From a folder of historic cards published in 1985 on the 40th anniversary of the victory of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War we continue our series looking at the Hero Cities and Fortresses as well as other sites and battles critical to the Soviet victory. The folder was entitled "No one is Forgotten. Nothing is Forgotten."
This tenth post looks at the battles for the Hero City of Tula. The fierce defense of Tula in December, 1941 helped to save the Soviet capital.
It is important to never forget the tremendous determination, courage and sacrifices of the Soviet peoples and Red Army in the great struggle of liberation against Nazism and fascism that was World War II.
(The ninth installment was: Kerch: Hero City of the USSR (theleftchapter.com))
The heroic defense of Tula played an extremely important role in the Battle of Moscow and was the final stage of the October battles of the Soviet Army on the southern approaches to the capital.
The heroic defense of Tula in the fall of 1941, which stood as an indestructible bastion in the enemy’s path, thwarted the Nazis’ attempts to bypass Moscow from the south. The Tula party organization did everything possible to defend the city. Of the 40,000 communists, 32,000 took up arms. Komsomol members fought next to them. In Tula, 79 fighter battalions numbering over 10,000 people, the 330th Infantry Division and the Tula Workers' Regiment were created. There were 31 partisan detachments and sabotage groups operating in the region.
For 45 days, the troops of the Soviet Army, together with the Tula residents, held back the onslaught of the Nazi troops. In December 1941, during the Tula offensive operation, the troops of the left wing of the Western Front defeated the enemy tank strike force and lifted the siege of the city. For the courage shown during the Great Patriotic War, more than 200 Tula residents were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, over 170,000 residents of the Tula region and the city were awarded orders and medals. For the heroism and fortitude shown by the defenders of the city, Tula was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1966, on December 7, 1976 it was awarded the honorary title “Hero City” and in 1977 it was awarded the Gold Star medal.
Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Tula