Lavrinenko Dmitry Fedorovich Soviet tank ace. Tank heroes of the Second World War

After the battles near Mtsensk with the German tank group of Colonel General Guderian, the 4th tank brigade of Colonel M.E. Katukov was transferred near Moscow to the Volokolamsk direction. On the evening of October 19, 1941, she arrived at Chismena station, which is located 105 km from Moscow. On the morning of October 20, it turned out that one of the brigade’s tanks had disappeared, namely the thirty-four of platoon commander Lieutenant Dmitry Lavrinenko.

Tank crew D. Lavrinenko (far left). October 1941.

Katukov left Lavrinenko’s tank at the request of the command of the 50th Army to guard its headquarters. The army command promised the brigade commander not to detain him for long. But four days have passed since that day. Katukov and the head of the political department, senior battalion commissar I.G. Derevyankin, rushed to call all ends, but could not find any trace of Lavrinenko. An emergency was brewing.

At noon on October 20, a thirty-four rolled up to the brigade headquarters, its tracks clanking, followed by a German staff bus. The tower hatch opened and from there, as if nothing had happened, Lavrinenko climbed out, followed by members of his crew - loader Private Fedotov and gunner-radio operator Sergeant Borzykh. The driver-mechanic, Senior Sergeant Bedny, was driving the staff bus.

The enraged head of the political department, Derevyankin, attacked Lavrinenko, demanding an explanation of the reasons for the delay of the lieutenant and his crew members who had been in the unknown location all this time. Instead of answering, Lavrinenko took a piece of paper from the breast pocket of his tunic and handed it to the head of the political department. The following was written on the paper: “To Colonel Comrade. Katukov. The commander of the vehicle, Dmitry Fedorovich Lavrinenko, was detained by me. He was given the task of stopping the enemy who had broken through and helping restore the situation at the front and in the area of the city of Serpukhov. He not only completed this task with honor, but also showed himself heroically. For the exemplary performance of the combat mission, the Army Military Council expressed gratitude to all crew personnel and presented them with a government award. Commandant of the city of Serpukhov, brigade commander Firsov.”

This is what it turned out to be. The headquarters of the 50th Army released Lavrinenko’s tank literally after the departing tank brigade. But the road turned out to be clogged with vehicles and, no matter how much Lavrinenko hurried, he was unable to catch up with the brigade.

Arriving in Serpukhov, the crew decided to shave at the barbershop. As soon as Lavrinenko sat down in a chair, a out of breath Red Army soldier suddenly ran into the hall and told the lieutenant to urgently come to the city commandant, brigade commander Firsov.

Appearing to Firsov, Lavrinenko learned that a battalion-sized German column was marching along the highway from Maloyaroslavets to Serpukhov. The commandant did not have any forces at hand to defend the city. Units for the defense of Serpukhov were about to arrive, and before that all Firsov’s hope remained in a single Lavrinenko tank.

In the grove, near Vysokinichi, Lavrinenko’s T-34 was ambushed. The road in both directions was clearly visible.

A few minutes later a German column appeared on the highway. Motorcycles rumbled ahead, then came a headquarters vehicle, three trucks with infantry and anti-tank guns. The Germans behaved extremely self-confidently and did not send reconnaissance ahead.

Having brought the column closer to 150 meters, Lavrinenko shot the column at point-blank range. Two guns were immediately destroyed, the German artillerymen tried to deploy the third, but Lavrinenko’s tank jumped onto the highway and crashed into trucks with infantry, and then crushed the gun. Soon an infantry unit approached and finished off the stunned and confused enemy.

Lavrinenko’s crew handed over 13 machine guns, 6 mortars, 10 motorcycles with sidecars and an anti-tank gun with full ammunition to the commandant of Serpukhov. Firsov allowed the staff car to be taken to the brigade. It was the mechanic-driver Bedny, who had transferred from the thirty-four, who drove it under his own power. The bus contained important documents and maps, which Katukov immediately sent to Moscow.

T-34 tanks of the 1st Guards Tank Brigade. December 1941

Dmitry Fedorovich Lavrinenko was born on September 10, 1914 in the village of Besstrashnaya in the Kuban. At the age of seven I went to school. In 1931, Dmitry graduated from the school for peasant youth in the village of Voznesenskaya, after which he was sent to a three-month pedagogical course. After graduation, he worked as a teacher in the elementary school of the Sladkoye farm. Then Lavrinenko was barely 17 years old.

In 1934, two years before conscription, Lavrinenko submitted an application about his desire to serve in the Red Army. Dmitry served in the cavalry for a year, and then was enrolled in a tank school in Ulyanovsk.

After graduating in May 1938, Lavrinenko received the rank of junior lieutenant. With this rank, he participated in the “liberation” campaign in Western Ukraine, and in June 1940 in the campaign in Bessarabia.

Lieutenant Dmitry Lavrinenko met the beginning of the Great Patriotic War at the very border as a platoon commander of the 15th Tank Division, which was stationed in the city of Stanislav, in Western Ukraine.

Lavrinenko failed to distinguish himself in the first battles with the Germans. However, during the retreat, Dmitry showed character and flatly refused to destroy his faulty tank, as other crews did, so as not to hamper the movement of the troops retreating to the east. Lavrinenko achieved his goal, and by some miracle his tank followed the retreating units of the 15th Tank Division. Only after the remaining personnel of the division were sent for reorganization did Lavrinenko hand over his faulty vehicle for repair.

Lavrinenko first distinguished himself in the battle of Mtsensk, when the 4th tank brigade of Colonel M.E. Katukova repelled the fierce attacks of the 2nd German Panzer Group of Colonel General Heinz Guderian.

On October 6, 1941, during a battle near the village of Pervy Voin, Lieutenant Lavrinenko’s tank group, consisting of four T-34 tanks, decisively attacked a column of German tanks that had drawn into the ravine to destroy the brigade’s motorized rifle battalion. The attack of Lavrinenko’s group turned out to be very timely, since Guderian’s tanks, having surrounded the infantry, began to shoot them with machine guns and crush them with their tracks. Avoiding approaching too close a distance, the T-34s opened fire on enemy tanks. Constantly changing firing positions, appearing in different places, four thirty-fours gave the Germans the impression of the actions of a large tank group. In this battle, the crew of Lieutenant Lavrinenko destroyed 4 German tanks, the crew of Senior Sergeant Antonov - 7 tanks and 2 anti-tank guns, the crew of Sergeant Kapotov - 1 tank, the crew of Junior Lieutenant Polyansky - 3 tanks and 4 motorcycles. Lavrinenko’s platoon had no losses. The battle was carried out quickly, the motorized rifle battalion was saved.

On October 9, in a battle near the village of Sheino, Lavrinenko alone managed to repel an attack by 10 German tanks. Using proven tactics of tank ambushes and constantly changing positions, Lavrinenko’s crew thwarted an enemy tank attack and in the process burned one German tank.

By October 11, Lavrinenko already had 7 tanks, 1 anti-tank gun and up to two platoons of destroyed German infantry.

Lavrinenko distinguished himself again in the battles in the Volokolamsk direction. By that time, by decree of the State Defense Committee, the 4th Tank Brigade was renamed the 1st Guards Brigade.

BT-7 and T-34 tanks of the 1st Guards Tank Brigade in an ambush. December 1941

On November 17, 1941, near the village of Lystsevo, a tank troupe under the command of senior lieutenant Lavrinenko, consisting of three T-34 tanks and three BT-7 tanks, entered into battle with 18 German tanks. In this battle, the Germans managed to set fire to two BTs and damage two thirty-fours, but they themselves lost 7 tanks in this battle. Lavrinenko’s tank was not damaged in this battle, and soon the remnants of his tank group occupied the village of Lystsevo. Following Lavrinenko’s tanks, the village was occupied by a rifle regiment.

However, while Lavrinenko’s group was fighting for Lystsevo, the Germans, who occupied the village of Shishkine the next day, made a breakthrough on the right flank of Panfilov’s division and, building on their success, went to the rear of the very rifle regiment with which Lavrinenko interacted. Moreover, with such a deep maneuver the Germans could encircle other parts of Panfilov’s division. From short negotiations with General Panfilov’s headquarters, Lavrinenko learned that an enemy tank column was already moving behind the division’s battle formations.

The only way out of this situation remained: to use the surefire method tested in battles - to beat the enemy from an ambush.

Lavrinenko secretly brought his T-34 towards a German tank column and placed his tank in an ambush near the highway leading to Shishkino. True, this time the position taken by Dmitry’s tank could hardly be called an ambush, since there were no convenient shelters anywhere. The only thing that helped was that Lavrinenko’s tank, painted white, was almost invisible in the snowy field, and in the first minutes of the battle the Soviet tank crews found themselves in the most advantageous position.
Soon a German column, consisting of 18 tanks, crawled onto the road. The balance of forces was far from being in favor of Lavrinenko. But there was no time to think - the thirty-four opened fire. Lavrinenko hit the sides of the leading German tanks, transferred fire to the rear ones, and then, without allowing the enemy to come to his senses, fired several cannon shots at the center of the column. Lavrinenko’s crew destroyed six German tanks, and Lavrinenko himself, unnoticed, again hiding behind the folds of the terrain, eluded pursuit.

He escaped unharmed. So one Lavrinenko tank stopped the further advance of the column of German tanks.
On November 19, 1941, in the village of Gusenevo, Senior Lieutenant Lavrinenko witnessed the death of the commander of the 316th Infantry Division, General I.V. Panfilova. His tank was located just near Panfilov’s command post.

At that moment, 8 German tanks appeared on the highway near the village. Lavrinenko’s crew immediately took their places in the car and the thirty-four rushed towards the German tanks at maximum speed. Just before the column, she sharply turned to the side and froze in place. Shots were immediately heard. Lavrinenko hit point-blank, from close range. Loader Fedotov barely had time to fire the shells. The first shot destroyed the lead tank. The others stood up. This helped Lavrinenko shoot without missing a beat. He destroyed seven tanks with seven shells. On the eighth shot, the gun trigger jammed, and the last German tank managed to escape.

Before the tankers had time to cool down from this battle, 10 more German tanks appeared on the highway. This time Lavrinenko did not have time to fire: the blank pierced the side of his thirty-four. Driver Poor was killed. Gunner-radio operator Sharov was mortally wounded by shrapnel in the stomach. Lavrinenko and Fedotov hardly pulled him out through the tower hatch. But Sharov died immediately. The poor man could not be carried out: shells began to explode in the burning car.
By December 5, 1941, when Lavrinenko was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, he had 47 destroyed German tanks. However, for some reason Lavrinenko was awarded only the Order of Lenin. True, by that time he was no longer alive.

Lavrinenko destroyed his last tank in battles on the outskirts of Volokolamsk on December 18, 1941. His advance detachment broke through to the Gryda-Chismena area and took the Germans by surprise. Without waiting for the main forces to approach, Lavrinenko decided to attack the village of Pokrovskoye.

But the enemy came to his senses, let Lavrinenko’s group go ahead and, having pulled up 10 tanks and anti-tank missiles, began to advance towards the village of Goryuny in order to cut off the advance detachment from the main forces of the brigade. Having discovered the movement of German tanks in his rear, Lavrinenko turned his company around and led it in an attack on Goryuny.

Just at this moment, the main forces of Katukov’s mobile group approached Goryuny. As a result, the Germans themselves fell into the pincers. They caused complete destruction. In this battle, Lavrinenko destroyed his 52nd German tank, 2 anti-tank guns and up to fifty German soldiers.

Having failed, the enemy brought down heavy fire from heavy mortars on Goryuny. At this time, Colonel N.A. Chernoyarov, commander of the 17th Tank Brigade, which was also part of Katukov’s mobile group, called Lavrinenko to his office to clarify and coordinate further actions. Having reported the situation to the colonel and received the order to move forward, Lavrinenko headed to his tank. But, before reaching him a few steps, he suddenly fell into the snow. A small fragment of a mine ended the life of the most effective tanker of the Red Army.

Senior Lieutenant Dmitry Fedorovich Lavrinenko was buried near the highway, between Pokrovsky and Goryuny. Now his grave is located between the village of Denkovo and the Dolgorukovo station.

Lavrinenko did not fight for long - less than six months passed from his first battle on the border to his death near Moscow. He took part in 28 fierce battles and always emerged victorious. He burned in a tank three times. In battle he acted extremely actively and resourcefully. Even while on the defensive, Lavrinenko did not wait for the enemy, but looked for him, using the most effective methods of combat. Result: 52 tanks destroyed.
Of course, the names of more successful tank aces are now known. Compared to such aces as Wittmann, Karius and others, the number of tanks destroyed by Lavrinenko is small.

Almost all German tank aces went through the entire war, from beginning to end. Therefore, their results are so significant that they cause delight and surprise among those who are interested in armored vehicles and the Second World War.

A leaflet describing the feat of D. Lavrinenko, published in February 1942.

It should be noted that Lavrinenko fought on T-34/76 tanks of the 1941 model, in which (as indeed on all modifications of T-34 tanks with a 76-mm cannon) the functions of commander and gunner were performed by one person - the tank commander himself. As is known, on both “tigers” and “panthers” the tank commander only commanded the combat vehicle, and a separate crew member – the gunner – fired from the gun, while the Commander assisted the gunner, which made it possible to most successfully fight the enemy’s tanks.

It is also known that the observation devices and all-round visibility of the T-34 of the 1941 model were significantly worse than those of the more modern Tigers and Panthers. And in the tower of the first thirty-four it was extremely crowded.

Concluding the story about Dmitry Lavrinenko, we should recall one more fact. Until 1990, the most successful Soviet tankman was never awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Ironically, this title was awarded to both true heroes and inveterate scoundrels, general secretaries and elderly marshals. Many people knew about Lavrinenko, but they were in no hurry to assign him the title.

Justice triumphed only on May 5, 1990, when the first and last president of the Soviet Union awarded senior lieutenant Dmitry Fedorovich Lavrinenko the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously). It's better late than never.

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We are starting a story about tank aces, since, unfortunately, much less is known about them than, say, about air aces. Of course, this section begins with our tank aces, since a little more is known about them than about the tank aces of other countries. The editors of the magazine count on the help of readers, which will allow them to tell the most reliably about such masters of tank combat as Vitman, Grayling, Barkman and others (we kindly ask you not to offer data from publications in the “Eastern Front” series).

After the battles under Mtsensk with the German tank group of Colonel General Guderian 4th Tank Brigade Colonel M.E. Katukov was transferred near Moscow to the Volokolamsk direction. On the evening of October 19, 1941, she arrived at Chismena station, which is located 105 km from Moscow. On the morning of October 20, it turned out that one of the brigade’s tanks had disappeared, namely thirty-four platoon commander lieutenant Dmitry Lavrinenko .

Katukov left Lavrinenko’s tank at the request of the command of the 50th Army to guard its headquarters. The army command promised the brigade commander not to detain him for long. But four days have passed since that day. Katukov and the head of the political department, senior battalion commissar I.G. Derevyankin rushed to call all over the place, but they could not find any trace of Lavrinenko. An emergency was brewing.

* * * * *

“Colonel Comrade Katukov. The commander of the vehicle, Dmitry Fedorovich Lavrinenko, was detained by me. He was given the task of stopping the enemy who had broken through and helping restore the situation at the front and in the area of the city of Serpukhov. He not only completed this task with honor, but also showed himself heroically. exemplary performance of the combat mission The Army Military Council expressed gratitude to all crew personnel and presented them with a government award.

Commandant of the city of Serpukhov, brigade commander Firsov."

* * * * *

This is what it turned out to be. Headquarters of the 50th Army Lavrinenko’s tank was released literally after the departing tank brigade. But the road turned out to be clogged with vehicles and, no matter how much Lavrinenko hurried, he was unable to catch up with the brigade. Arriving in Serpukhov, the crew decided to shave at the barbershop. As soon as Lavrinenko sat down in a chair, a out of breath Red Army soldier suddenly ran into the hall and told the lieutenant to urgently come to the city commandant, brigade commander Firsov. Appearing to Firsov, Lavrinenko learned that a battalion-sized German column was marching along the highway from Maloyaroslavets to Serpukhov. The commandant did not have any forces at hand to defend the city. Units for the defense of Serpukhov were about to arrive, and before that all Firsov’s hope remained in a single Lavrinenko tank.

In the grove, near Vysokinichi, T-34 Lavrinenko stood in ambush. The road in both directions was clearly visible. A few minutes later a German column appeared on the highway. Motorcycles rumbled ahead, then came a headquarters vehicle, three trucks with infantry and anti-tank guns. The Germans behaved extremely self-confidently and did not send reconnaissance ahead. Having brought the column closer to 150 meters, Lavrinenko shot the column at point-blank range. Two guns were immediately destroyed, the German artillerymen tried to deploy the third, but Lavrinenko’s tank jumped onto the highway and crashed into trucks with infantry, and then crushed the gun. Soon an infantry unit approached and finished off the stunned and confused enemy.

Lavrinenko’s crew handed over 13 machine guns, 6 mortars, 10 motorcycles with sidecars and an anti-tank gun with full ammunition to the commandant of Serpukhov. Firsov allowed the staff vehicle to be taken to the brigade. It was the mechanic-driver Bedny, who had transferred from the thirty-four, who drove it under his own power. The bus contained important documents and maps, which Katukov immediately sent to Moscow.

* * * * *

Dmitry Fedorovich Lavrinenko born on September 10, 1914 in the village of Besstrashnaya in the Kuban. At the age of seven I went to school. In 1931, Dmitry graduated from the school for peasant youth in the village of Voznesenskaya, after which he was sent to a three-month pedagogical course. After graduation, he worked as a teacher in the elementary school of the Sladkoye farm. Then Lavrinenko was barely 17 years old.

In 1934, two years before conscription, Lavrinenko submitted an application about his desire to serve in the ranks Red Army Dmitry served in the cavalry for a year, and then was enrolled in a tank school in Ulyanovsk. After graduating in May 1938, Lavrinenko received the rank of junior lieutenant. In this rank he participated in "liberation" on a campaign in Western Ukraine, and in June 1940 on a campaign in Bessarabia.

However, Lavrinenko destroyed his tanks in the most critical and tragic days of 1941. We should not forget the fact that Lavrinenko destroyed his 52 tanks in just 2.5 months of fierce fighting! His result could have been significantly higher if a mine fragment had not killed the senior lieutenant. It should be noted that Lavrinenko fought on T-34/76 tanks of the 1941 model, in which (as indeed on all modifications of T-34 tanks with a 76-mm cannon) the functions of commander and gunner were performed by one person - the tank commander himself. As is known, and on "tigers", and on "panthers" The tank commander only commanded the combat vehicle, and a separate crew member - the gunner - fired from the gun. The commander helped the gunner, which made it possible to most successfully fight enemy tanks.

It is also known that the observation devices and all-round visibility of the T-34 of the 1941 model were significantly worse than those of more modern ones "Tigers" And "Panther". And in the tower of the first thirty-four it was extremely crowded.

Justice has only triumphed May 5, 1990 , when the first and last president of the Soviet Union awarded senior lieutenant Dmitry Fedorovich Lavrinenko rank Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously). It's better late than never.

Dmitry Lavrinenko was born on October 1 (14), 1914 (according to other sources - September 10) in the village of Besstrashnaya (now Otradnensky district of the Krasnodar Territory) in the family of a Kuban Cossack. Russian.

Father, Fyodor Prokofievich Lavrinenko, a participant in the First World War, was a Red Guard during the Civil War and died in battles with the White Cossacks. Mother - Matryona Prokofyevna - after the establishment of Soviet power, joined the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and became the chairman of the stans council in the Sladkiy farmstead, Armavir region; After the death of her husband, she raised her son alone.

In 1931, Dmitry Lavrinenko graduated from the peasant youth school in the village of Voznesenskaya, and then from teacher courses in the city of Armavir. After that, in 1931-1933. Lavrinenko came to work as a teacher at a school in the Sladky farm, where his mother was the chairman of the village council. On his initiative, a drama club, a string orchestra and sports sections - wrestling, football, volleyball and athletics - appeared in the rural school. According to one of his former students: “I must admit, we girls were simply in love with our teacher, but he either didn’t notice or pretended not to notice. Dmitry Fedorovich conducted his lessons relaxedly, with invention and imagination. And what’s surprising is that he taught classes in two classes at once - there was one room, and there were two classes, the second and the fourth, each of them occupied two rows of desks... It was not without his influence that I became a teacher.”

In 1933-1934. worked as a statistician at the main office of the Khutorok state farm, then as a cashier of the savings bank in the village of Novokubanskoye (12 km north of Armavir).

In 1934, Lavrinenko volunteered to join the army and was sent to the cavalry. In May 1938, he graduated from the Ulyanovsk Armored School under a compressed program. According to the company commander, Lieutenant Dmitry Lavrinenko is “a modest, efficient and careful tank commander.” According to the recollections of his former fellow soldier, Hero of the Soviet Union A. A. Raftopullo, “he passed the exams with good and excellent grades, because he joined the army as a teacher. Dmitry was good at science; he was distinguished by his special diligence, endurance, kindness and modesty. He loved technology very much and tried to master it as quickly as possible. He shot “excellently” from all types of weapons, that’s what his friends called him: “Sniper’s eye.”

In 1939, Lavrinenko took part in a campaign in Western Ukraine, in 1940 - in a campaign in Bessarabia. In Stanislav, at a youth evening, he met his future wife, Nina, whom he married in the summer of 1941 in Vinnitsa, where Dmitry’s military unit was retreating in battle from the western borders of the USSR.

At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Lieutenant Lavrinenko served as commander of a tank platoon of the 15th Tank Division of the 16th Mechanized Corps, stationed in the city of Stanislav (now Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine). The division did not take part in hostilities for quite a long time. Thus, on July 2, the withdrawal of units of the 16th Mechanized Corps beyond the Dniester River began, and on July 4, it was withdrawn from the Southern Front for redeployment to the Mozyr region (Gomel region, Belarus). Thus, by the morning of July 7, 1941, the 15th Tank Division, which did not participate in the battles, after leaving its deployment sites in Stanislav before loading at the Derazhnya station, had already covered about 300 km, losing material parts that failed for technical reasons. Due to the lack of rolling stock in Derazhnya, the loading of the division's units was delayed until July 11, which led to the disorganization of the corps' units and formations.

On July 7, the Wehrmacht with the forces of the 11th Panzer Division broke through to Berdichev (Zhitomir region of Ukraine) and occupied the city. On July 8-11, Soviet units with the forces of a newly formed group of troops under division commander A.D. Sokolov (commander of the 16th mechanized corps with attached units) tried to recapture Berdichev, initially reaching its southwestern outskirts. However, having suffered heavy losses, as well as due to the threat of encirclement, the Soviet troops that stormed the city were withdrawn. With a breakthrough to Kozatin, the 1st Panzer Group (Colonel General Ewald von Kleist) cut Sokolov’s group into two parts. By the end of July 15, Sokolov’s group left the city of Kazatin. Near the village of Komsomolskoye, the battalion of the 15th Tank Division was surrounded, but at night it managed to break through to the main units of the division.

To maintain combat effectiveness, parts of the 16th Mechanized Corps with attached units began to retreat to Ruzhin and Zarudintsy (Zhitomir region of Ukraine). During the battles, the corps suffered heavy losses in equipment, and also experienced serious interruptions in the supply of fuel and ammunition. By the end of July 24, the corps had retreated to the Skala-Kozhanka defensive line. From the remnants of the 240th motorized division, the 15th and 44th tank divisions, an infantry detachment of up to a battalion strength was formed. At the same time, by order of the command, the most valuable tank personnel, who did not have material and were used in battles as ordinary infantrymen, began to be recalled from the front.

In these first battles, Lieutenant Lavrinenko did not manage to distinguish himself, as his tank was out of order. During the retreat, Dmitry Fedorovich showed his character and disobeyed the order to destroy his faulty tank. Having followed the retreating units of the 15th Panzer Division, he submitted his vehicle for repairs only after the remaining personnel of the division were sent for reorganization. The remnants of the 15th Tank Division died in the Uman cauldron as part of P. G. Ponedelin’s group in early August 1941. On August 14, 1941, the division was disbanded.

On August 19, 1941, in the village of Prudboy, Stalingrad Region, from the evacuated personnel of the 15th and 20th tank divisions, the 4th tank brigade began to be formed, the commander of which was appointed Colonel M. E. Katukov (former commander of the 20th tank division of the 9th th mechanized corps). The brigade received new KV and T-34 tanks from the assembly line of the Stalingrad Tractor Plant. Art. Lieutenant Lavrinenko was appointed commander of a T-34 tank platoon. According to the recollections of fellow soldiers, having received a new T-34 vehicle, he said: “Well, now I’ll settle accounts with Hitler!”

On September 23, personnel and equipment were loaded into trains, and on the morning of September 28, the brigade concentrated in the village of Akulovo, near the station. Kubinka (Odintsovo district, Moscow region). Upon arrival in Kubinka, the brigade additionally received light tanks BT-7, BT-5 and obsolete BT-2, which had just come out of repair. Having completed its formation by October 3, 1941, the brigade came under the operational subordination of the 1st Special Guards Rifle Corps of Major General D. D. Lelyushenko.

In October 1941, the commander of a T-34 tank platoon. Lieutenant Dmitry Lavrinenko took part in the battles near Mtsensk with units of the German 2nd Panzer Group of Colonel General Heinz Guderian.

On October 6, the positions of the 4th Tank Brigade in the area of the village of First Warrior were attacked by superior forces of German tanks and motorized infantry of the 4th Tank Division (Major General Wilibald von Langerman und Erlenkamp). Having suppressed the anti-tank guns, the enemy tanks entered the positions of the motorized riflemen and began to “iron” the trenches. To help the infantrymen, M.E. Katukov urgently sent a group of four T-34 tanks under the command of Senior Lieutenant Lavrinenko.

Lavrinenko's tanks suddenly attacked. Having repeated the attack from several different directions and thereby creating the impression of the action of superior forces, Lavrinenko’s group knocked out and destroyed, according to Soviet data, a total of 15 enemy tanks, four of which were owned by Lavrinenko’s crew. Having received the order to withdraw, Lavrinenko placed the surviving motorized riflemen on the armor and returned to the ambush site, to the edge of the forest. According to German data, the German group advancing on Mtsensk lost only 10 tanks on October 6, 6 of them irretrievably.

By October 11, according to the Soviet side, Lavrinenko destroyed 7 tanks, one anti-tank gun and up to two platoons of German infantry. According to the recollection of the driver-mechanic of his tank, senior sergeant Ponomarenko, one of the combat episodes of those days:

Lavrinenko told us this: “You can’t come back alive, but you can help out the mortar company. It's clear? Forward!"

We jump out onto a hillock, and there are German tanks scurrying around like dogs. I stopped. Lavrinenko - blow! On a heavy tank. Then we see a German medium tank between our two burning BT light tanks - they destroyed that too. We see another tank - it runs away. Shot! Flame... There are three tanks. Their crews are scattering.

300 meters away I see another tank, I show it to Lavrinenko, and he is a real sniper. The second shell also smashed this fourth one. And Kapotov is a great guy: he also got three German tanks. And Polyansky killed one. So the mortar company was saved. And themselves - without a single loss!

In general, in the battles for Mtsensk, the 4th and 11th tank brigades launched several attacks on the marching columns of the German 4th Panzer Division Langerman, which turned out to be extremely successful, including, according to the historian A.V. Isaev, due to Langerman's neglect of reconnaissance and protection of his troops. In addition, not only tankers, but also pilots worked effectively in the Bryansk direction. As a result, the German 4th Panzer Division was greatly weakened: by October 16, only 38 tanks remained on the move out of 59 on October 4 (according to German data). In his memoirs, Heinz Guderian describes slightly different reasons for this failure:

South of Mtsensk, the 4th Panzer Division was attacked by Russian tanks and had to endure a difficult moment. For the first time, the superiority of Russian T-34 tanks manifested itself in a sharp form. The division suffered significant losses. The planned rapid attack on Tula had to be postponed for now. ... The reports we received about the actions of Russian tanks, and most importantly, about their new tactics, were especially disappointing. ... Russian infantry advanced from the front, and tanks launched massive attacks on our flanks. They've already learned something.

The total number of enemy armored vehicles knocked out and destroyed by Dmitry Lavrinenko’s crew in the battles near Mtsensk is not known for sure. According to the memoirs of fellow soldiers and superiors of Dmitry Lavrinenko, as well as in sources based on them, various information is given: from 7 to 19 tanks. According to historian M.B. Baryatinsky, this is “a typical example of how at that time records were kept of damaged enemy vehicles, even within the same brigade.”

After the battles near Mtsensk, the 4th Tank Brigade was transferred near Moscow to the Volokolamsk direction. On the evening of October 19, 1941, she arrived at Chismena station, 105 km from Moscow. However, the T-34 of platoon commander Lieutenant Dmitry Lavrinenko arrived at the brigade’s location only by noon on October 20, under its own power; he was followed by a German staff bus. Four days earlier, Colonel M.E. Katukov left Lavrinenko’s tank at the request of the command of the 50th Army to protect its headquarters, and since then there has been no news from the crew. The incident could have turned into a tribunal for Lavrinenko and his crew members; the head of the political department, senior battalion commissar I. G. Derevyankin attacked Lavrinenko, demanding an explanation.

It turned out that the headquarters of the 50th Army released Lavrinenko’s tank almost immediately after the departing tank brigade. But he was unable to catch up with the brigade along the road clogged with vehicles. Arriving in Serpukhov, the crew decided to shave at the barbershop, where they were found by a Red Army soldier who told Lieutenant Lavrinenko to urgently come to the city commandant, brigade commander P. A. Firsov (according to other sources, Firsov himself rushed to the barbershop in a car).

The operational situation in the Serpukhov area suddenly became critical. The 17th Rifle Division, defending the village of Ugodsky Zavod (now the city of Zhukov, Kaluga Region), was forced to retreat to the Stremilovsky line, and the road to Serpukhov was open. The German command took advantage of this by sending a large reconnaissance detachment to Serpukhov. About a battalion of Germans on motorcycles, three vehicles with guns and one headquarters vehicle moved along the road to Serpukhov, passing without delay through the village of Vysokinichi.

From the village of Vysokinichi, the telephone operator on duty got through to Commandant Firsov, who warned about the approach of the column. According to the recollections of a member of the Military Council of the 49th Army, Major General A. I. Litvinov, army commander I. G. Zakharkin instructed his deputy N. A. Antipenko to create a barrage detachment with the task of eliminating the enemy who had broken through. The command of the detachment was entrusted to the head of the Serpukhov garrison, brigade commander P. A. Firsov. At this time, the Serpukhov garrison consisted of one fighter battalion, in which old men and teenagers served. The commandant had no other forces at hand to defend the city. By a fortunate coincidence, one of the battalion soldiers told Firsov that in the city there was a T-34 tank near a hairdresser, and the tankers were shaving. Firsov’s only hope remained in Lavrinenko’s one and only tank.

Lavrinenko reported to Commandant Firsov: “We have fuel, we have a set of ammunition, we are ready to fight the Germans. Show me the way." Without wasting time, the tank quickly proceeded along the streets of Serpukhov in the direction of the Bolshevik state farm and further towards Vysokinichi. Having camouflaged the vehicle at the edge of the forest near the modern city of Protvino, the tankers began to wait for the enemy. The road in both directions was clearly visible.

A few minutes later a German column appeared on the road. The Germans behaved extremely self-confidently and did not send reconnaissance ahead. Having brought the lead vehicle closer to 150 m, Lavrinenko shot the column at point-blank range. Two guns were immediately destroyed, and the German artillerymen tried to deploy the third. At that moment, Lavrinenko gave the command to ram, the tank jumped out onto the road and, crashing into trucks with infantry, crushed the last gun. Soon the fighters of the destroyer battalion arrived and completed the defeat of the German unit that had broken through.

Lavrinenko’s crew handed over 13 machine guns, 6 mortars, 10 motorcycles with sidecars and an anti-tank gun with full ammunition to the commandant of Serpukhov. Several prisoners were also captured - the first prisoners taken to Serpukhov. Firsov was allowed to take the German staff bus into the brigade; it was driven under his own power by driver-mechanic M.I. Bedny, who had transferred from the thirty-four. There were documents and maps on the bus, which Katukov immediately sent to Moscow

At the end of October 1941, the 4th Tank Brigade as part of the Western Front defended the line north of the Volokolamsk - Moscow highway, passing through the villages of Moiseevka, Chentsy, Bolshoye Nikolskoye, Teterino, the Dubosekovo junction, together with units of the 316th Infantry Division (General -Major I.V. Panfilov) and a cavalry group (Major General L.M. Dovator).

After a number of unsuccessful attempts by the 18th Infantry Division to capture a dangerous ledge near the village of Skirmanovo (Ruzsky district of the Moscow region), occupied by the German 10th Panzer Division, the commander of the 16th Army K. K. Rokossovsky created a more powerful strike group from units of the 18th rifle and 50th cavalry divisions, as well as the 1st Guards Tank Brigade, which recently joined the army, with the support of cannon and anti-tank artillery regiments and three Katyusha divisions. On November 12, after strong artillery preparation, the offensive began. The 1st Guards Tank Brigade attacked the enemy with a frontal attack with 15 T-34s and two KVs. Three T-34 tanks (Lavrinenko's platoon) went first and called enemy fire on themselves in order to reveal the location of firing points. Following Lavrinenko’s platoon, two KV tanks (Zaskalko and Polyansky) supported Lavrinenko’s platoon with fire. According to the memoirs of Sergeant N.P. Kapotov, from Lavrinenko’s platoon:

We got out in second gear, then switched to third. As soon as we jumped up to the high-rise, a view of the village opened up. I sent several shells to identify enemy firing points. But then there was such a roar that it deafened us. It was terrible to sit in my tower. Apparently, the Nazis opened fire at once from all the guns and tanks buried in the ground...

Lavrinenko’s tank, which burst into Skirmanovo, was hit by an anti-tank gun. Instead of gunner-radio operator Ivan Borzykh, who was wounded in the shoulder, Alexander Sharov arrived in the crew. After stubborn fighting on November 13-14, the Skirmanovsky bridgehead was taken. According to the German command, “after a fierce battle, the bridgehead was surrendered in order to avoid further losses. The 10th Panzer Division destroyed 15 enemy tanks, including two 52-ton tanks, and severely damaged 4.” According to Soviet data, by November 16, 19 KB and T-34 tanks and 20 light tanks remained in the 1st Guards Tank Brigade. According to M.E. Katukov: “For the first time in the short history of its existence, the brigade suffered significant losses.”

After successfully capturing the bridgehead, the Soviet command decided to build on the success and go to the rear of the Volokolamsk group of German troops in order to disrupt the offensive that was expected any day now. On the night of November 16, the 16th Army regrouped its troops and went on the offensive at 10:00. On the same morning, the enemy launched an offensive at the junction of the 316th Infantry Division and the cavalry group of L. M. Dovator. Thus, all day on November 16, the 16th Army attacked with its right wing and defended with its left wing and center. In particular, the 316th Rifle Division with the 1st Guards Tank Brigade and the Dovator cavalry group with the attached 1st Tank Battalion of the 11th Tank Division confronted the significantly superior 46th Motorized Corps (General of Panzer Forces Heinrich von Wietinghof, 5th and 11th Panzer Divisions) and the 5th Army Corps (Infantry General Richard Ruoff, 2nd Panzer, 35th and 106th Infantry Divisions).

On November 17, 1941, from three T-34s from Lavrinenko’s platoon and three (according to other sources, four) BT-7s from the 2nd tank battalion, a tank group under the command of Lavrinenko was allocated to support the 1073rd Infantry Regiment of the 316th Infantry Division Major General I.V. Panfilov to attack the village of Lystsevo. The commissar of the 2nd battalion, political instructor I. G. Karpov, was appointed commissar of the group. The group advanced for the attack in two echelons: in the first there were BT-7s under the command of Lieutenant G. N. Zaika (platoon commander), I. F. Pyatachkov and Malikov, in the second - T-34 D. F. Lavrinenko, Tomilin and Frolov . Half a kilometer from the target on the edge of the forest, Malikov noticed 18 enemy tanks: German soldiers were running to their vehicles, preparing to repel the attack. In a short-lived battle that lasted only 8 minutes, 7 German tanks were knocked out, the rest avoided further combat and went deep into the forest. But the attacking group also lost two of its BT-7 vehicles, Zaiki and Pyatachkov, and two T-34s, Tomilin and Frolov. The crew of the Zaika tank (including platoon commander G.N. Zaika and driver N.F. Melko) died in their entirety.

Tanks from Lavrinenko and Malikov burst into Lystsevo at high speed. Following them, Soviet infantrymen entered there. The German infantrymen remaining in the village without tank support took refuge in stone buildings, which were methodically eliminated by Soviet tank crews and riflemen. Having reported to headquarters about the occupation of the village, Lavrinenko received a message that on the right flank of Panfilov’s division, the Germans from the area of the village of Shishkino had reached the rear of the 1073rd Infantry Regiment. The situation changed dramatically; with a deep enveloping maneuver, German troops threatened to envelop other parts of the division: the enemy tank column was already moving in the rear of the division’s battle formations. By the morning of November 17, the 690th Infantry Regiment was already half-encircled, and the 1073rd and 1075th regiments were knocked out of their positions and were retreating.

In this situation, Lavrinenko decided to single-handedly attack a German column of armored vehicles from an ambush, sending Malikov's BT-7 to headquarters. Having emerged through ravines and copses onto the highway leading to Shishkino, Lavrinenko stood not far from the road. There were no convenient shelters nearby, but the white color of the T-34 in the snow-whitened expanses of the field itself served as a good camouflage. A German column of 8 tanks walked along the highway without noticing Lavrinenko’s hidden tank.

Having brought the column to close range, Lavrinenko opened fire on the sides of the leading German tanks, then transferred fire to the trailing ones and finally fired several cannon shots at the center of the column, destroying a total of three medium and three light tanks. After that, unnoticed, he eluded pursuit through ravines and copses. As a result, Lavrinenko’s crew managed to delay the further advance of German tanks, which allowed the Soviet units to retreat to new positions, avoiding encirclement.

The command post of the commander of the 316th Infantry Division, Major General I.V. Panfilov, moved to the village of Gusenevo, Volokolamsk region. There Lavrinenko met Malikov, whose crew spent the entire night covering the withdrawal of artillery units to new positions.

The next day, November 18, 1941, two dozen German tanks and chains of motorized infantry began to surround the village of Gusenevo. The Germans fired at her with mortars, but the fire was not aimed. According to the memoirs of retired colonel A.S. Zagudaev, “the situation was extremely difficult: the enemy tanks that had broken through were already approaching the village where the division’s command post was located. Dmitry counted eight cars with crosses on the sides.” Just before the start of the enemy tank attack, Major General I.V. Panfilov was killed by a fragment of a mortar mine near the headquarters dugout. Lavrinenko, who was just not far from his command post, was so shocked by the death of Panfilov that “what happened next could only happen at the moment of the highest emotional intensity.”

In the oncoming battle, Lavrinenko’s crew knocked out seven of eight enemy tanks. Lavrinenko came to his senses when the gun trigger jammed and he could not fire a shot at the retreating eighth car. German tank crews jumped out of burning cars, rolled in the snow, extinguishing the flames on their overalls, and tried to escape into the forest. Having opened the hatch, Lavrinenko jumped out of the tank and chased after them, firing a pistol as he went. At that moment, 10 more enemy tanks appeared from behind the forest. The shout of radio operator Sharov “Tanks!” forced Lavrinenko to return. One of the shells hit Lavrinenko’s car on the side. Lavrinenko and Fedorov pulled out radio operator Sharov, who was mortally wounded in the stomach, and driver-mechanic Sergeant M.I. Bedny burned in the tank when the ammunition detonated.

The damned enemy keeps striving for Moscow, but he will not reach Moscow, he will be defeated. The hour is not far when we will drive him and drive him, so much so that he will not know where to go.

Don't worry about me. I'm not going to die.

Write letters urgently, immediately.

Greetings, Dmitry. 30.11.41

December 5, 1941 Guards. Art. Lieutenant Lavrinenko was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The award sheet noted: “...carrying out combat missions of the command from October 4 to the present, he was continuously in battle. During the battles near Orel and in the Volokolamsk direction, Lavrinenko’s crew destroyed 37 heavy, medium and light enemy tanks..."

On December 7, 1941, the offensive of Soviet troops began in the Istra region. The 145th, 1st Guards, 146th and 17th Tank Brigades, together with rifle units of the 16th Army, broke through the enemy’s defenses and, overcoming their resistance, moved forward. In the first 24 hours, fierce battles broke out for the village of Kryukovo, an important road junction and a large settlement where the 5th Panzer and 35th Infantry Divisions of the Wehrmacht were defending. Units of the 8th Guards Rifle Division named after. I.V. Panfilov and the 1st Guards Tank Brigade attacked enemy positions at night and liberated Kryukovo.

By December 18, units of the 1st Guards Tank Brigade reached the approaches to Volokolamsk. Fighting broke out in the area of the villages of Sychevo, Pokrovskoye, Gryady and Chismena. The tank company of Senior Lieutenant Lavrinenko, with an attached squad of sappers who cleared the tank routes from mines, operated in the forward detachment in the Gryada-Chismena area. At dawn, taking the Germans by surprise, the group attacked the village of Gryady. Lavrinenko decided, without waiting for the main forces to arrive, to attack the Germans in the village of Pokrovskoye.

According to the memoirs of retired colonel L. Lekhman, developing an offensive in the Volokolamsk direction, a tank company broke into the village of Pokrovskoye, where it destroyed the German garrison with fire and tracks. Then, maneuvering, Lavrinenko led his company in an attack on the neighboring village of Goryuny, where German tanks and armored personnel carriers had withdrawn. The German units were unable to resist the attack from two sides, the main forces of the brigade and Lavrinenko’s company arrived, were defeated and fled. In this battle, Lavrinenko destroyed his 52nd German tank.

Immediately after the battle, the village of Goryun came under heavy enemy artillery and mortar fire. Jumping out of the tank, Senior Lieutenant Lavrinenko went to Colonel N. A. Chernoyarov, commander of the 17th Tank Brigade, with a report and was killed by a fragment of a mortar mine.

Lavrinenko crew members

driver mechanic - Ponomarenko,
driver mechanic - senior Sergeant M.I. Bedny (1918 - 11/18/1941; destroyed 37 tanks as part of the crew), not located on obd
driver mechanic - M. M. Solomyannikov;
gunner-radio operator - Sergeant Ivan Semenovich Borzykh (1908 - missing in action on July 16, 1944),
gunner-radio operator - Private A. S. Sharov (1916 - 11/19/1941);
Loader - Private Fedotov.

The most effective tanker of the Soviet troops, Dmitry Lavrinenko, managed to fight for only 2.5 months in 1941, but during this time he managed to destroy 52 enemy tanks - a result that no one in the Red Army was able to surpass until the end of the war. We offer you a story about him.

Article "Terrible account of tanker Lavrinenko" from the Smolenskaya Gazeta. Author Vladimir Pinyugin.

Among the military formations that made a great contribution to the Great Victory and completed their glorious journey in the Smolensk region, the 1st Guards Red Banner Tank Army occupies an honorable place. The core of the army was the 4th, and then the 1st Guards Tank Brigade.

Its warriors became the personification of iron fortitude, dedication and heroism in battles with the Nazis, they were the first among Soviet tank crews to be awarded the Guards title, in October 1941 they defeated Guderian’s tanks near Mtsensk, stood to the death on the Volokolamsk Highway, took part in heavy battles near Gzhatsk, Sychevka and Karmanovo, contributed to the liberation of the Smolensk region. Let's talk about one of them.
Tank ace No. 1 in the Red Army is rightfully considered senior lieutenant Dmitry Fedorovich Lavrinenko, who fought as part of the 4th (1st Guards) Tank Brigade under the command of M.E. Katukova.
Lieutenant Lavrinenko met the beginning of the Great Patriotic War at the very border in Western Ukraine as a tank platoon commander. Despite the fact that his tank was damaged, he did not destroy it, as other crews did, but managed to tow it away and send it for repairs.
The high combat qualities and skill of the tanker were demonstrated in the period from October 6 to October 10, 1941 in the battles of Orel and Mtsensk, where the 4th Brigade of Colonel Katukov fought against the 4th Panzer Division of the 2nd Panzer Group of Colonel General Heinz Guderian - “the king of tanks.” attacks,” as the Nazis called it. In these battles, Dmitry Lavrinenko’s crew destroyed 16 German tanks. “South of Mtsensk,” Guderian later admitted, “the 4th Panzer Division was attacked by Russian tanks, and it had to go through a difficult moment. For the first time, the superiority of Russian T-34 tanks manifested itself in a sharp form. The division suffered heavy losses. The planned rapid attack on Tula had to be postponed.”
In October 1941, during a battle near the village of Pervy Voin, a platoon of tanks under the command of Lavrinenko saved a mortar company from destruction, whose position was almost invaded by German tanks. From the story of the tank driver, senior sergeant Ponomarenko: “Lavrinenko told us this: “You can’t come back alive, but you have to help out the mortar company.” It's clear? Forward! “We jump out onto a hillock, and there German tanks are snooping around like dogs. I stopped. Lavrinenko - blow! On a heavy tank. Then we see a German medium tank between our two burning BT light tanks - they destroyed that too. We see another tank - it is running away. Shot! Flame... There are three tanks. Their crews are scattering. 300 meters away I see another tank, I show it to Lavrinenko, and he is a real sniper. The second shell also smashed this fourth one. And Kapotov is a great guy: he also got three German tanks. And Polyansky killed one. So the mortar company was saved. And you yourself - without a single loss!
In a battle on October 9, 1941 near the village of Sheino, Lavrinenko alone managed to repel an attack by 10 German tanks. Using proven tactics of tank ambushes and constantly changing positions, Lavrinenko’s crew thwarted an enemy tank attack and at the same time burned a German tank.
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Army General D.D. Lelyushenko, in his book “Dawn of Victory,” spoke about one of the techniques that was used in the battles near Mtsensk: “I remember how Lieutenant Dmitry Lavrinenko, having carefully camouflaged his tanks, installed logs in position that looked like the barrels of tank guns. And not without success: the Nazis opened fire on false targets. Having let the Nazis get to an advantageous distance, Lavrinenko rained down destructive fire on them from ambushes and destroyed 9 tanks, 2 guns and many Nazis.”
On October 19, 1941, a single Lavrinenko tank defended the city of Serpukhov from the invasion of invaders. His thirty-four destroyed an enemy motorized column that was advancing along the highway from Maloyaroslavets to Serpukhov. The Sovinformburo report dated October 29, 1941 stated: “The tank crew of Lieutenant Lavrinenko showed courage and bravery in battles with the Nazis. The other day, Comrade Lavrinenko’s tank unexpectedly fell on the Germans. Up to a battalion of enemy infantry, 10 motorcycles, a staff vehicle, and an anti-tank gun were destroyed by gun and machine-gun fire.”
On November 17, 1941, near the village of Lystsevo, a tank group of already senior lieutenant Lavrinenko, consisting of three T-34 tanks and three BT-7 tanks, entered into battle with 18 German tanks. In this battle, she destroyed 7 enemy tanks, but at the same time she herself irretrievably lost two BT-7s and two T-34s shot down. The next day, Lavrinenko’s tank alone, being in ambush near the highway leading to the village of Shishkino, again entered into an unequal battle with a German tank column, again consisting of 18 vehicles. In this battle, Lavrinenko destroyed 6 German tanks. Front-line correspondent I. Kozlov managed to meet Lavrinenko and talk with him at the very beginning of the counter-offensive of Soviet troops near Moscow. After the war, Kozlov wrote a short story about this meeting. Here is a short excerpt from it:
“We went to help,” said Lavrinenko. - What's the point in fighting the Germans head-on? We have six cars, they have five times more. We acted from ambushes. Even quite successfully.
I wanted to clarify what my interlocutor meant by the words “very successfully”, and asked how many fascist vehicles fell to his share in that battle.
- I knocked out six tanks.
- Six?
- Yes, six. It was the eighteenth of November.
I remembered that, on instructions from the editors, I was looking for him that day. Lavrinenko, smiling, remarked:
- It was impossible to find me then. Neither the eighteenth nor the nineteenth... On the nineteenth there was a new battle for the village of Gusenevo. In this village there was a command post of General Panfilov, and it was bypassed by German infantry, and the infantry was supported by twenty-four tanks. Eight cars were moving along the road we were guarding. I knocked out seven, the eighth managed to turn back.
Almost immediately another column appeared, consisting of 10 German tanks. This time Lavrinenko did not have time to fire: the blank pierced the side of his thirty-four, the driver and radio operator were killed.
By December 5, 1941, when Dmitry Lavrinenko was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, he already had 47 tanks destroyed in his combat account. However, Lavrinenko was awarded only the Order of Lenin. But they were late with the delivery.
Senior Lieutenant Lavrinenko destroyed his last 52nd heavy tank T IV Guards in battles on the outskirts of Volokolamsk on December 18, 1941. On the same day, the most effective tanker of the Red Army died from a stray mine fragment that hit him in the temple.
The brave guardsman tanker had the opportunity to participate in 28 tank battles and burn in a tank three times. In battle, he acted extremely actively and resourcefully. Even while on the defensive, Lavrinenko did not wait for the enemy, but looked for him, using the most effective methods of combat. Of course, in comparison with German tank aces, such as Wittmann and Karius, Lavrinenko’s number of victories is not so great. However, almost all of the most effective German tank crews went through the entire war from beginning to end, and Lavrinenko destroyed his 52 tanks in the most critical and tragic days of 1941, in just two and a half months of fierce fighting.
Lavrinenko fought on T-34-76 tanks of the 1941 model, in which, as well as on all modifications of the thirty-four equipped with a 76-mm cannon, the functions of commander and gunner were performed by one person - the tank commander himself. On the German "tigers" and "panthers", the commander commanded the combat vehicle, and a separate crew member - the gunner - fired from the gun. The commander helped the gunner, which made it possible to most successfully fight enemy tanks. And the observation devices, sight and all-round visibility on the T-34 of the first samples were significantly worse than those of the “tigers” and “panthers” that appeared later.
...The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded (posthumously) to Dmitry Lavrinenko only on May 5, 1990.

Sergey Kargapoltsev (warheroes.ru). One combat episode

Katukov left Lavrinenko’s tank at the request of the command of the 50th Army to guard its headquarters. The army command promised the brigade commander not to detain him for long. But four days have passed since that day. Katukov and the head of the political department, senior battalion commissar I.G. Derevyankin rushed to call all over the place, but they could not find any trace of Lavrinenko. An emergency was brewing.

In the grove, near Vysokinichi, Lavrinenko’s T-34 was ambushed. The road in both directions was clearly visible. A few minutes later a German column appeared on the highway. Motorcycles rumbled ahead, then came a headquarters vehicle, three trucks with infantry and anti-tank guns. The Germans behaved extremely self-confidently and did not send reconnaissance ahead.

Lavrinenko’s crew handed over 13 machine guns, 6 mortars, 10 motorcycles with sidecars and an anti-tank gun with full ammunition to the commandant of Serpukhov. Firsov allowed the staff vehicle to be taken to the brigade. It was the mechanic-driver Bedny, who had transferred from the thirty-four, who drove it under his own power. The bus contained important documents and maps, which Katukov immediately sent to Moscow.

Dmitry Lavrinenko - tank ace No. 1 in the Red Army.
Tank ace No. 1 in the Red Army is considered to be Dmitry Lavrinenko, who fought as part of the 4th (1st Guards) Tank Brigade. Lieutenant Lavrinenko met the beginning of the Great Patriotic War at the very border as a platoon commander of the 15th Tank Division, which was stationed in the city of Stanislav (now Ivano-Frankivsk), on the territory of Western Ukraine. Already in the first battles, according to a fellow soldier and military friend of the senior lieutenant Alexandra Raftopullo, Lavrinenko destroyed at least 10 German tanks.
Lavrinenko distinguished himself again in the battle for the city of Mtsensk, when the 4th Tank Brigade of Colonel Mikhail Katukov repelled the fierce attacks of the German 2nd Tank Group of Colonel General Heinz Guderian. In October 1941, during a battle near the village of Pervy Voin, a platoon of tanks under the command of Lavrinenko saved a mortar company from destruction, whose position was almost invaded by German tanks. From the story of the tank driver, senior sergeant Ponomarenko:
“Lavrinenko told us this: “You can’t come back alive, but you have to help out the mortar company.” It's clear? Forward!"
We jump out onto a hillock, and there are German tanks scurrying around like dogs. I stopped.
Lavrinenko - blow! On a heavy tank. Then we see a German medium tank between our two burning BT light tanks - they destroyed that too. We see another tank - it runs away. Shot! Flame... There are three tanks. Their crews are scattering.
300 meters away I see another tank, I show it to Lavrinenko, and he is a real sniper. The second shell also smashed this one, the fourth in a row. And Kapotov is a great guy: he also got three German tanks. And Polyansky killed one.
So the mortar company was saved. And you yourself - without a single loss!
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Army General D. D. Lelyushenko, in his book “Dawn of Victory,” spoke about one of the techniques that Lieutenant Dmitry Lavrinenko used in the battles near Mtsensk:
“I remember how Lieutenant Dmitry Lavrinenko, having carefully camouflaged his tanks, installed logs in position that looked like tank gun barrels. And not without success: the Nazis opened fire on false targets. Having let the Nazis get to an advantageous distance, Lavrinenko rained down destructive fire on them from ambushes and destroyed 9 tanks, 2 guns and many Nazis.”
On October 19, 1941, one single Lavrinenko tank defended the city of Serpukhov from the invasion of invaders. His thirty-four destroyed an enemy motorized column that was advancing along the highway from Maloyaroslavets to Serpukhov. On November 17, 1941, near the village of Lystsevo, a tank group of already senior lieutenant Lavrinenko, consisting of three T-34 tanks and three BT-7 tanks, entered into battle with 18 German tanks. Lavrinenko’s group destroyed 7 enemy tanks in this battle, but also lost two BT-7s and two T-34s damaged. The next day, already one Lavrinenko tank, being in ambush on the highway leading to the village of Shishkino, again entered into battle with a German tank column, again consisting of 18 vehicles. In this battle, Lavrinenko destroyed 6 German tanks. On November 19, 1941, in the village of Gusenevo, Lavrinenko witnessed the death of the commander of the 316th Infantry Division, General I.V. Panfilov (According to other sources, D.F. Lavrinenko learned about Panfilov’s death a little later. - Author’s note). At that moment, 8 German tanks appeared on the highway. His thirty-four immediately entered into battle with enemy tanks, and Lavrinenko managed to destroy 7 German combat vehicles with 7 shells, the eighth tank hastily retreated. Almost immediately another column appeared, consisting of 10 German tanks. This time Lavrinenko did not have time to fire: the blank pierced the side of his thirty-four, the driver and gunner-radio operator were killed.
Lavrinenko destroyed his last 52nd tank in battles on the outskirts of Volokolamsk on December 18, 1941. On the same day, the most effective tanker of the Red Army died from a stray mine fragment that hit him in the temple.
Lavrinenko had the opportunity to participate in 28 tank battles, burn in a tank three times, and as a result - 52 destroyed tanks.
Lavrinenko destroyed his 52 tanks in just 2.5 months of fierce fighting.