Nikolay Krylov (marshal)

Nikolai Ivanovich Krylov (

During the Russian Civil War, he tried to join the Red Army. At the beginning of 1919, he was enrolled in the aviation division of the Southern Front, but after a few days he fell seriously ill and was left with his parents. At the same time, he passed the exam for the school course as an external student and received a certificate of graduation from the 2nd stage school.^[1]

Military career

Russian Civil War

In April 1919, at the age of 16, he achieved enrollment in the

After the end of the civil war, Krylov remained in the Red Army and continued to serve in the Far East, where he commanded a battalion. From 1923, he served as assistant chief of staff of a rifle regiment. Krylov joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1927 and graduated from Advanced Training Courses for the Command Staff of the Red Army in August 1928.^[2]

From 1929, he served as chief of staff of a rifle regiment in the

Following the outbreak of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, Krylov led the fight against Romanian troops who tried unsuccessfully to cross the Soviet border. When the threat of enemy occupation loomed, the Soviet troops were withdrawn from the border and Krylov became the deputy chief of the coastal army's operational department in July 1941.^[3]

Since there was a lack of commanders in the besieged Odessa, he became chief of the operational department of the army on August 11 and the chief of staff of the coastal army on August 21. He remained in this position from the beginning to the end of the defense of Odessa and Sevastopol. During a visit outside the dugout with two others, the Germans fired off mortar rounds, killing one of the men and severely wounding Krylov on 8 January 1942. He would suffer from this injury for the rest of his life. On 27 December 1941, he was appointed major general and was evacuated from the city in the last days of its defense by a Soviet Navy submarine. He was in the reserve for more than a month, during which time he wrote a report on the defense of Sevastopol.^[3]

In August 1942, Krylov was appointed Chief of Staff of the

Due to his old injury, he was in a Moscow hospital for two months at the end of 1944 and then returned to command of his army units during the East Prussian offensive.^[3]

Soviet-Japanese War

After the victory over Germany, the 5th Army in full strength was transferred to the Far East, where it became part of the

For the successful defeat of the opposing enemy groupings in this operation, Krylov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for the second time.[4]

Post-war

From October 1945, Krylov served as deputy commander of the

In March 1963, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Rocket Forces. He was responsible for its founding, which had to be brought into combat readiness within a short time and whose new technology had to be tested in cooperation with the designers. The development of missile forces was also accelerated by the Cuban Missile Crisis. Krylov, missile designer Mikhail Yangel and a number of other specialists agreed that it was necessary to build new underground launch pads and put new missile complexes into operation. Krylov's duties also included inspections of all parts and departments of the missile forces. He was also responsible for building military towns where military personnel and their families lived.^[1][5]

Krylov died on 9 February 1972, at the age of 68, just nine days after the death of Marshal Matvei Zakharov. The urn containing his ashes is buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.^[4]

Honours and awards

Krylov received the following honours and awards.^[1]

Soviet Union

	Hero of the Soviet Union, twice (19 April 1945, 8 September 1945)
	Order of Lenin, four times (8 October 1942, 21 February 1945, 19 April 1945, 28 March 1963)
	Order of the October Revolution (22 February 1968)
	Order of the Red Banner, four times (10 February 1942, 4 February 1943, 3 November 1944, 20 June 1949)
	Order of Suvorov, 1st class (4 July 1944)
	Order of Kutuzov, 1st class (28 September 1943)
	Medal "For the Defence of Odessa" (1942)
	Medal "For the Defence of Sevastopol" (1942)
	Medal "For the Defence of Stalingrad" (1942)
	Medal "For the Capture of Königsberg" (1945)
	Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1945)
	Medal "For the Victory over Japan" (1945)
	Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945" (1965)
	Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" (1969)
	Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" (1938)
	Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy" (1948)
	Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1958)
	Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1968)
	Medal "For the Development of Virgin Lands" (1956)

Foreign

	Medal of Sino-Soviet Friendship, twice (China)
	Order of the Cloud and Banner with Special Grand Cordon (Republic of China)
	Medal “For Strengthening Friendship in Arms”, Golden class (Czechoslovakia)
	Commander of the Legion of Honour (France)
	Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)
	Order of Sukhbaatar (Mongolia)
	Medal for the Liberation of Korea (North Korea)
	Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Poland)
	Brotherhood of Arms Medal (Poland)

References