Commander of the Kiev Military District. In 1958 he went into virtual retirement when he became a consultant to the Defence Ministry Group of General Instructors. In 1961, he published his memoirs entitled 'Pages of Life' and also several articles about his experiences during the opening days of the war and the defence of Tula. He died in Kiev in March 1965. Among the many awards he received during his career were two Orders of Lenin, three Red Banners, the Order of Suvorov, the Order of Kutuzov and two Red Stars.