1. In 1923, Vasily Margelov became a laborer in a local bakery.
24 Facts About Vasily Margelov
1. 2.
From 1924, Vasily Margelov worked in the Kalinin mine at Ekaterinoslav.
3.
Vasily Margelov studied at the United Belarusian Military School from 1928 to 1931.
4.
Vasily Margelov was appointed the commander of a machine gun platoon in the 99th Rifle Regiment of the 33rd Rifle Division in Mogilev.
5.
Vasily Margelov became the commander of a machine gun platoon in the United Belarusian Military School.
6.
From 25 October 1938, Vasily Margelov commanded the 2nd Battalion of the 23rd Rifle Regiment of the 8th Rifle Division.
7.
From 15 July 1942, Vasily Margelov was the commander of the newly reformed 13th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 3rd Guards Rifle Division.
8.
In January 1943, Vasily Margelov became the 3rd Guards Rifle Division's deputy commander.
9.
Vasily Margelov participated in the Salsk-Rostov Offensive during the same month.
10.
Vasily Margelov fought in the Donbass Strategic Offensive and in the Melitopol Offensive from August to November 1943.
11.
In 1944, Vasily Margelov became the commander of the 49th Guards Rifle Division.
12.
In 1948, Vasily Margelov graduated from the Voroshilov Military Academy of the USSR Army General Staff and became the commander of the 76th Guards Airborne Division in April in Pskov.
13.
Vasily Margelov initiated the mass production of parachute systems and helped to introduce the An-22 and Il-76 into service.
14.
In May 1967 Colonel-General Vasily Margelov played a crucial part in Operation "Rhodopes-67", a massive deployment of Warsaw Pact airborne forces in the People's Republic of Bulgaria near the Greek border as a show of force to deter the recently established military regime of the Greek junta.
15.
The operation was a success and later that year on 28 October 1967 Vasily Margelov was promoted to general of the army.
16.
Vasily Margelov organized the Soviet airborne operations during the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia.
17.
Vasily Margelov was the chairman of the State Examination Commission of the Ryazan Airborne School.
18.
Vasily Margelov lived in Moscow and died on 4 March 1990 at the age of 82.
19.
Vasily Margelov's father Vasily Filippovich was a strong advocate for the mechanization of the VDV with drop-capable IFVs and APCs and this necessitated the development of heavy duty airborne drop systems for them.
20.
On 23 January 1976 at the 76th Airborne Landing Division's Kislovo training grounds near Pskov now Major Aleksandr Vasily Margelov was the first one to test the new system and this time as the crew commander, with Lt.
21.
On 21 February 2010, a bust of Vasily Margelov was installed near the Palace of Youth in Kherson.
22.
On 4 November 2013, a memorial to Vasily Margelov opened in Nizhny Novgorod's Victory Park.
23.
On 7 May 2014, a monument to Vasily Margelov was opened in Nazran's local memorial complex.
24.
On 6 May 2005, the Russian Federation Ministry of Defence established the departmental Medal "Army General Vasily Margelov", awarded to soldiers of the VDV.