Gleb Baklanov

Gleb Vladimirovich Baklanov (;  – 16 January 1976) was a Soviet Army colonel general and a Hero of the Soviet Union. Born to a wealthy family, Baklanov was drafted into the Red Army and was selected for command positions during the interwar period. He served in staff positions and was wounded during the Winter War while a regimental chief of staff. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, he became a regimental commander but was wounded in fighting in Belarus and did not return to the front until early 1942 as a brigade commander. Baklanov commanded the 299th Rifle Division during the Battle of Stalingrad, being decorated for his actions, and went on to lead the 13th Guards Rifle Division at the Battle of Kursk among other actions. In mid-1944 he was promoted to command a rifle corps, a position in which he ended the war. For his leadership in the capture of Dresden in the final weeks of the war Baklanov was made a Hero of the Soviet Union. He held senior command positions after the end of the war, commanding the 13th Army, the Siberian Military District, and the Northern Group of Forces before his retirement during the Cold War. Early life Baklanov was born on to a wealthy family in Moscow. His father Vladimir Baklanov owned a weaving factory and his mother Alexandra had been an actress before bearing children. His sister Olga Baclanova left the Russian SFSR in 1926 and did not return, having chosen to become a naturalized citizen of the United States. After completing secondary school he attended the V.I. Lenin Moscow Polytechnic College before being drafted into the Red Army in November 1932. Interwar period and Winter War Baklanov was sent to the 1st Moscow Proletarian Rifle Division and graduated from a one-year command course in December 1933, going on to serve in its 3rd Rifle Regiment as a platoon commander, assistant company commander, battalion chief of staff, chief of chemical defense for the regiment, and assistant regimental chief of staff. He was transferred to the reserve in July 1938 during the Great Purge but returned to duty in May 1939 as chief of staff of the 541st Rifle Regiment of the 136th Rifle Division, serving in the Winter War against Finland in late 1939 and early 1940. Wounded in combat during the war, Baklanov received the Order of the Red Banner in recognition of his actions, his first decoration.