This year Russia and the world mark the 70thanniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The importance of this historic event is growing year by year. The memory of the peoples of the former USSR about the war is supported by common values. Victory Day, which was gained due to unity, was an opportunity to pay tribute to everybody who fought and worked on the home front during the war time. Vestnik Kavkaza remembers the people who took the country to the Victory. Today we will tell about the commander of a rifle battalion during the Great Patriotic War, Melik Mageramov.
Melik Melikovich Mageramov was born in 1920 in the village of Bychagchy in the Zardab Region of Azerbaijan. From the age of 10 he began working at a communal farm. He was an orphan in a family with many children. His father was killed three months before his birth, and his mother died a year after his birth. In 1936 he left school with an A-diploma and entered the Baku National Accounting College, graduating from it in 1939. He joined the Red Army in October 1939. In 1940 he graduated from the Central Communication School of the Red Army.
Being a commander of a signal section, he fought in the 70th infantry division in the Novgorod Direction of the Northwestern Front. In August 1941 he was heavily injured and evacuated to Yaroslavl. After a recovery in hospital, he went to the Volkhov Front and fought in the 160th separated ski battalion. In February 1942 he was injured for the second time and sent to the Vladimir Military Infantry School. He graduated from it as a lieutenant.
From June 1943 Lieutenant Melik Mageramov had been fighting at the Orel-Kursk Direction of the Central Front as the commander of the 5th Rifle Squadron of the 218th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 77th Guard Rifle Division. According to memoirs of Mageramov, his squadron included mainly soldiers from Siberia and the Urals. They distinguished themselves in September actions near Chernigov in 1943. On September 17th 1943 Lieutenant Melik Mageramov cut across the Desna River and broke into the town of Mena which was situated 70 km from Chernigov. He cleaned several streets of the enemy. On September 20-21, 1943, Lieutenant Mageramov led Red Army men in an attack and contributed to the liberation of the city from the Germans. On September 23rd 1943, due to a resolute maneuver by Mageramov’s squadron, a railway station was saved from being blown up. On September 26th 1943, units of the 218th Guards Rifle Regiment came to the Dnepr River.
On September 27th 1943 Mageramov and his squadron cut across the Dnepr River near the village of Nadanchichi, broke through the enemy’s trenches and defended a base area until the approach of the main forces of the 218th Guards Rifle Regiment. Lieutenant Melik Mageramov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for his resolute actions in the September fights of 1943 on September 30th 1943. According to the act by the Presidium of the Supreme Council on January 15th 1944, he was awarded a Hero of the Soviet Union and the highest award of the USSR – an Order of Lenin and a Medal of the Golden Star.
The hero was awarded by the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council, Mikhail Kalinin, in the Kremlin in February 1944. The commander of the front, General Rokossovsky, told Mageramov after the awarding ceremony:
“The Motherland owes you a lot, Lieutenant Mageramov. Along with your personal dignity, you managed to raise wonderful people. I should say I have never seen a squadron which has 15 Heroes of the Soviet Union. The Front is proud of such officers as you…”
Later, Melik Mageramov was dispatched to the position of a commander of a student squadron of the Ryazan Machinegun School. He left it as a Captain and continued his battle path in the same 77th Guard Rifle Division as the deputy commander of the battalion and later as the commander of the battalion of the 218th Guards Rifle Regiment.
On July 18-21, 1944, units of the 77th Guards Rifle Division cut across the Western Bug River and entered the territory of Poland. During actions for the Polish city of Helm, Captain Melik Mageramov stayed at the firing line all the time and helped the commander of the regiment to control the units. On July 24th 1944, while cutting across the Velsh River, the Soviet bank sides were heavily fired on by the enemy. The commander of the regiment was injured and Captain Mageramov began to command the battalion. As a result of resolute actions by Mageramov, the battalion successfully cut across the river and forced the Germans from the critical line. On July 31st 1944, while cutting across the Visla River, Captain Mageramov, who was heading a small group of soldiers, was the first to cut across the river and forced the Germans from their positions, despite heavy fire, and provided an opportunity for cutting across the river by the whole battalion without losses. On September 12th 1944 Captain Melik Mageramov was awarded the 3rd Class Order of Kutuzov for commanding mastership and distinguished actions during battle.
Melik Mageramov was also awarded the 1st Class Order of the Patriotic War on June 12th 1945 for the battle on the Oder River. In March 1945 Mageramov was injured near Berlin for the sixth time and evacuated to Kharkov. After the end of the war he was the commander of a rifle battalion. After the war Melik Mageramov decided to continue his military service.
Till 1950 he was the military commissioner of the Khyzyn Region of the Azerbaijani SSR. In 1950-1954 he was the military commissioner of the Surakhan District of Baku. In 1954 he graduated from the Military Academy n. a. Frunze and was the head of the headquarters of the 68th Rifle Regiment of the 216th Rifle Division of the Transcaucasian Military District. In 1956-1958 he was the military commissioner of the Agdash Region of the Azerbaijani SSR. In 1958-1961 he was the head of the educational unit of the military department at Baku State University. In 1961-1965 he was the military commissioner of the Sabirabad, Kyurdamor, and Narimanov Districts of Baku. In 1965-1973 he was the head of the military department of Baku State University.
Melik Mageramov left military service in 1973 as a Colonel. In 1973-1990 he took various party positions. In 1985 he was awarded the 1st Class Order of the Patriotic War for the second time due to the 40thanniversary of the Victory. In 1995 Melik Mageramov was awarded the Order of Glory of the Azerbaijani Republic ahead of his 75th birthday. He died in Baku in 2004 when he was 83.
