Vasilii Margelov

Born Dec. 14 (27), 1908, in Ekaterinoslav, now Dnepropetrovsk. Soviet military leader; general of the army (1967); Hero of the Soviet Union (Mar. 21, 1944). Member of the CPSU since 1929.

Margelov entered the Soviet Army in 1928. He graduated from the Central Executive Committee of the Byelorussian SSR Joint Byelorussian Military School in 1931 and from the Military Academy of the General Staff in 1948. He fought in the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-40. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45 he was commander of a rifle regiment and chief of staff, deputy commander, and commander of a guards rifle division. He took part in the defense of Leningrad in 1941-42, in raids deep in the enemy rear, in the battle of Stalingrad of 1942-43, in fighting for the Ukraine and the Crimea, and in the liberation of Rumania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Austria. After the war he occupied command posts; in 1954 he became commander of the airborne troops. He has been awarded three Orders of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov Second Class, the Order of the Patriotic War First Class, the Order of the Red Star, various medals, and eight foreign orders.