Quick Facts
Biography
Ivan Yefimovich Petrov (Russian: Иван Ефимович Петров; September 18, 1896 – April 7, 1958) was a Soviet Army General from 1941.
Early military career
Born in Trubchevsk in 1896, he began his military service in the Red Army in 1918, the year when he also joined the Bolshevik Party. Petrov fought in the Russian Civil war near Samara, the Polish Soviet War of 1920 and the Basmachi rebellion in 1922. In the late 1920s and 1930s Petrov served in Central Asia.
World War II
During World War II, Petrov participated in the Battle of Odessa, Battle of Sevastopol and was noted for heading the Separate Coastal Army from October 1941 to July 1942 and in November 1943-February 1944, 44th Army in August–October 1942, Black Sea Army Group, North Caucasus Front, 33rd Army in 1944, 2nd Belorussian Front, 4th Ukrainian Front, and several other units. In April–June 1945 Petrov was a chief of the 1st Ukrainian Front Staff.
Awards
On May 29, 1945 Petrov was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union. The United States awarded him the Distinguished Service Cross in War Department General Order No. 3 of 1944.
After the war Petrov commanded the Turkestan Military District and was inspector general of land forces. Petrov died in Moscow in 1958 and is buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery.
Honours and awards
- Hero of the Soviet Union
- Five Orders of Lenin
- Order of the Red Banner, four times
- Order of Suvorov, 1st class
- Order of Kutuzov, 1st class
- Order of the Red Star
- Order of the Red Banner of Labour of the Turkmen SSR
- Order of Red Banner of Labour of the Uzbek SSR
- Order of the Red Banner of Labour
- Order of Merit, 1st class (Hungary)
- Military Order of the White Lion "For Victory", 2nd class (Czechoslovakia)
- War Cross, 1939 (Czechoslovakia)
- Cross of Grunwald, 3rd class (Poland)
- Medal of Victory and Freedom 1945 (Poland)
- Distinguished Service Cross (USA)
- Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army"
- Medal "For the Defence of Odessa"
- Medal "For the Defence of Sevastopol"
- Medal "For the Defence of the Caucasus"
- Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
- Medal "For the Capture of Berlin"
- Medal "For the Liberation of Prague"
Commands Held
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Unidentified | Commanding General of the 192nd Rifle Division 1940 | Succeeded by Unidentified |
| Preceded by Newly Formed | Commanding General of the 27th Mechanized Corps 1941 | Succeeded by Disbanded |
| Preceded by Unidentified | Commanding General of the 1st Cavalry Division 1941 | Succeeded by Unidentified |
| Preceded by Unidentified | Commanding General of the 2nd Cavalry Division 1941 | Succeeded by Unidentified |
| Preceded by Unidentified | Commanding General of the 25th Rifle Division 1941 | Succeeded by Unidentified |
| Preceded by Lieutenant General GP Safronov | Commanding General of the Separate Coastal Army October 1941 – July 1942 | Succeeded by Disbanded |
| Preceded by Unidentified | Commanding General of the 44th Army August 1942 – October 1942 | Succeeded by Unidentified |
| Preceded by Unidentified | Commanding General of the Black Sea Group of Forces October 1942 – March 1943 | Succeeded by Unidentified |
| Preceded by Colonel General Ivan Maslennikov | Commander of the Northern Caucasian Front March 1943 – 20 November 1943 | Succeeded by Disbanded |
| Preceded by 2nd Formation of the Army (Command elements from Northern Caucasian Front) | Commander of the Coastal Army 20 November 1943 – February 1944 | Succeeded by Army General Andrey Yeryomenko |
| Preceded by General-Colonel of Century N. Gordov | Commander of the 33rd Army March 1944 – April 1944 | Succeeded by General-Lieutenant of Century D. Kryuchenkin |
| Preceded by Colonel General Pavel A. Kurochkin | Commander of the 2nd Belorussian Front April 1944 – November 1944 | Succeeded by Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky |
| Preceded by Unidentified | Commander of the 4th Ukrainian Front 1944 – April 1945 | Succeeded by Army General Andrey Yeryomenko |
| Preceded by Unidentified | Chief of Staff of the 1st Ukrainian Front April 1945 – June 1945 | Succeeded by Disbanded to form the Central Group of Forces |
| Preceded by Reformed from the Split of the Central Asian Military District Command staff came from the 1st Shock Army | Commander of the Turkestan Military District 9 July 1945 – 1952 | Succeeded by Unidentified |