Petro Dyachenko
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Petro Dyachenko | |
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States | |
| Allegiance | |
| Service/ | |
| Years of service | 1914–1945 |
| Rank | Lieutenant general (UPR) |
| Commands held | 2nd Division UNA Ukrainian Liberation Army 1st Calvary Regiment of the Black Zaporozhians |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Cross of St. George Iron Cross 2nd Class |
Petro Havrylovych Dyachenko (Ukrainian: Петро́ Гаври́лович Дяче́нко; 30 January 1895 – 23 April 1965) was a Ukrainian military officer who was commander of the Black Zaporozhians, the 2nd division of the Ukrainian National Army, and the anti-tank brigade "Free Ukraine".
Military ranks — colonel of the Ukrainian People's Army (from 23 June 1920), corporal general (with seniority from 15 October 1929; order Ukrainian People's Army, No. 6, 1 February 1961).
The regiment of Black Zaporozhians under the leadership of Petro Dyachenko distinguished itself in the battles near Sydoriv and Voznesensk. Mykhailo Omelianovych-Pavlenko called the Black Zaporozhian regiment the best regiment of the Ukrainian National Army.
He graduated from the Real School in Myrhorod.
Participant of the First World War: a volunteer in the Russian Imperial Army, a private, later a non-commissioned officer, and after studying at the School of Ensigns in Orenburg, an officer (in 1917, a staff captain).
In 1917 he joined the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic. In 1918, he participated in the capture of Poltava and Crimea under the command of Colonel Petro Bolbochan. A Centurion (since 23 November 1918) and a henchman (since 17 January 1919) of a separate "partisan" henchman in the Zaporizhzhya regiment under Bolbochan.
After the coming to power of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi on 29 April 1918, Petro Dyachenko did not leave the army, but continued his service in the cavalry hundred of the 2nd Zaporizhzhya Regiment of the Army of the Ukrainian State. During the anti-hetman uprising, the hundred was deployed in the separate horse camp named after Ataman Petro Bolbochan. On 23 November 1918, Dyachenko was appointed a centurion, and on 17 January 1919, he was appointed an officer.
Under the Command of Bolbochan
On 22 January 1919, in Kremenchuk, by order of Symon Petliura, Omelyan Voloh arrested Bolbochan, one of the most authoritative figures among the Ukrainian army. The cavalry division of centurion Petro Dyachenko immediately went to Kremenchuk to relieve its commander. By the way, in the village Kryukove, the Cossacks disarmed a unit of the Volochiv 3rd Haydamatsky Regiment, which accompanied the arrested. Only Bolbochan's personal request kept Dyachenko from further use of weapons.
The Zaporozhians continued to take care of the fate of their beloved commander. But their requests were ignored. The appeal of the commanders of the Black Zaporozhians and division to return Colonel Bolbochan to them, which was also signed by Petro Dyachenko, remained unanswered.
Dyachenko and other senior officers among the Black Zaporozhians intended to contact the Sich Riflemen and jointly seize the trains with the government and hold them until Bolbochan was released. But Bolbochan categorically forbade them to hold this action. However, when the black men learned that Colonel Bolbochan was being tortured, Petro Dyachenko prepared a strike group that was to attack the Balyn station, where the former commander of the Black Zaporozhians was being held. This group, in addition to the Black Zaporozhians, included hundreds of Nalivaikiv and Mazepyn regiments. However, without the consent of Bolbochan himself, Dyachenko did not dare to take this risky step.
When Petliura arrived at the front and the Cossacks raised the issue of the commander's return to him again, the Chief Ataman assured "that a hair will not fall from Colonel Bolbochan's head and his arrest is temporary." Petliura confirmed the promise with the word of honor. Petro Dyachenko admitted that, when the Black Zaporozhians found out about Bolbochan's execution, Petliura lost his popularity among the officers and Cossacks of the regiment by the end of the war.
On 27 June 1919, the Chief Ataman ordered to rename the kurin named after Petro Bolbochan to the regiment, but without the name of the disgraced colonel. That is how Petro Dyachenko became the commander of the Zaporozhian Cavalry Separate Cavalry Regiment of the Zaporozhian Corps, later renamed the Cavalry Regiment of the Black Zaporozhian Cossacks.
The First Winter Hike
Petro Dyachenko took part in the First Winter Campaign. Knight of the Order of the Iron Cross . The regiment commanded by Dyachenko, on the eve of the Winter campaign, numbered 212 sabers, 11 heavy machine guns "Maxim", 9 light machine guns "Lewis", one cannon. A total of 417 Cossacks and officers.
On 6 December 1919, the remnants of the Ukrainian army left the
On 11 December 1919, they approached Golendra station. It was captured by the 4th Hundredth Regiment of the Black Zaporozhians almost without firing a single shot. Those Volunteer Army soldiers who surrendered were captured, others who tried to escape were beheaded. Having destroyed the railway and telegraph, they moved on to Samhorodok .
On 17 December 1919, Dyachenko and fifty Cossacks attacked the Volunteer Army in the town of Yurkivtsi. The volunteers did not have time to deploy into a row, and began to hastily shoot back with machine guns. In the attack, one of the best Cossacks of the regiment was killed - Ivan Dubin of Bunchuzh from Lokhvytsky County. Among the trophies are three heavy machine guns, 30 wagons with property, 40 officers, their wives and two dozen privates. Mykola Bredov almost fell into Ukrainian captivity during the battle. In the village of Kapitanivka , which is 20 versts from Holovanivsk, a hundred Black Zaporozhians jumped on the enemy road, attacked it, forcing it to flee. In the evening of 1 February 1920 year the regiment of chernoshlychniks entered the village to Vilshan Dyachenko declared a day of rest on 2 February.
On 8 February 1920, a regiment Black Zaporozhians jumped on Smila, after Dyachenko, together with the Mazepyn people, occupied the Bobrynska station, where they captured 11 echelons with property. It turned out to be the quartermaster of the front.
On 13 February 1920, in severe frost, the regiment of Black Zaporozhians marched through the village in a long column. Khudyaks to the Dnipro. Dyachenko together with the Cossacks moved to the left bank and began an offensive on Zolotonosha. At 7 a.m. on 14 February the Zaporozhians already left for this county town. A wild blizzard raged. At 7 o'clock in the morning on 15 February the Cossacks saw the gray buildings of Zolotonoshi. The station was occupied by the 2nd hundred. The station guard and commandant were captured. The prisoners reported that there were two special units of up to 500 men with machine guns in the city. These were international parts. 3rd and 4th hundreds under the command of lieutenant Broje went to the city. They flew to the middle of the city without firing a single shot. But the reds began to put up stiff resistance. They had to leave in a hurry, leaving behind even the slaughtered Cossacks. It was a shame for the Black Zaporozhians. To repel the dead, Colonel Petro Dyachenko sent the 2nd company, the rest of the 1st company and the company named after P. Sahaidachny to help. He ordered the others to advance in infantry. The enemy was pushed beyond the Zolotonoshka River, but he strengthened himself there.
Due to the lack of ammunition, the Cossacks on foot could not advance further, and the cavalry did not dare to cross the river, because the ice was extremely slippery. Having held half of the city until the evening, the Zaporizhia retreated to Dengy. On the way, they broke up the communist department. Later, the UNR Army returned to the Right Bank. The Zaporozhians crossed the Dnieper on 18 February 1920.
On 1 March 1920, the regiment of Black Zaporozhians attacked Holovanivsk. 50 communists were killed, another 60 were captured.
On 4 March 1920, the regiment went to Khoshchevata. Here the communists were supported by the local population. 40 Reds died as a result of an unexpected Black Zaporozhian attack.
On 5 March 1920, the black men were already in
April 1920 came. The army of Omelyanovich-Pavlenka, which has been fighting for the fifth month in isolation from the Ukrainian government, without receiving any help from it, has reached a critical limit. Lacking cartridges and shells, on 14 April 1920, she approached the city of
On 6 May 1920, in the Yampil region, a detachment of the Black Army met with a detachment of the 3rd Iron Division, which was advancing from the west. "The spirit of the army has risen, the mood is indescribable. Despite the terrible fatigue, the army is again ready to attack the enemy..." recalled UNR political officer Vasyl Sovenko.
All participants of the First Winter Campaign were awarded the Order of the Iron Cross. Petro Dyachenko was also awarded. And on 23 June 1920, he was promoted to the rank of colonel of the Ukrainian People's Army.
Wounded near Burshtyn
In the summer of 1920, Dyachenko, at the head of his regiment, launched an attack on Burshtyn. The attack was through peatlands and hayfields, cut with ditches for water drainage. The enemy was retreating behind the haymakers. The rear guard of the Reds sat down in the ditches by the road and covered the retreat of their unit with machine gun fire. Enemy guns were also firing. Petro Dyachenko decided to use a flank attack to take over the enemy convoy, full of weapons and other military equipment, which the Zaporizhia were sorely lacking. With his saber raised, without looking back, the commander galloped on his swift-footed horse. During the attack, Petro Dyachenko was knocked off his horse, he received a serious injury - a fractured thigh bone. Cossacks carried the wounded commander from the battlefield. When he was lying under a pear tree with a broken leg, an enemy grenade hit the tree itself. Surprisingly, it did not break. Without completing a full course of treatment,
Camps for Internees
1920, like the previous year, ended with the November catastrophe. Petro Dyachenko and his fellow black men were sent to internment camps. He did not waste time - he arranged for his horsemen to join the Polish army, and tried to improve their living conditions. He himself worked as an ordinary worker. In 1921 - 1924 - in camps for internment . He had two sons in Poland. Yuriy was born on 11 July 1923, Oles on 27 December 1928. This year, on 20 July, Petro Dyachenko, in order not to lose his military qualifications and earn money to support his family, went to the Polish Army.
Officer of the Polish Army
From 20 July 1928, he served as a major in the Polish Army. Here are his positions in this army: so-called. at. the commander of the machine gun squadron (end of 1928), the commander of the line squadron (second half of 1931) of the 1st cavalry regiment named after Józef Pilsudski, assistant to the 1st deputy commander of the 3rd regiment of the Masovian cavalry brigade "Suwalki" (1 November 1934 — 30 September 1939). During his service, Petro Dyachenko graduated from the Higher Military School (21 October 1932 — 1 November 1934).
In 1936, the commander of the "Suwalka" cavalry brigade, Colonel Rudolph Kresher, gave the following assessment to the contract major of the Polish Army, Petro Dyachenko:
| Mobile, very energetic and agile, very well oriented in the situation during the practical command of the unit. Ambitious and very willing to work, has a great cavalry temperament. Very strong, physically hardy, very accurate and conscientious performer. Commands the regiment with great experience and knowledge of the business, combined with great intelligence and ingenuity. However, he gets lost in issues of a higher tactical level, does not reveal either methods of thinking or special abilities - he is more of a practitioner than a theoretician. He has a positive influence on his subordinates, rather thanks to his personal example of hard and conscientious work, rather than his pedagogical abilities. |
In 1934, he graduated from the Higher Military School.
The Second Liberation Competition
World War II found Petro Dyachenko on the Polish-Lithuanian border in Suwalki. As a contract officer of the Polish Army, Petro Dyachenko defended Poland against the Soviet troops in September 1939. In the battles against the Red Army over the Nieman river, he was wounded. His cavalry division fought its way to Lithuania, where it was interned.
Later, Dyachenko ended up in a camp for Polish officers near Königsberg. Soon the Germans released him, like many other Ukrainian senior officers. Dyachenko immediately reported to Volodymyr Salskyi, the Minister of Defense of the Government of the Ukrainian People's Republic.
On 25 June 1941, the Ukrainian General Council of Combatants was created in Kraków, which mainly included senior officers UPR Army. Mykhailo Omelyanovych-Pavlenko headed the council, Vsevolod Petriv and Antin Kravs became his deputies. Petro Dyachenko became a member of its military-scientific and military-historical council, and on 5 July 1941, he headed the headquarters of the Ukrainian People's Revolutionary Army of Taras Bulba-Borovets. But soon he suddenly left his post. The head of the economic department of the regional military headquarters of the UPA-North group, Roman Petrenko, claimed that Dyachenko explained to him the reasons for his resignation.
| This is not an army, and he (Taras Bulba-Borovets) has no right to call himself a commander-in-chief. Bulba thought that I would train this "army" for him, and many of them had seen a rifle for the first time. To teach them military affairs, to lead them to battle - it takes a lot of time and more than one person, but he thought that it could be done in a month. Moreover, there were not enough weapons, ammunition, and there was not even anything to eat. So, I told him that I had nothing to do here, and asked him to send me to the city of Rivne. |
In the future, Petro Dyachenko cooperated with the
From March 1944, Dyachenko ("Flower") participated in the organization of the
On 30 January 1945, Colonel Petro Dyachenko turned 50 years old. In February, he became the commander of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the Ukrainian Liberation Army. At the end of February 1945, with the permission and assistance of the Germans, he began to form a separate Ukrainian anti-tank brigade "Free Ukraine". Its basis was made up of senior officers of the Ukrainian People's Army, former Red Army soldiers, and Ukrainians from the auxiliary anti-aircraft and fire-fighting units of Berlin. Petro Dyachenko personally staffed the team.
On 28 March 1945, the soldiers of the brigade swore allegiance to Ukraine. The oath contained the following words:
| I will always and everywhere fight with weapons in my hands under the Ukrainian national flag for my people and my native land - Ukraine. |
At the end of April, in fierce battles, the "Free Ukraine" brigade captured 300 Red Army soldiers. Among the trophies were four cannons, 5 regimental mortars, more than 400 horses, 20 machine guns, and a lot of military property. The 19th Infantry Regiment of the 7th Division of the
At the end of the war, Petro Dyachenko was appointed commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Division of the Ukrainian National Army (the total number of its soldiers reached seven thousand). On 7 May 1945, in the area of the city of Tetchen, near the bridge on the Elbe, UNA commander Pavlo Shandruk promoted Petro Dyachenko to the rank of lieutenant general. And the very next day, Dyachenko's brigade was surrounded. Its soldiers had to go over 200 km through territories where the Red Army was already operating. Less than a third of the soldiers of the "Free Ukraine" brigade got into the American zone, the rest died or were captured by the Red Army. And several dozen hid in the forests of the Sudetenland foothills. Later, they reached Oleśnica County, where they established contact with the OUN-B, which operated in Lower Silesia (it was headed by Roman Koza-"Bogun"), fighting against the Reds until the early 1950s.
Dyachenko's military career ended in May 1945. In order not to fall into the hands of those against whom he fought while defending the UPR, he was forced to surrender to the Americans.
Dyachenko served in various armies for 25 years, thirteen of them on the fronts of various wars. He served in the Tsarist Army, Russian army of the Provisional Government, the Armed Forces of the Ukrainian State of Pavel Skoropadskyi, in the Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic, in the Polish Army, in the Ukrainian People's Revolutionary Army of Taras Bulba-Borovets, and the Ukrainian National Army .
On emigration
After the war, Petro Dyachenko lived for some time in Munich. He consulted representatives of American military intelligence who studied the real forces of the Liberation Movement in Ukraine. Later, together with his new wife Elena and her son Petro, General Dyachenko moved to the US and settled in Philadelphia. After leaving for the US, the old soldier's life was closed in the narrow circle of family life, he devoted a lot of time to his son and wife Elena. He was engaged in the cultivation of flowers, in particular he loved roses, he was fond of photography and started writing memoirs. In 2010, the magazine "America" published his memoirs "Black Zaporozhians" - about the fate of the regiment of black soldiers in 1919–1920. He himself, having survived two wars and the loss of both sons, was silent, wrote little and sparingly about himself. Since Petro Dyachenko did not directly command the Second Brigade, which was half of the Second Division, in his memoirs he writes only about the First Brigade he led.
On 1 February 1961, the government-in-exile of the Ukrainian People's Republic granted Dyachenko the rank of lieutenant general, noting in the order to consider him lieutenant general from 15 October 1928. The last rank of Petro Dyachenko was lieutenant general of the Ukrainian People's Army.
He died on 23 April 1965. He is buried at St. Andrew's Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery in
Archive of the General
Petro Dyachenko's wife Olena carefully organized her husband's memoir legacy. In the magazine "Visti kombatanta" (part 3 for 1967), she published a list of works that were kept in the family. From this publication you can learn that Petro Dyachenko wrote the following works:
- "Organization of an anti-tank brigade" (with diagrams);
- "Horse regiment of the Black Zaporozhians" (manuscript - 74 pages of typescript; manuscript - 97 pages of typescript);
- "Anti-tank brigade "Free Ukraine" (4 sheets - 8 handwritten pages);
- "Notes to the History of the Black Zaporozhian Regiment" (4 sheets — 8 handwritten pages);
- "Horse Hundred" (a small handwritten school notebook);
- "Cavalry Hundred, Cavalry Division named after Colonel Pyotr Bolbochan" (notebook with number 2);
- "Horse Regiment" (notebook with the number 3);
- "Formation and first battle of the Ukrainian Anti-Tank Brigade" (three sheets written in ink and three sheets written in pencil);
- "Petro Dyachenko, colonel of the Ukrainian Army" (10 sheets and two pages, handwritten);
- "Winter Campaign" (abstract delivered on the anniversary of the Winter Campaign of the UNR Army) and other articles.
In addition to manuscripts, there were also: a folder with personal documents, a folder with photographs, clippings from Polish communist newspapers about Petro Dyachenko and correspondence (letters from generals Pavlo Shandruk, Pyotr Samutyn, Mykhailo Sadovskyi , Dmytro Zhupinas, colonels Mykola Rybachuk, I. Lypovetskyi, N Shkilny, P. Kalinovsky, Makar Kaplysty , brother Viktor Gavrylovich Dyachenko, centurions Zenon Stefanov and Gonta (apparently Ivan Lyuty-Lyutenko), sub-chiefs and Cossacks of the Black Zaporozhian regiment Petro Pervukhin, Serhiy Hnyda, Valentin Simyantsiv and others.
Mrs. Olena Dyachenko appealed to everyone who has letters from Petro Dyachenko to put them in the general archive, which will be transferred to the relevant institution after the final arrangement.
Family
He was married twice. From his first marriage, he had two sons, Yuriy (born on July 11, 1923) and Olesya (born on December 27, 1928), who died in World War II, and in his second marriage with his wife Elena, they raised a son, Peter (a sergeant in the American Air Force, a participant in the Vietnam War).
His brother is
Dyachenko's nephew was the writer and literary critic Leonid Ivanovich Sukachev.
Commemoration
Petro Dyachenko's grave at St Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery, South Bound Brook, New Jersey, USA
- On 12 October 1968, a solemn consecration of a monument took place at the St Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery - a bust of Petro Dyachenko, where he is depicted in a Cossack cap with a plume. Ukrainian veterans were present at the event. Archbishop Mstislav performed the consecration ceremony. The choir performed under the direction of professor I. Palivoda. The sculptor is Valentyn Simyantsiv], a Cossack of the 3rd hundred of the Black Zaporozhian regiment.
Valentyn Simyantsiv recalled that pointing to the monument, Bishop Mstislav said that the community can do a lot when there are people in it who will devote time and work to public affairs. Vladyka reminded that on the conscience of the former soldiers lies an unfulfilled duty to the glorious memory of the soldiers buried in this cemetery, on whose graves today only temporary wooden crosses stand.
After sending home, Mrs. Olena Dyachenko and her son Petro invited those present to a feast. And at the table, Archbishop
Museum of liberation struggles 1917–1921 in Berezova Luka
- A commemorative sign was erected in his honor in his native village, Berezova Luka, and there is also a museum of liberation struggles 1917–1921, dedicated to Petro Dyachenko.
- Petro Dyachenko Street is in the city of Battle of Voznesensk, during which he liberated the city from the invaders.
- On 28 July 2022, part of Levanevsky Street in the city of Bila Tserkva was renamed Petro Dyachenko Street.
- On 1 March 2024, the Nikopol City Council named a street after Dyachenko.[1]
Sources
- Serhiy Kovalenko. Black Zaporizhia: history of the regiment. 2nd edition. — Kyiv: Styx Publishing House , 2015. — 368 p.
- Taras Bulba-Borovets . "Army without a state", "Volyn", Winnipeg, 1981, Canada
- Volodymyr Bilyaev. "On the boundless wing..." - Donetsk: Eastern Publishing House, 2003. - 348 p.
- Ivan Burtyk . The Thorny Path of the 2nd UNA Division, New York, 1991 [ Archived March 16, 2022 at the Wayback Machine .]
- Yurii Gorlis-Gorskyi . Cold ravine. [ Archived June 4, 2013 at the Wayback Machine .]
- Roman Koval . Petro Dyachenko, Chieftain of the Black Zaporozhians. [ Archived July 20, 2008 at the Wayback Machine .]
- Alexander Panchenko. General Petro Dyachenko is a fighting eagle of the Ukrainian army [ Archived October 3, 2013 at the Wayback Machine .]
- Who was and is in the city of Gadyach [ Archived May 18, 2017 at the Wayback Machine .]
- Tynchenko Ya. Yu. Officer Corps of the Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic (1917–1921). Book I. — K .: Tempora , 2007. — ISBN 966-8201-26-4 .
- Tynchenko Ya. Yu. Officer Corps of the Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic (1917–1921). Book II . — K. _ : Tempora, 2011. — 355 p. — ISBN 978-617-569-041-3 .
References
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