Kolodiy Ivan Mikhailovich – radio telegrapher of the 118th Artillery Regiment, 69th Red Banner Sevskaya Rifle Division, 65th Army of the Central Front, a freelance. Russian.
He was born on May 1, 1912 in the village of Kievka, Nurinsk district in a peasant family. From there, at the beginning of the war he joined the army and was enlisted as a radio telegrapher of the 118th artillery regiment of the 69th rifle division.
In mid-October, the crossing of our troops across the Dnieper began in many directions. To hold the border the enemy concentrated huge forces. There were fierce battles everywhere.
On October 15, 1943 in the area of Radul, Chernihiv region, signalman Kolodiy together with advanced infantry soldiers under the hurricane fire forced the Dnieper River. On the outskirts of the western bank of the Dnieper a boat was broken by a shell, and a seriously wounded signalman, together with a radio, went to the bottom. Preempting the pain, straining his last strength, Ivan Mikhailovich swam ashore and, bleeding out, turned the radio station. With incredible effort he established a connection with the battery and began to correct its fire, clearly indicating the target to the gunners. The enemy, having discovered the location of the radio operator, increased the fire on this section. The shells and mines rushed nearby. And the radio operator Kolodiy was forced to move the radio to a safe place several times.
Thanks to the dedication of the communicator and the clarity of his fixation of targets, the accurate work of our artillery was ensured. As a result, 16 firing points were choked one after the other and the enemy’s batteries were silenced.
And our soldiers were sailing through the Dnieper. Many of them owe their lives to a brave signalman. In this battle on the Dnieper our assault troops managed to repel up to 20 counterattacks of the enemy.
Between the transmission of information to the communist battery, Colodius was directly involved in these battles.
Kolodiya’s feat was highly appreciated by the Motherland. By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on October 30, 1943, radio telegrapher of the 118th Artillery Regiment, 69th Rifle Division of the Sevskaya Red Banner Division, corporal Ivan Mikhailovich Kolodiy was awarded the high title Hero of the Soviet Union. He was also awarded the Order of Lenin, medals.
The health of the hero was undermined. In 1954, Ivan Mikhailovich Kolodiy died.
The hero’s radio station and automatic rifle are exhibited at the Central Museum of the USSR Armed Forces in Moscow.
The material is published based on the book published in the RIO Bolashak Baspa and the Internet.
Heroes of Karaganda [Text]: a collection of biographical information / edited by Zh.S. Akylbayev, Karaganda: Bolashak-Baspa, 2000. – – 146 p.
