Alexander Davydovich
Golovatyuk

1922-2004


Alexander Davydovich Golovatyuk was the squad commander of the 68th Separate Engineer battalion, a sergeant. He finished the 5th grade of the school and tractor driver courses in 1936. In 1936-1941 he worked on a collective farm as a tractor driver. In January-May 1941 he studied at the courses of drivers. He served in the Red Army as a soldier in the infantry in the Kiev Special Military District since May 1941. He was a participant of the Great Patriotic War: in June-November 1941 he served as a Red Army soldier of the 1st Infantry regiment. He fought on the Southwestern and Southern Fronts. He participated in defensive battles in Western Ukraine, the Kiev, Uman and Donbass defensive operations. In November-February 1942 he served a Red Army soldier of the 247th separate sapper company, undergoing formation in the rear (in Transcaucasia). In February 1942 – December 1944 he served as the commander of the department of the 68th separate engineering (since May 1944 – engineer-sapper) battalion. He fought on the Southern, Transcaucasian, North Caucasian, Southwestern, 3rd and 2nd Ukrainian fronts. He participated in the Armavir-Maykop and Tuapse defensive, Krasnodar and Donbass offensive operations, the Battle of the Dnieper, Dnepropetrovsk, Nikopol-Krivoy Rog, Bereznegovato-Snigirev, Odessa and Iasi-Chisinau operations, the liberation of Bulgaria, the Debrecen and Budapest operations. He especially distinguished himself during the crossing of the Dnieper. On the night of September 26, 1943, near the village of Soshinovka (the Verkhnedneprovsky district of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine) he made 8 boat trips in 5 hours and landed a landing party of 75 people on the right bank of the river, and on return flights delivered 8 seriously wounded soldiers to the medical unit. For the courage and heroism shown in the battles, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated February 22, 1944, Sergeant Alexander Davydovich Golovatyuk was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. He completed the courses of junior lieutenants at Moscow Military Engineering School in May 1945. He studied at Moscow Military Engineering College in 1945-1946. Since June 1946, Junior Lieutenant Alexander Golovatyuk was in reserve. In 1946-1947 he worked in a military unit on his native soil, in 1947-1986 – as a tire collector at the Moscow Tire Factory.

Address: Moscow, Privolnaya str., 65, bldg. 2