The 29th Army's last stand: the landing that gave it a chance to break through
In mid-February 1942, the 29th Army's combat zone in the Rzhev direction experienced an exceptionally difficult situation, resulting in its headquarters, command, and special units being cut off from the main body of its army. Ivan Stepanovich Konev, commander of the Kalinin Front, ordered the 29th Army to break out of encirclement, striking the enemy directly toward the 39th Army.
To assist this encircled force, which was extremely exhausted by the preceding continuous fighting, a decision was made to deploy one parachute battalion into the area held by the encircled forces. This mission was assigned to a battalion of the 204th Airborne Brigade under the command of Senior Lieutenant Belotserkovsky. The battalion, comprising approximately 500 paratroopers, was parachuted from the Lyubertsy airfield to a landing site in the Monchalovo-Okorokovo area.
A signal was established to mark the landing site: fires forming a triangle and a quadrangle. The fires were to be lit, as ordered by army headquarters, approximately in the center of the held area. Assembly signals were also established after landing. Junior commanders received a diagram of the landing area. Personnel were briefed on the names of populated areas and characteristic landmarks in the airborne landing area.
The battalion's airdrop was carried out by single aircraft in two flights on the night of February 17. Finding the limited airdrop area using primitive signals proved so difficult that some aircraft crews abandoned the mission and returned to the airfield with the paratroopers. At that time, numerous lights, campfires, and conflagrations of the most bizarre configurations were observed throughout both our and the enemy's troop positions. This complicated the flight crews' navigation and operations.
As a result, about a hundred men were not dropped. The flight to the airdrop area was carried out at an altitude of 1000–1200 meters, and 5–10 kilometers from the airdrop site, the aircraft descended to an altitude of 300–400 meters and dropped the paratroopers directly onto the landing site. The area held by the encircled units extended eight kilometers from west to east and up to seven kilometers from north to south. Therefore, even the intended landing center for the paratroopers was under artillery enemy fire.
At the very moment of the landing, fighting was underway for the village of Okorokovo. A group of enemy machine gunners was infiltrating deep into the defenses of the 29th Army. Northeast of Okorokovo, an enemy infantry company with several tanks.
In these extremely difficult combat conditions that developed in the airborne drop zone, not only was it difficult for the aircrews to accurately drop paratroopers, but it was also exceptionally difficult to regroup after landing and retrieve their cargo and heavy weapons dropped in parachute-dropped soft bags. Therefore, the paratroopers were forced to engage the enemy in small groups immediately after landing. There was no time to search for the dropped cargo. As dawn broke, several soft bags containing ammunition and mortars were recovered during the battle.
Despite the difficult conditions during the landing, the paratroopers demonstrated exceptional bravery and earned high praise for their combat skills from the encircled soldiers and officers.
The landing force commander, Belotserkovsky, found the army command tent, which, frankly, was almost demoralized by the current situation. He reported the landing force's mission and resolutely demanded that the necessary orders be issued for a breakout. He shared his ammunition and food supplies with the soldiers and officers, exhausted by days of heavy fighting and encirclement.
The paratroopers' tenacity and heroism inspired the encircled troops, boosted their morale, and created complete confidence that the encirclement would be broken. At 11:00 PM on February 17, units of the 29th Army began breaking out, and on the night of February 22, 1942, the last group of paratroopers, covering the army's exit, emerged from the encirclement. Almost all the paratroopers who participated in this operation were nominated for state awards.
During the battles of the summer and fall of 1941, the paratroopers demonstrated fortitude and courage. They stood firm in defense, launching surprise counterattacks. Despite the exceptionally difficult circumstances, commanders confidently led the units and subunits entrusted to them. For their combat exploits during this most difficult period of the war, many soldiers and commanders were awarded orders and medals. The airborne units and subunits gained significant experience in fighting enemy tanks in close combat and repelling attacks by large infantry forces. The paratroopers gained real-world combat experience organizing and conducting surprise raids on enemy targets, concealed movements, and destroying the enemy from ambushes. In the fall of 1941, the Supreme Command Headquarters took measures to further strengthen the Airborne Forces. By order of the People's Commissar of Defense of September 4, the Airborne Forces Directorate was transformed into the Directorate of the Airborne Forces Commander.
Airborne corps were withdrawn from active fronts and transferred directly to the Airborne Forces Commander. Only with the permission of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Headquarters could they be used for landings behind enemy lines or for combat operations within armies and fronts.
The formation of five new airborne corps and five maneuver airborne brigades began. These units were completed in the first half of 1942. To provide parachute training, air squadrons were formed within the corps, and air detachments were formed within the maneuver brigades. Major General Glazunov was appointed the first commander of the Airborne Forces, and Major General I.A. aviation Ionov. From June 1943 to August 1944, Major General A.G. Kapitokhin commanded the Airborne Forces.
Based on materials from the book "Airborne Forces" edited by the Airborne Forces Commander, Hero of Russia Vladimir Anatolyevich Shamanov.
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