His indomitable spirit, courageous appearance, hardy organism, as it were, testified that his life could have been preserved for a longer period, perhaps until more difficult times, but the inexorable fate decided otherwise and death, constantly hovering over him in the heat of battle - he was wounded 4 times in the First world war and 5 times in the White Army - she stretched out her hand to him already now and so suddenly.

In the summer of this year, the general, who at times suffered from liver disease, began to feel other ailments, lost weight, and became nauseous. In this regard, he went to a clinic in Munich, where he lived recently, for research. The professor pointed out the need for an early operation, with which the patient immediately agreed. After the operation, carried out on August 16 and lasting three and a half hours, came to a short time some relief. The general, both before and after her, maintained a cheerful mood and joked at times, although according to doctors, the first six days after surgery in such a serious form were considered very dangerous for life.

His loving wife Alexandra Fedorovna was invariably at his bedside in the clinic, and in the last days, hieromonk Fr. Kornily, a former white officer, and later in exile a mining engineer in the Czech Republic. From the hands of Archbishop Alexander, the patient received St. participle. On Sunday, August 18, the general suddenly ceased to recognize those around him in the afternoon and fell into oblivion. Consciousness no longer returned to him, and ten minutes past one on the night of Monday, August 19 to Tuesday, 20 of the same month, he was gone.

The ancient Christians taught that God does his work when a person's strength comes to an end. That tension of physical and mental strength, those continuous efforts that the deceased had to show in the terrible years of the existence of our homeland during the struggle for it on the battlefields, could not but affect, they crippled his strength with age, which came to an end when the body had to deal with the disease and the consequences of the operation.

On August 23, a solemn funeral service was held at the Westfriedhof cemetery in Munich with a large number of people who came to pay their last debt to the deceased, Russian emigrants who left their homeland at different times, as well as representatives of various organizations and unions. The guard of honor at the coffin was also carried by the newest emigrants. Parting words dedicated to the memory of the deceased were spoken by Archbishop Alexander and Hieromonk Fr. Cornelius. The coffin, on the lid of which there was a crimson Drozdov cap and the general's checker, along with wreaths and flowers laid on it in a large number, was temporarily placed in a crypt until the body was transported to France and buried in the Drozdov section of the S. Genevieve de Bois cemetery in the vicinity of Paris .

The body of the deceased, accompanied by two riflemen of the 1st Battalion of the 1st Drozdovsky Regiment, arrived from Germany in Paris on Thursday, September 12 and, with military honors, was placed in a coffin on a hearse in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral on the same day in the evening. On September 14, a solemn funeral liturgy was served in the cathedral and after it a memorial service with a large number of those praying and who came to honor the memory of the last head of the Drozdov division. Wreaths and flowers filled the entire pulpit, and some of them remained in the porch. Of these, four white-crimson wreaths from all four regiments of the Drozdov division, a wreath from units of the 1st Army Corps and a wreath from the Society of Galipoli stood out. On the lid of the coffin, covered with the Russian national tricolor flag, were the St. George weapons, a pillow with the orders of the late general, and Drozdov's cap.

During the liturgy, the guard of honor at the coffin was carried in shifts: the head of the Russian All-Military Union, Gen. von Lampe, Gen. Pisarev, who commanded the 1st Army in the last period of the armed struggle in the Crimea. Corps, Gen. Opritz, Gen. Don Cossacks Pozdnyshev, Colonel Protasovich, Gorbach, Boyarintsev, Nilov, Shchavinsky, Koltyshev, Yesaul Turoverov and Drozdov officers. In addition to the representatives of the four main, so-called "colored" divisions of the Volunteer Corps - Markovskaya, Kornilovskaya, Drozdovskaya and Alekseevskaya - they also came to pay their last debt to the deceased, also ranks of cavalry regiments, Cossacks of all troops, representatives of organizations and just Russian people who wished to honor the deceased in the person of the deceased Volunteer army, one of the valiant divisions of which was led into battle during the White Struggle by the gene. Turkul.

The rector of the cathedral, Archpriest Fr. G. Lomako, who performed the funeral service in concelebration with five priests and two deacons, characterized the gene. Turkul as a fearless hero and a true Christian, and reminded him that he had to bury the first head of our division, Gen. Drozdovsky. After the Liturgy, a solemn requiem was served, during which the banner of the 1st Drozdovsky Regiment was carried to the grave, bowed while singing "eternal memory" over the remains of the last division commander. After saying goodbye to the deceased at the cemetery of S. Genevieve de Bois, where the burial of the body took place, more than 200 escorted the general left the cathedral to his last trip persons.

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There, on the Drozdovsky site, over the coffin lowered into the grave in last time the banner of the regiment bowed again. The widow of General Turkul, Alexandra Fedorovna, who came from Munich and was present at this solemn funeral, contributed to the fulfillment of the will of the deceased, who bequeathed to find his last resting place among his Drozdov comrades-in-arms.

The ashes of General Drozdovsky were transported at the time when our troops left the Kuban in March 1920 from Yekaterinodar, where he was first buried in Sevastopol, along with the coffin of the commander of the 1st battery, Captain Tutsevich, and was again interred there, and this was done secretly so that the Soviet troops could not desecrate their graves after we left the Crimea; the attempt to find their resting place on the basis of the stored scheme ended during the Second World War in failure due to the fact that the entire area and the cemetery were completely destroyed during the fighting near Sevastopol in 1941-1942 and all the indicative points marked on the scheme, were destroyed. In this regard, it was decided to erect a monument to Gen. Drozdovsky and all the soldiers of our division who fell on the battlefield during the civil war in Russia, whose graves have forever remained unknown.

During the consecration of this monument, Lieutenant Drozdovite Genkin read his poems dedicated to the celebration that took place, and touched on our comrades-in-arms who fell in battle with the following stanza:

... "But only there, in the harsh darkness,

Under the wind, blizzard and snow

They lie in the damp earth,

Not overshadowed by crosses .. "

This monument makes a majestic impression, it has the inscription “To General Drozdovsky and his Drozdovites”, it is almost five meters high. It is made of granite, but it does not seem heavy, does not press. He, as it were, only slightly touches the ground, breaks away from it, goes up into the air, the Drozdovsky section of the cemetery is fenced with large-caliber shells standing sweat on its sides, connected by chains. Under the shadow of this monument, the last head of our division, General Turkul, found his final resting place.

The earth took its own, it does not give back the earthly. Our general left us without a return, but his memory will remain. It should remind us all that it is not enough to love only your homeland, but you need to fight for Russia.

In the Volunteer Army in southern Russia and in other White armies of the era of unrest and civil war in our homeland, there were quite a few real people, people of strong spirit, firm and fearless in battle, who seemed to be stronger than death itself. But even under these conditions, the name of the gene. Turkula, who already distinguished himself quite a bit on the fronts of the Great War, became the property of history not only of the Drozdov division, but also of the Armed Forces of southern Russia. It is not possible to enumerate all the stages of his brilliant military career on the external Austro-German and on the internal, fronts against communism for the national existence of our country - it remains to be limited to only a few strokes that characterize his outstanding military career.

Anton Vasilyevich Turkul was born on December 11, 1892 in Odessa, where he was educated at the Richelieu Gymnasium. On September 1, 1911, he was enlisted as a volunteer in the 56th Zhytomyr Regiment, where he graduated from the training team and received the rank of junior. non-commissioned officer. On August 2, 1914, he went to the front of the Great War as part of the 19th infantry. divisions in the ranks of the 75th infantry. Sevastopol regiment. After being awarded the St. George Crosses of the 4th and 3rd degrees, he was promoted on September 23 of the same year to ensign for military distinctions. In the regiment, after production, he held the positions of junior officer, company commander and battalion commander, reaching the rank of staff captain on March 23, 1916. On January 8, 1917, he was transferred, along with the battalion, remaining its commander, to the newly formed 654th infantry. Rohatinsky regiment. During the indicated time, Captain Turkul received military awards: St. Anna of the 4th degree with the inscription "For courage", St. Stanislav 3rd degree with swords and a bow, St. Anna 3rd class with swords and bow, St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir with swords and a bow, St. George's weapon. For the capture of the headquarters of the Austrian brigade, together with its commander, at the head of a team of scouts, he received the Order of St. Great Martyr and Victorious George of the 4th degree, decorating his chest in this way with all military awards available to the chief officer.

On June 6, 1917, Staff Captain Turkul was appointed commander of the assault battalion. With the same determination and inflexibility, he continued to fulfill his military duty, although he was shocked, like thousands of other officers who fought at the front, by the direction in which they developed after the change of historical power in Russia, the events in the country "deepening the revolution" through the efforts that remained unpunished Bolsheviks, with the connivance of the Provisional Government, which lost power from its hands. The collapse of the front intensified and after the October coup it was no longer possible even to assume a further continuation of the war, although the truce concluded by the Soviet government with the Central Powers was not recognized for some time either in the South-Western or in Romanian, which at that time was located deceased, nor on the Caucasian fronts. On December 24, 1917, Captain Turkul received leave in connection with the complete collapse of the active army, left the 3rd Special Division, which included his assault battalion after the collapse of the 12th Army, and went to his mother in Tiraspol, intending to make his way from there further to the Don to Generals Alekseev and Kornilov, about whose appearances there came dull, obscure rumors. But already on January 4, 1918, having learned that at the Skinteya station, Gen. headquarters Colonel Drozdovsky, who had previously commanded the 14th infantry. division, began the formation of the 3rd brigade of Russian volunteers in order to set out with it on a campaign to join the gene. Kornilov, immediately responded to the call that reached him, entered the detachment that was being formed and was first enlisted as a private in the 2nd officer company, commanded by Captain P.I. Andreevsky, and then soon became assistant company commander. February 26, Art. Art. 1918 pcs. Captain Turkul, in the position of sergeant major of the 2nd company, set out on a campaign from Yass to the Don as part of a detachment, which, having driven the Reds out of Novocherkassk on April 25, joined the Volunteer Army and formed the core of the division in it, which received after the death from the wound of its chief gene. Drozdovsky name Drozdovsky. The 2nd officer company, both during the formation of the detachment and until the end of the fighting in 1920, in November in the Crimea, was considered exemplary and from its chapter. In the image of the environment, the commanding staff of the division came out in the future: commanders of battalions, regiments, including the last division chief, gen. Turkul, who began his service with the Order of St. George as a private.

After connecting with the Volunteer Army, which then occupied the area of ​​​​the villages of Mechetinskaya and Yegorlytskaya after the end of the 1st Kuban campaign, the Drozdovites suffered their first losses in its composition, knocking out the Reds from the Gryaznushkin farm. On the night of 9/22 to 10/23 June 1918, the Volunteer Army set out from Yegorlytskaya to Torgovaya. The 2nd Kuban campaign began, in which the deceased commanded the 2nd officer. Company. After the occupation by volunteers on June 12/25, Art. They successively took possession of the merchant villages of Velikoknyazheskaya, Nikolaevskaya, Peschanokopskaya - “between the ranks of the Drozdovites, death, our constant guest, was already easily walking.” - General Turkul writes in his book "Drozdovites on Fire".

On the days of June 22-23 / July 5-6, the Drozdovites clashed under White Clay with the 39th infantry. division, which joined the Bolsheviks and was transferred in echelons to the Kuban from the Caucasian front, and suffered heavy losses, and the commander of the rifle regiment, Colonel Zhebrak-Rusakevich, was killed along with his entire staff. With the help of the Kornilovites, who advanced on the flank and Belaya Glina, she was captured by the Drozdovites and 39 owls. the division, having lost several thousand prisoners and a large number of machine guns, was thrown back. After the occupation of the Tikhoretskaya station on July 1/14, the headquarters of the commander of the Volunteer Army, General Denikin, moved into it.

In the period from July 15/20 to July 25/August 7, 1918, heavy stubborn battles took place, mainly in the area of ​​​​st. Korenovskoy and Vyselok. The strike of Sorokin, who commanded the North Caucasian Soviet Army, on Korenovskaya led the red forces to the rear of the main group of the Volunteer Osmia in the Yekaterinodar direction and cut it off from the headquarters of the gene. Denikin in Tikhoretskaya. Simultaneously with the impact of Sorokin, the pressure of the Reds from the side was also revealed. Yekaterinodar, which put the White troops between Tsinskaya and Korenovskaya in a very difficult position. The village of Tsinskaya was occupied by the Drozdovites on July 14/27 during their attack on Yekaterinodar along railway and was just one transition from the Kuban capital, which was defended by 12,000 Reds under the command of a former officer from the Kuban out-of-town Kovtyukh, while the regiment regiment. Drozdovsky numbered only about 3,000 fighters in its ranks. Advancing from the side of Timashevskaya to the flank of the Yekaterinodar group of whites, Sorokin attacked it at the station. Korenovskaya and wedged between the infantry advancing along the railway and the cavalry of General. Erdeli, advancing from Novo-Korsunskaya. From the difficult situation created in connection with this double blow of the Reds, the Whites were able to get out only after a series of stubborn, tense and protracted for 10 days of fighting, thanks to the valor of the troops shown in them. During these bloody battles, the commander of an officer company, staff captain Turkul, was seriously wounded on July 16/29 with damage to the bone in his leg. This was his first wound on the front of the civil war in Russia.

With the assistance of part of the forces of Gen. Borovsky from the side of the Caucasus, with a concentric offensive along all three railways leading to Yekaterinodar, the Whites captured the city on August 3/16, 1918. Here it is not possible to dwell even on the largest operations and stages of the struggle of the Drozdovites, regarding the losses of which the gene. Turkul wrote in his book that “the roll call of our dead became longer and longer...” But still, it is necessary to at least give the name of those places that are associated with stubborn battles for the Drozdovites and their heavy bloody losses. This is Armavir and in particular Stavropol, about the battles of which the gene. Denikin in "Essays on the Russian Troubles" wrote that "the main parts of the Volunteer Army for the second time / the first in the 1st Kuban campaign / seemed to be dying."

Colonel Drozdovsky was wounded in the leg near Stavropol near the John Martin Monastery on October 31 / November 13, which led to his death on January 1/14, 1919 after the operation and amputation of the leg.

In January 1919, the North Caucasian Red Army, once formidable in its numbers and means, was finally defeated, and in February of the same year the entire North Caucasus was completely liberated from the Bolsheviks. Back in December 1918, the transfer of volunteer units to the north began: to the Donets Basin and to help the Don people who were reeling at the front. More than four months of uninterrupted fighting began during a period of absolutely exceptional active defense of the coal region in terms of intensity. These operations of the White troops, with relatively limited and incommensurable with the Soviet numerical superiority of forces in a continuous network of railways, along which red armored trains ran on each branch, after the end of the civil war, were studied in the red military academy and in the courses of command personnel in the Soviet Union, as an example of an active defense along the front line. The intensity of these battles was further complicated by the strong spread of a typhus epidemic among the troops, which reduced the white forces, which were still insufficient in number. In the report dated March 30 / April 12 / 1919, No. 4472 addressed to the Commander-in-Chief, General. Denikin Chief of Staff Gen. Wrangel, who at that time commanded the Volunteer Army, Gen. Yuzefovich spoke about the situation of volunteers on the fronts in the Donets Basin: “We need to replenish them, give them a rest, keep these great martyrs ... on their shoulders, laying the future of our homeland with their sweat and blood - save for the future. Everything has a limit. And these immortals can become mortals.”

Returning after healing the wound again at the beginning of 1919 to the front in the Donets basin, captain Turkul was soon appointed commander of the 1st battalion of the 2nd Officer's gene. Drozdovsky regiment. In all the battles that took on large dimensions, his name, associated with the post of chief of defense of the Nikitovsky uz, began to gain fame in wider circles of the army, due to his tenacity, tactics in an ever-changing military situation and the manifestation of company maneuverability and the use of the so-called mobile reserve , who was all the time in full combat readiness in the cars at the station. Nikitovka, at the same time with which the replenishment of shells was sent, with their general lack in the army, to our units, which held back the onslaught of the Reds in the threatened sector, which were manifested for such a significant time while defending a fairly large battalion front.

On May 14, 1919, the deceased was promoted to captain. These days, the 10th Soviet Army, which threatened Rostov and the rear of the Volunteer Army, was defeated near the Grand Duke, after which the general offensive of the White troops began, which opened the era of victories for the Armed Forces of the South of Russia. Under the command of Capt. Turkula The 1st battalion of the Drozdovites, overcoming the resistance of the enemy, moved irresistibly to the north. Conscious of the importance of the railway junction at st. Lozova, the Reds concentrated large forces in this area, which complicated the general offensive in the direction of Kharkov. A few days before the fall of Lozovaya, Trotsky came to her and, considering, moreover, that her occupation would greatly complicate the position of the group of Red troops, who still continued to hold out in the Crimea, categorically ordered the Reds to go on a decisive offensive and take Slavyansk station in 24 hours. Our offensive developed in two groups: in the left battalion Capt. Turkula with two batteries, three tanks and part of the 8th Plastun battalion of the brigade Gen. Gaiman, with the support of an armored train - directly to Lozovaya; and on the right, the main forces of the plastun battalion, together with the 3rd Drozdov battery / in whose ranks the author of these lines was also located / in the direction of st. Panyutino on the Lozovaya-Kharkov railway line, one stage from the first. Having defeated the Reds at Art. Gavrilovka, Drozdovites led by cap. Turkul moved irresistibly towards Lozovaya, passing partially through the rear of the enemy in two days to 100 miles and capturing station 3/16. The offensive developed so rapidly that the Reds did not have time to blow up either the bridges on the railway line, or the arrows and access roads at the stations: in Lozova, more than 700 wagons loaded with various military equipment were captured, among which a three-gun battery with boxes that did not have time to unload from the wagons, shells, horses and teams, many locomotives under steam, an armored train in good condition, three guns when pursuing the enemy north of the stations, prisoners and other booty. The right group passed about 70 versts in 2 days, cutting the line of the Lozovaya-Kharkov railway, and with a shrapnel break of the 3rd battery of the regiment. Yagubov was killed by the commander of the 12th Soviet Moscow Regiment, former Lieutenant Prince Kikodze. In this battle, on June 3/16, 1919, near Lozova, the commander of the 1st Officer's Drozdov Battery, Captain V. Tutsevich, was killed by an accidental own shell, who was standing on the railway embankment while the cap. Dumbadze, catching a telegraph pole on the cup, exploded over his head.

After the defeat of the Reds at Lozovaya, Trotsky declared Kharkov "a red fortress that cannot and will not be surrendered," as his order stated. Captain Turkul and his 1st battalion were provided upon their return to the station located at the station. Raisin Regiment solemn meeting ordered from above: an honor guard consisting of an entire officer company was put up on the platform of the station, the regimental band played a march, and the regiment commander, Colonel Rummel, was ahead of them.

Trotsky's categorical order did not correct the situation and did not delay the offensive of our troops in the Kharkov direction and on June 11/24, 1919, with a swift attack of the 1st battalion capt. Turkula city was busy. On July 4, 1919, the deceased was promoted to colonel for military distinction. His further military path passed with constant success and constant military trophies through Bogodukhov, Vorozhba, Sevsk, Dmitriev, Dmitrovsk.

The main divisions of the Volunteer Army: Drozdovskaya, Kornilovskaya and Markovskaya / along the front - the first of them on the left flank of the corps, the second in the direction of Orel, the third to the right / advanced on the Central sector of the front along the shortest way to Moscow. At the end of September 1919, the military situation of the Red armed forces, who were fighting on several White, as well as on the Polish fronts, developed critically, evidence of which could be found in a number of more serious later studies of Soviet military writers, whose works in the USSR were withdrawn from circulation. . The Soviet command no longer had the strength to delay the advance of our, as well as the Polish, armies; at the junction of the White and Polish fronts, the 12th Soviet Army found itself in a bag, which was not difficult to tighten if the Poles continued to advance, because at that time the last Red reserves were rushing to the front against the Whites. But the Poles concluded a secret agreement with the Bolsheviks on the temporary suspension of hostilities, which made it possible for the 12th Soviet Army to turn its back on the enemy in the west and get out of the bag of battles that complicated the position of our troops in the Kiev region, while part of the city was, although and for the shortest time, occupied by the Reds. As a result of this, the right flank of the Soviet front against the Whites was again restored, avoiding defeat. Thus, the chance that was given at this climax of the successes of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia for a military victory over the Bolsheviks on the White and Polish fronts of the struggle was not used thanks to Pilsudski's stratagem.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Poles did not resume hostilities on their front until our retreat to the line of the Don River, the Red Command launched a decisive offensive against the White forces in the south. Eight Soviet armies launched an offensive against the Volunteer and Don armies, along the front from left to right: the 12th and 14th in the Kiev direction, the 13th and 1st Cavalry in the main direction near Orel, the 8th and 9th against the Dontsov , 10th to Tsaritsyn and the 2nd Soviet army near Astrakhan. In the first half of October 1919 n.st. a general battle began near Orel, with the 13th Soviet Army of Uborevich and the 1st Cavalry Budyonny taking the Volunteer Corps in pincers, pressing on its left flank / Drozdov division / and at the junction of the Volunteer and Don armies.

The turning point in our sector of the front was far from easy for the Reds and not immediately - for almost two weeks we either left some settlements, then again restored the situation. At the end of September, Colonel Turkul was appointed commander of the 2nd line of the Drozdovsky regiment, but at the same time he was ordered to take temporary command of the 1st regiment, which was advancing on Komarichi, after which the regiment commander returned to the front. Rummel, and Col. Turkul was ordered to move out with a special detachment, which included the 1st battalion of the 1st regiment with two additional companies, as well as the 1st battery from the 1st art. division of the regiment Protasovich and the 7th battery from the 4th howitzer division, regiment. Medvedev, and go through the rear of the Reds, pressing on the division. These operations are north of the Dmitrovsk-Kromy tract in the Oryol province. behind enemy lines, and sometimes the Soviet units were taken under cross-art. fire from the south /i.e. us from the front / and from the west or north / i.e. detachment of the regiment Turkula /, were accompanied by heavy losses for the Reds and led them so into frustration that for some time the outcome of the general battle could even seem undecided. But the advance of the Cavalry Army of Budyonny in the Dontsov sector exposed the right flank of our corps, and therefore a general withdrawal became inevitable. But even this militarily difficult flank march to Rostov was facilitated by heavy fighting in the Dmitriev-Sevsk-Komarichi triangle led by the regiment. Turkul with his special detachment, as a result of which he was appointed commander of the 1st Drozdovsky regiment.

During long, tedious retreats with intense battles, when the collapse of the front sets in, as was the case later during the period when the White forces retreated from Orel to Rostov and beyond the Don, situations are often created that are very difficult for individual units, especially for those which, delaying the stubborn battles of the enemy, retreat more slowly. This was also the case with the Drozdovites when they were almost surrounded by the Reds or were subjected to their unexpected night attacks. On such occasions, shooting and shouting suddenly arose from different sides, so that it was not easy to immediately determine exactly where the main attack was being carried out, and where only a demonstration was taking place to divert the defense forces; time in order to navigate and reason in such cases is not given by the course of events, everything must be decided at once, because the enemy has already broken into the village or city where the military unit is located for the night. This happened especially during the intermittent front of the civil war, this happened during the general withdrawal and with the Drozdovites. But the regiment In such cases, Turkula had a special ability to immediately determine where the main danger was threatening and where the main danger was brewing and to personally attack the Drozdov shooters who were gathering in the chaos on the street in that direction, which decided the matter.

This happened in November 1919 in Lgov, when he jumped out of bed under the rifts of frequent shooting, screams, hum and some kind of vague ringing, as if on fire, and jumped out into the city street in only his underwear, over which only an overcoat was thrown, although snow was already lying everywhere, he led his riflemen in just the most threatened direction, captured a group of prisoners, occupied the station and, even before dawn, completely cleared the city of the Reds who had broken through.

When Murfa was left during the further retreat, the path and the bridge at Rakitny were intercepted by two Soviet brigades - foot and Latvian, which complicated the situation of the Drozdovsky and Samursky regiments moving towards this crossing, as well as the cavalry of the gene. Barbovich. With a swift attack of the 1st Drozdovsky Regiment, led by Col. The Reds were driven back by Turkul, traffic across the bridge resumed, and the regiment commander himself. Turkul was wounded: a bullet pierced his arm, the butt of a rifle, smashed binoculars and, having slipped off a silver underwear, went under the skin in the region of the heart.

Protracted stubborn rearguard battles continued until the retreat to the line of the Don River, where our front stabilized again for a while. Drozdovites occupied a site in the mountains. Azov, on which the 1st regiment of the regiment. Turkula inflicted sensitive defeats on the Reds advancing on the division and crossing the frozen Don, invariably throwing them back to their original position.

In connection with the breakthrough of the red cavalry in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bOlginskaya and Khomutovskaya in the general direction to Tikhoretskaya, our corps had to leave this line without a fight on the night of February 17 / March 1, 1920 - a general retreat of the entire front to Novorossiysk began. During the movement of the Drozdov division on March 4/17 from the village of Staronizhnestibievskaya to Slavyanskaya, the route of our withdrawal turned out to be cut off by the Reds; the enemy was driven back as a result of a stubborn battle, but the 1st regiment of Colonel Turkul, who was in the rear guard, was attacked and surrounded by the red cavalry. Fighting back with volleys, the regiment continued its movement to the music, until the approaching armored trains, which pressed red lava on it, scattered their fire with their fire. This episode ends like this in the book of the deceased: “The first Drozdovsky regiment was saved. Our dying ones, those who were already grabbing the frozen ground with their hands, for whom the Jaeger March rang farther and farther, looked, looked at the passing columns, and their eyes closed. So our eyes will close. The columns of the living will also depart from us, but the memory of us will still come to life in the Russian columns, and they will also sing a song about the white soldiers, and they will also tell the legend.

Our commander also closed his eyes, but the memory of him will live on and it will turn into legend.

On Saturday, March 14/27, 1920, Novorossiysk was abandoned by our troops. The Drozdovites were moved to Sevastopol. Guns, horses, machine-gun carts and convoys could not be loaded from any of the evacuated military units due to insufficient tonnage. On March 30 / April 12, the 1st and 2nd Drozdov regiments, which managed to receive only 5 different systems of light guns and, in addition to guns, only 18 for the entire detachment of horses, were loaded onto ships and sent a day later under the command of Gen. Witkowski in landing operation.

On April 2/15, under enemy fire, they managed to land on a narrow sandy peninsula in Khorly, where an artificial canal, straight from a mile away, approached, through which it was only possible to land on the shore, because. there was a shoal all around. By dawn, the isthmus was occupied by the 1st battalion of the 1st regiment, which pushed the Reds back. At night, pulling up reserves, they went on the offensive. Their attacks were repulsed with heavy losses for them to the sounds of the regimental marching band, after which the Drozdovites went on the offensive. The next day, moving along the rear of the Reds with heavy fighting, the landing detachment approached Adamani, being surrounded on three sides and having a sea on the fourth. Having thus traveled more than 60 versts in complete encirclement by the enemy and breaking through on April 4/17 the front of the Red troops north of the Perekop shaft, our regiments joined the Whites defending the Crimea, while completing their task. The “Notes of General Wrangel” about this operation says that “the Drozdov division fought brilliantly, having an enemy from all sides and lacking shells.”

The next day after the end of the landing operation, on April 5/18, Gen. Wrangel and promoted the commander of the 1st Drozdovsky regiment, Colonel Turkul, to major general.

During the advance of our army from the Crimea to Northern Tavria on May 25 / June 7, the fortified positions of the Reds north of Perekop were stormed by the Kornilovites and Markovites. They succeeded in pushing the enemy back and occupying Preobrazhenka and Pervokonstantinovka, but the reinforcements brought into the battle by the latter pushed back our advancing units. In the summary of these battles, it was said that "the invariably valiant Drozdovites, withdrawn from the reserve, defeated this group as well."

On July 15/28, 1920, the Drozdovites, who, according to the plan of the operation, advanced forward in comparison with the general location of the front and entered the strike group, occupied the 1st regiment of the gene. Turkula is the city of Orekhov, the 2nd regiment of Colonel Kharzhevsky, the large village of Preobrazhenskoye adjoining the city, while the 3rd regiment of Gen. Manstein, together with the 2nd Cavalry Division, Gen. Morozov held the Kamyshuvakha region, remote from Orekhov. Using the location of our two regiments near Orekhov, which gave them the opportunity to attack us from the north, east and southeast, the Reds set themselves the goal of encircling this area and destroying the Drozdovites who occupied it. In this regard, the 3rd and 46th owls. the divisions with their main forces, with the support of armored cars and the fire of armored trains, carried out an energetic attack on Orekhov and Preobrazhenskoye for a whole day until dark with the intention of exhausting our troops in battle, and with the onset of night they launched an attack on the city, introducing the "Petrograd brigade of cadets" into action , which included in its ranks 500 bayonets from the five red military schools.

During the night, fierce battles flared up three times inside the city, mainly in the areas of the station, the market square and the city park, the attacks were replaced by counterattacks, illuminated by volley, machine-gun and cannon fire and accompanied first by the singing of the cadets of the "International", and then by Drozdovskaya, drowning out his song passing on the bayonets of the 1st regiment. This elite brigade of cadets, consisting of six battalions of 250 bayonets, was escorted with music, flowers and speeches in Petrograd and admonished by Trotsky and whose fighters, as it was established from the letters written on the day, but not sent yet, on the bodies killed, were confident in the success of their upcoming battle with the Drozdovites, was defeated in Orekhovo in its first offensive - out of its entire composition, only no more than four hundred managed to retreat to Malaya Tokmachka. The night battle in Orekhovo was personally led by Gen. Turkul, who was always in the front line of fire and gave direct orders to open and conduct it. The former staff captain Okolo-Kulak, who commanded the cadets, was later killed in a battle also with the Drozdovites on August 17/30 near Mikhailovka.

The day after this battle with the cadets, both of our regiments were attacked in Orekhovo by Mironov's 2nd Cavalry Army from the northwest, but the threat from the southeast had already been eliminated, which allowed us to easily push back the enemy cavalry, which had only managed to penetrate outskirts of the city.

During the period of fierce July-August battles on the Eristovka-Grintal-Andreburg-Heidelberg-Muntal line, the Drozdovites, going on a short offensive, attacked on July 31/August 13 the German colony of Heidelberg, located in a hollow. The 1st Regiment advanced at the forefront, with the 3rd Battalion of Colonel Bix at the head of the column, which, turning around, pressed the Reds in battle. They retreated with resistance. At that time, the rest of the battalions and regiments in columns, combat carts and carts with shells on philistine horses, which had to be used due to the large shortage of horses in the army, pulled up to the colony. Everyone was already preparing to move forward, to pass through the colony immediately after it had been cleared of the Reds by the 3rd battalion, in order to turn around with the entire composition of the division during further movement for an offensive on a wider front. But suddenly the shooting inside the colony suddenly intensified, it became clear that, having brought up reinforcements, the Reds began to press harder on the advancing battalion of the regiment. Bix, but what exactly happened inside the colony could not immediately become clear; besides, at not quite full dawn, an impressive chain in epaulettes and with white bands and bands on their caps suddenly appeared on the right. Rifle fire was immediately opened on it from our side, because. there could be no Drozdov shooters in that direction during the battle, but immediately after shouts from the chain “ours, ours” and from the ranks of our column “cease fire, these are ours - white bands and bandages are visible” he was stopped. The chain, meanwhile, was rapidly approaching, descending into the hollow of Heidelberg, and suddenly opened fire at close range on the column that was closely packed in many rows. In an instant, carters from local residents fled at the wagons with shells, the guns turned out to be jammed between them, it was not possible to open fire from them under these conditions, the officer company, which came under fire closest of all, without having time to turn around, leaned back a little from surprise, everywhere the dead and wounded began to fall in the column, and a number of headquarters officials also suffered. The Reds, having developed an intense fire, went over to the attack. The position of the column, shot from such a distance, could be very critical. Commander of the 1st Drozdovsky Artillery Battalion Regiment. Protasovich, who had great courage in battle, later said in the presence of the writer of these lines that at that moment he felt no small concern for the fate of the guns, which were unable to because of the number of carts standing in front of them, to withdraw them from the line of fire in the absence of runaway drivers there was no time to even defend with buckshot.

But at this formidable moment for the division, Gen. Turkul, pulling closer to him a team of foot scouts, personally led 200 of her bayonets, along with her commander cap. Baytodorov to attack under terrifying rifle and machine-gun fire. The officer company, also immediately recovering, moved forward. A few more minutes and the red ones were overturned. At such a close distance, the enemy, who could not withstand the collision, no longer has the opportunity to retreat - this entire red chain was broken or chopped. Heidelberg was busy with us. But immediately after that, all the regiments had to turn around and join the battle, because. in addition, the 1st Soviet division, which included selected troops from the Red Moscow garrison, was also pressing on us from the north, and the red cavalry also supported it during the offensive. The battle took on that day wide dimensions and the intensity of the fire resembled the battles of the Great War. The Reds nevertheless suffered a defeat and were driven back, but our losses were also great. In the future, the fighting on this line of the mobile front and for the colony continued.

The inhabitants of Heidelberg said that, by urgent order of the Red military authorities, the women of the colony had to sew epaulettes, white cap bands and white armbands all night long, just before the Soviet troops used the unacceptable method described here, for which their chain paid dearly.

In his book, Gen. Turkul ends the description of the individual moments of the episode cited here and the battle that followed on July 31/August 13 with the following words: “Heidelberg is an extinct and sun-scorched steppe colony. Around in the dusty field, where the hot steppe wind is noisy even today, white and red fighters sleep together until the Last Judgment. And over all of them walks, sways, shining in the sun, the grass of oblivion, the steppe feather grass "...

In the preface to the 2nd edition of the book, the general pointed out that the struggle waged for three years with inhuman tension and costing innumerable victims created a ditch between "us" and "them". By “them”, he means, of course, not the communist power - this ditch is insurmountable and no time can fill it, but those who, being drugged and deceived by this power, followed it during the years of struggle and gave it victory ... “Them” this victory did not bring anything, because the people paid a terrible price for their support of the Soviet government ... "

On August 6/12, 1920, after a series of successful battles with the 2nd Cavalry Army and fresh Soviet divisions that arrived at our front, Gen. Turkul was appointed head of the Drozdov division, replacing Lieutenant General Vitkovsky, who took command of the 2nd Corps after Gen. Slashchev. Driving around the troops at the front, accompanied by the assistant to the Commander-in-Chief for the civilian part A.V. Krivoshein, commander of the 1st Army, Gen. Kutepov, commander of our 1st Corps, Gen. Pisarev, military representatives of the American, English, French, Serbian, Japanese and Polish service, as well as correspondents of the most common foreign newspapers and representatives of the Russian press in the Crimea and abroad, gene. Wrangel conducted a review of our Drozdov division in a combat situation in the area of ​​the Friedrichsfeld colony; he thanked the “most valiant Drozdovites” shooters and artillerymen for their glorious military service” and personally pinned Gen. Turkula Order of St. Nicholas 2nd degree, which he was awarded.

On the day of the division review, which took place on September 1/14, an offensive began in the Polog direction near the Dontsov, which on September 4/17 turned into a general advance to the north of our forces in Northern Tavria along the entire front. As a result of this, the Drozdov division advanced to the Slavgorod region, north of the mountains. Aleksandrovsk. Gene. Turkul concentrated the entire division in its entirety in the large village of Novo-Gupolovka, south of Slavgorod, guarding its entire sector only with horse patrols and not being embarrassed by the fact that this made it possible for the enemy from time to time to penetrate into certain places of our front without a fight, or begin to concentrate there until that moment when, in his opinion, the operation is "already overdue." From the "Zaporozhian Sich", as the three-week stay on the battle front line of the Drozdov division in Novo-Gupolovka was nicknamed, operations were constantly undertaken into the enemy's deep rear, in particular, even with the capture of the Sinelnikovo junction station twice, where, in joint operations with the Kuban division, the gene . Babiev, the headquarters of the Soviet group of troops was defeated, and Comrade Nesterovich, who commanded it, his chief of staff, chief of artillery and assistant to the latter were captured, while in two battles on the days of September 9/22 and September 19/October 2 in the Sinelnikovsky operations the reds, having suffered heavy losses, were completely disheveled so that for several days the presence of their troops on the front of the division was not detected at all.

If the Drozdovsky regiments, headed by experienced combat commanders, were distinguished by the swiftness of their attacks and the power of their strike, then the 1st regiment of the gene. Turkula stood out among them for its quantitative composition, strength and combat capabilities. Even the best red troops were unable to offer him longer resistance: a short time after the start of the attack of a populated area, sometimes occupied even by large enemy forces, the battlefield was almost always the same picture - uncontrollably moving forward under heavy fire and turning to a swift blow Drozdov arrows, which overcame the last resistance of the Reds, immediately with the beginning of the retreat of which in all directions from a village, village or colony, often located in the Crimea in a wide hollow, which made it possible to observe its gentle slope, towering above the village, jumped out already in disorder batteries, machine-gun carts, combat carts, and sometimes even armored vehicles came under fire from our artillery.

In the last period of the armed struggle in the Crimea, after such a successful and brilliant command of one of the best regiments of the White Army in southern Russia, the post of head of the Drozdov division gave the gene. Turkulu the opportunity to discover his military talents on a larger scale. In a number of decisive operations, not content with, and, one might even say, not recognizing only pushing the enemy back, he showed his abilities in the successful conduct of maneuver battles, using the mobility and fighting qualities of the division, he entered the rear of the Reds, covering their flanks, night with movements and battles, he smashed the Soviet troops in front of us, often “licking” them completely from the front, as our soldiers put it, and each of these operations almost always ended in the capture of several thousand prisoners, guns, dozens of machine guns, numerous convoys with military equipment, and in in some cases, and armored trains, as was the case, for example, in the battle of September 19/October 2, when at the Ivkovka junction, north of Slavgorod, which at that moment was still in the hands of the enemy, 2 armored trains were captured and in good condition during their elimination with battle : heavy "Ataman Churkin" and light "Ermak Timofeevich" / with minimal losses on our part /.

Almost the entire division or two of its three regiments usually took part in such maneuvering operations, if it was necessary, in connection with the situation, to leave one of them for the defense of the Novo-Gupolovka division's camp area; movements were made during the night in order to attack the enemy at dawn in the intended gene. Turkul at the concentration point of the Reds, whom he threw back, breaking through their front, moving at the head of the column, the battalion. Simultaneously with his attack, on one of his flanks, 2-3 squadrons of the 2nd Drozdovsky Cavalry Regiment, Colonel Kabarov, were still concentrated in the dark, some of which, despite the large lack of horse composition, were still put on horseback in the fall, and after the enemy, trembling , began to retreat hastily, and often in disarray, our horsemen, covering his flank, took the fugitives into checkers and captured guns, solid booty, and almost everything that still had time to escape from the swift blow of a foot attack. The division column following the head of the gap poured into the gap, expanded it and, spreading along the nearest, and in some cases even deeper rear of the Reds, with the speed possible for the movement of shooters planted partially on philistine wagons, cut off both in such a rear area and on the front in front of him were red troops and spoils of war. Division chief Gen. During such operations, Turkul was not only in the head battalion, from where he gave further orders in the course of operations, but directly in the most advanced line of fire, directing the assault unit, and sometimes, if at any moment the situation did not require focusing his attention on issuing orders , he even took part in horse attacks. No persuasion, requests, and even demands from his subordinates to take care of themselves did not help - then fate on the battlefields, despite a number of wounds, was favorable to him.

On September 22/October 5, 1920, the miraculous icon of the Kursk Horse Mother of God arrived at the front of the Drozdov division, accompanied by the protopresbyter of the military and naval department, Bishop Veniamin, and military priests. A solemn prayer service was served, in the sermon that followed and after it, the arriving clergy said a lot of flattering things about the division and its commander, Gen. Turkula.

September 23/October 6 at 18 o'clock arrived at the location of the division, accompanied by the commander of the 1st Corps, Gen. Pisareva, commander of the 1st Army, Gen. Kutepov. On the vast square in Novo-Gupolovka in front of the church, a parade took place with a beautifully passed ceremonial march with a cheerful view of the lined foot and horse ranks and artillery of the division. Gene. Kutepov thanked the commanders-officers and soldiers of the Drozdovites for "dashing military service" and proclaimed "Hurrah" in front of the lined up troops in honor of our chief, General. Turkula.

In the last decisive battles in Northern Tavria, the Budyonny Cavalry Army, which broke through from the area of ​​​​the fortified position of the Reds near Kakhovka in the sector of the 2nd Corps of our army to our rear and, together with the 6th Soviet Army of Cork, interrupted the communications of the White troops located at the front north of the isthmuses of the White troops with the Crimea , also crashed on the resistance of the shock group gene. Kutepov, the main core of which was the Drozdov division. Here there is no way even to touch upon the flow of the operation, which, according to Frunze's plan, was to end in the encirclement and complete destruction of the White forces in Northern Tavria, cutting off their escape routes. For this purpose, the Red Command concentrated against the army of General Wrangel, which, after stubborn autumn battles accompanied by losses, had by that time no more than 30,000 bayonets and cavalry, five Soviet armies with a total strength of 103,500 bayonets and 32,700 cavalry. The Reds managed, as already mentioned, to intercept our communications with the Crimea, but they were not able to block our path when we retreated beyond the isthmus.

As a result of the battles of our strike group on October 17/30 and 18/31, the main forces of the 1st Cavalry Army of Budyonny, who, together with the 6th Soviet Army of Kork and the 2nd Cavalry Army of Mironov, were supposed to surround and defeat the strike group of Gen. Kutepov in the Agaiman-Seragoza area and close the escape route for almost all the forces of our army to the Crimea, were thrown out of the way of the strike group, and the control of the red cavalry was often violated, and some of its parts were badly battered. So, when attacked by the 2nd Cavalry Drozdovsky Regiment of Colonel Kabarov and the 2nd Page Regiment of Gen. Kharzhevsky about the village of Otrada, who was engaged in a special kav. Kolpakov's brigade, which housed the headquarters of the 1st Cavalry Army, along with Budyonny and the commissar of this army at that time, Voroshilov, almost ended the careers of both of these "marshals". According to several Soviet descriptions, it could be established that Voroshilova “saved a cloak in which the peak of a white cavalryman was entangled”, and Budyonny “had to gallop through the backyards of the village to collect squadrons” - the battle was decided so quickly not in favor of the red cavalry, which was in disarray under concentrated artillery fire of our batteries bounced back to Novo-Troitskoye. At the same time, the 1st Drozdovsky regiment under the command of Colonel Chesnokov repulsed the attack of the 14th cavalry with songs. div. Parkhomenko from the same Cavalry Army of Budyonny, who hurried to the rescue of the army headquarters and Kolpakov's brigade and sought to capture someone who had flown in from the Crimea to communicate with the gene. Wrangel and the military apparatus that landed on the battlefield - our group, which also included the commander of the 1st Army, Gen. Kutepov, before that, for more than two days, she had no contact with either the headquarters of the commander-in-chief or with the commander of the 2nd army, gene. Abramov. In Otrada, in this battle, the entire choir of the trumpeters of the Budyonny army with pipes intertwined with red ribbons and one of the headquarters ranks were captured.

Analyzing the actions of our strike group during its movement from Agaiman to the isthmuses, the Soviet military researcher V. Triandafilov pointed out that "the firing line that the whites managed to create during this retreat turned out to be insurmountable for the red cavalry." According to the same author, by the end of October 18/31, the Whites had already “cleared their way to the Crimea, having defeated and thrown back all units of the 1st Cavalry to the Novo-Troitskoye region.”

The next day, October 19 / November 1, our group was ordered to detain the 1st Cavalry Army, which had concentrated in this area, in the Aleksandrovka-Otrada-Rozhdestvenskoye area, and thereby enable the rest of the white units to quietly make their further withdrawal according to the order to the Crimea through the Chongar Peninsula and a narrow dam with a bridge across the Sivash near the station of the same name. The first two villages were defended by the Drozdov division, and Rozhdestvenskoye by the cavalry corps of the gene. Barbovich and the Kornilovites.

From dawn, attacks by the red cavalry began along the entire length of the indicated front: the entire mass of Budyonny's cavalry was on the move, trying to envelop us from all sides and close the encirclement. The Drozdov division had to fight back from the north, from the south and from the west, only the eastern direction remained protected, where the cavalry corps of the gene valiantly fought. Barbovich and the Kornilovites. In our sector, the attacks followed almost continuously at intervals of an hour and a half. One of the first and most powerful attacks on the northern outskirts of Otrada was carried out by units of the 1st and 3rd regiments, in the forefront of which was the head of the division, Gen. Turkul. On his orders, this attack was first met with complete silence, and only when the red cavalry approached did he himself give the command "fire". With huge losses, this first wave of attackers receded. There was, however, a moment when the red cavalry, at about 11 o'clock in the afternoon, broke through the cemetery into Aleksandrovka, which was defended by part of the 2nd and 4th Drozdovsky regiments, which already threatened Otrada from the rear. For this attempt, the commander of a special cavalry. brigade Kolpakov, who was already galloping at the head of squadrons along the street of the village, paid with his life, and the lavas of his cavalry were thrown back.

Until the evening, the enemy’s horse attacks continued, accompanied by intensive artillery preparation, but Budyonny failed to achieve success - after each of the attacks, dead and wounded people and horses remained lying on the ground, horses that lost their riders roamed and rushed across the field. The Aleksandrovka-Otrada-Rozhdestvenskoye front remained firmly in the hands of our group; Thanks to this, other troops and rear units that retreated to the Crimea could be drawn into the defile on the Chongar Peninsula without interference from the enemy.

From the copy of Budyonny's report, captured from the red orderly already in the dark, it turned out that he asked the command of the Southern Soviet Front for rest - days for October 20 / November 2 to put his units in order and referred to the fact that they were directly suppressed, the fire and stamina of White's resistance, while incurring huge losses in general and especially in the higher command staff. Indeed, in recent battles, the following were killed in the 1st Cavalry Army: the commander of the 11th Cavalry. division comrade Morozov, commissar of the same division comrade Bakhturov, was seriously wounded and the commander of the 4th cavalry was hardly taken out of the battlefield. division comrade Timoshenko / the current "marshal" /, the commander of a special cavalry was killed. brigade comrade Kolpakov and many other ranks of the command staff. Commander of the Southern Sov. Front Frunze reported after the end of the fighting in the North. Tavria to Commander-in-Chief Kamenev the following: “I am amazed at the greatest energy of resistance that the enemy showed. He fought with such ferocity and stubbornness as surely no other army could fight."

The plan for the encirclement and destruction of our army in the North. The red command failed to carry out Tavria, but the white troops could not hold out north of the isthmuses and were forced to withdraw to the Crimea, and the overall losses of the army were significant. The Drozdov division, on the day of the described battle, lost only 46 people and up to 100 horses, as it was written in the diary of the writer of these lines, which is explained by the fact that we were attacked exclusively by cavalry, which never managed to jump into our ranks.

On October 26 / November 8, 1920, the Reds began to storm the fortified positions on the Turkish Val near Perekop and on the Chongar Peninsula. At the same time, their blow was directed through the frozen Sivash, which had become shallow and, due to frosts that were unprecedentedly strong for those regions, to the Chuvash / otherwise Lithuanian / peninsula, bypassing and flank of our defensive line. This strike group of the Reds, which included 21,000 bayonets and sabers with 350 machine guns and 36 guns, crushed the units of the Kuban brigade of Gen. Fostikova and began to spread across the peninsula. To eliminate this breakthrough, the 2nd and 3rd Drozdov regiments were sent, the 1st regiment at that time fought off the assaulting columns of the Reds on the right flank of the Turkish Wall.

In order to be able to restore the situation there, our forces were clearly not enough, which led to the tragic death of almost the entirety of two battalions of the 2nd regiment: in the Karadzhanay area, only individual ranks of the 2nd battalion of Lieutenant Colonel Ryazatsev managed to get out of the battle, also the fate of the 3rd battalion of lieutenant colonel Potapov, who was seriously wounded and hardly taken out of the fire near the Timokhin farm, was hard.

To the right of us, the 3rd Drozdovsky regiment also fell into a difficult situation and was forced to quickly retreat, while its commander, Colonel Dron, fell mortally wounded and remained lying between ours and the red chains. At that very moment, Gen Turkul arrived at our battlefield from the front of the 1st Regiment on the Turkish Wall, already ill with typhus, and learning that the wounded commander of the 3rd Regiment had not been taken out of the fire, without hesitation sent his car between chains and took the already dying Colonel Vladimir Stepanovich Dron from the battlefield. The general's driver was wounded at the same time, the windows and tires in the car were broken and the body was pierced with bullets - this is how the Drozdovites saw their commander, who showed a special example of mutual assistance in the fire in the last battle for him on native land. The 3rd Regiment lost all its battalion and company commanders that day. At night, our troops defending Perekop were ordered to withdraw without a fight to the last line of fortifications near Yushun. Sick of typhoid gene. Turkul was taken to the infirmary, and the gene took command of the division. Kharzhevsky.

At dawn on October 29 / November 11, the Drozdov division, transferred from Yushun to the area south of Karpova Balka, together with the units of the gene attached to it. Andguladze was moved under the command of Gen. Kharzhevsky in his last counterattack, It was supposed to break through the front of the Reds in order to throw our cavalry into the rear of the entire enemy group advancing on Yushun. The order, which seemed almost impossible for our already broken forces, was carried out. Strike hardened gene. Turkulom in the battles of the 1st regiment was so strong and swift that the red chains, knocking each other down, receded back, leaving attacking guns and over 1,000 prisoners in the hands. The front was broken through and the 3rd battalion of the 1st regiment, which wounded in that battle, Gen. Chesnakov, was already approaching Karpova Balka. But those of our cavalry units that were to be thrown into the rear of the 6th Soviet Army of Kork, which attacked Yushun, did not join the resulting breakthrough, because by that time the issue of evacuating Crimea had already been resolved.

Describing this battle, Soviet military researchers V. Triandafilov and division commander Golubev ordered that “at about 11 o’clock the situation was so critical that there was a fear that the cavalry of the gene. Barbovich will break through to Armyansk in the rear of the entire 6th Army. By introducing the last reserves into the business, the situation here was saved.

This last blow, inflicted on the Drozdov division on October 29 / November 11, 1920 near Karpova Balka by the advancing Reds, without changing the general position of our entire army, delayed the advance of the enemy, upset his ranks and made it impossible to start an immediate pursuit, to to which he was ready to move after mastering the fortified position of Yushuni; this increased significantly the gap between our retreating units and Soviet troops. If it were not for this, the horse units of the Reds could have appeared in the ports even at the time of the beginning of the loading of the civilian population of the Crimea, and then, in conditions where the tragedy of the situation is determined literally by hours, the fate of many of the Russians currently abroad could have turned out quite differently.

The scope of this article does not allow even in the most general form touch on the period of life and activity of the gene. Turkula abroad after leaving our Crimean army. One can only point out that in Gallipoli and Bulgaria, while our contingents kept military organization, he was at the head of the Drozdovsky military units; then, after moving to Paris, he was at one time chairman of the General Board of the Gallipoli Society, later in 1935 he headed the newly created National Union of the participants in the war, which set itself politically programmatic goals and lasted until the start of World War II. This national military organization published the newspaper "Signal"; her publishing house published a valuable book in military literature by prof. gene. Golovin "The Science of War", which treats the sociological study of war.

At the beginning of the war, in connection with the conclusion of a non-aggression pact between Germany and the USSR, Gen. Turkul, who lived in Berlin at that time, was invited by the German authorities to leave Germany, which led to his moving to Rome. In the final period last war On February 21, 1944, he joined the emerging Gen. Vlasov of the Russian Liberation Army and was appointed by him on March 25, 1945 as the commander of a separate corps of the ROA and the head of all volunteer formations in Austria, but at that time, in connection with the impending catastrophe in Germany, it was already difficult to achieve anything in the Russian question.

After the end of the war, he took part in the organization of the Committee of the United Vlasovites and headed the cadres of the ROA, in addition, taking an active part in the social and political life of the Russian émigré colony in Munich and entering the National Representation of the Russian emigration in Germany. Keeping in touch with their combat comrades-in-arms - Drozdovites scattered across different countries, as well as Vlasov, gene. Turkul edited and published the military-political magazine "Volunteer", which was published since the end of 1952, and was the communication body for the personnel of the ROA. The consequences, which were considered urgently necessary in the opinion of doctors who did not immediately establish the cause of the disease, and the operation performed on August 15 predetermined the tragic outcome and cut off the ten minutes of the first on the night of August 20, the thread of his bright life.

The writer of these lines had the honor to be in the fighting ranks of the Drozdov division since August 1918 and to participate in almost all the battles of the 3rd battery, inclusive, until the abandonment of the Crimea and the evacuation of Sevastopol on the night of November 2/15, 1920, where our the division came after the aforementioned battle at Karpova Balka for loading. During the war, I kept a combat diary that I kept and saw the gene. Turkula in battles, which allowed me to touch on several combat episodes with ghosts exact dates and places.

Not only exceptional, unquestioned courage, not only good luck in battle and happiness, which consisted in the fact that, with participation often in the front line of fire in so many battles, fate turned out to be, despite numerous wounds, nevertheless favorable to him, but also undoubted , military talents distinguished the gene. Turkula. In the battle at Rakitny, as already mentioned, he was saved by a silver scapular, which was hit by a bullet, in a collision with the 1st Soviet division at Nizhn. Kurkulak on July 29/August 11, 1920, his life was saved by a massive lighter in the pocket of his tunic on his chest; one could cite other cases of a similar kind, but it will suffice to point out that during the battle he was constantly in the very real sphere of close fire, regardless of his post. In a number of cases, at the same time, with his personal participation and order, he could rectify the difficult situation in which the military units subordinate to him fell.

In Gallipoli, I was a member of the historical commission of the Drozdov art. brigades. When restoring its history, one had to constantly hear from the staff and combat officers of the division how good the gene was. Turkul understood the general situation of the front, the situation on the sector of the division and its neighbors, as well as emphasizing that he usually outlined and outlined the plan for the upcoming operation. And they brought constant success to the division. During the last period of our struggle in the Crimea, references to the Drozdovites did not leave the columns of official reports, victorious reports and newspapers, and in the latter, along with an analysis of military operations, the name of our general was often given, and separate articles were dedicated to him. Officers from the white ranks, engaged in military science, noted the undoubted presence of the gene. Turkula is militarily a “spark of God,” as the valiant commander of our 3rd Drozdov battery, Colonel A.G., put it. Yagubov, who died in 1955 in Paris. Well-known in the military world, General M.I. Dragomirov pointed out at one time that "a clear understanding of the whole matter during the battle is given to rare units." Gene. Turkul possessed this quality.

But even under such conditions, there were still at one time the military, who, either out of a sense of competition between military units, or out of personal envy, and not only military commanders were distinguished by it, tried to reduce the successes of the gene. Turkula only to his personal courage, success and happiness - such is our light and such are people. At one time, even Suvorov could not avoid such an attitude, who in such cases said: “Today is happiness, tomorrow happiness - have mercy, but someday skill is also needed.”

Everything last years I was in regular correspondence with General Turkul. He was always distinguished by a cheerful mood and the hope that “we will still be able to serve Russia,” as he wrote and at the same time emphasized that it was important for emigration “not to quench the spirit and will to further fight for the motherland” even in the current unfavorable political situation. . These same general international conditions sometimes led him to the fact that, in order to at least slightly digress from the present, he reread his own book, Drozdovites on Fire, published in two editions, and at the same time recalled the former difficult, but more definite in the sense of the fight against Bolshevism, the time and those battles with which for him "the rumble of attacks, the brilliance of deadly lightning, the vision of the heroic Russian youth, irresistibly advancing forward" was forever associated.

This book, according to the general, "is not a memoir and not a story - it is a living book about the living, the fighting truth about what they were in the fire, what Russian white soldiers should be and will inevitably be." In one of his letters to me, Gen. Turkul pointed out at one time that it "is a monument to Drozdov's valor and glory, it pays more attention to the description of individual beautiful moments than to the course of the battle." It depicts simple wars and fighters from that great group of nameless heroes, against the background of whose sacrificial service to duty, not always successful political actors play their dramatic operatic, and often operetta roles.

To show how Gen. Turkul to fight for the freedom and national life of our country against communist tyranny, here are a few excerpts from his book.

“650 Drozdov battles over the three years of the civil war, more than 15,000 Drozdovites who fell for the Russian liberation / with 35,000 wounded /, as well as the battles and sacrifices of all our comrades-in-arms, were the realization in the feat and in the blood of the holy truth for us. If we did not have faith in the rightness of our military cause, we could not now live. The service of a true soldier continues everywhere and always. It is indefinite, and now we are just as ready to fight for the truth and for the freedom of Russia, as we were in 1919. The fullness of faith in our cause transformed each of us. She lifted us up, cleansed us. Everyone, as it were, became the bearer of the common truth. All the replenishments that came to us were inspired by this

TURKUL Anton Vasilievich

Major General of the Russian Army

Major General of the Armed Forces KONR

Born December 11, 1892 in Tiraspol. Russian. From the townspeople of the Bessarabian (Kherson?) province, A.Yu. Bushin writes in his article that A.V. Turkul was also born in Vendorakh, Bessarabian province, but Turkul himself pointed to Tiraspol, Kherson province, as the place of his birth. The question remains open. In September 1909 he graduated from the Richelieu Gymnasium in Odessa. He graduated from a real school, served in a civil department. Apparently, information about the end of A.V. Turkulom of a real school needs to be clarified and corrected, since the period of his life from January 1913 to August 1914 remains unclear. Member of the First World War. He entered military service on February 9 (22), 1910 as a private on the rights of a volunteer of the II category in the 56th infantry regiment of His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Zhytomyr, stationed in Tiraspol. In 1910–1911 twice unsuccessfully tried to enter the Odessa cadet and Tiflis infantry schools. Dismissed to the reserve in January 1913 with the rank of junior non-commissioned officer. In August 1914, he was called up in the Tiraspol district and sent to the 43rd infantry reserve battalion. In 1914, he completed an accelerated course at the cadet school, upon graduation he was promoted to the rank of warrant officer and released into the 75th Sevastopol Infantry Regiment. Wounded three times in battle. Staff Captain of the Russian Imperial Army. Knight of the Order of St. George IV class., was awarded the St. George weapon. In the summer of 1917, he led the formation of a strike battalion of the 19th Infantry Division. In December, responding to the call of Colonel M.G. Drozdovsky, joined the 1st national brigade of Russian volunteers. In March - April 1918, when the brigade moved from Yass to the Don, he was a sergeant major of the 2nd officer company. In the 2nd Kuban campaign in the summer - autumn of 1918, he commanded a company of an officer's rifle regiment of the 3rd infantry division, Colonel M.G. Drozdovsky, In the battles near Korenevka on July 16 he was seriously wounded in the leg, until winter he was treated in hospitals in Rostov and Novocherkassk. From January 1919 - commander of the 1st battalion of the 2nd officer general M.G. Drozdovsky regiment, on October 24, 1919, with the rank of colonel, took command of the 1st officer rifle regiment of the Drozdovsky division. He showed outstanding operational skills during the winter battles in the Donets Basin, the June battle for Kharkov, the autumn retreat of the All-Union Socialist Republic of Lieutenant General A.I. Denikin from Moscow.

A commemorative collage with a portrait of the head of the Drozdov Rifle Division, Major General of the Russian Army A.V. Turkula from the military-political monthly of the Gallipoli Society "Roll Call" (No. 71, September 1957)

On April 7, 1920, for the successful landing operation Perekop-Khorly, by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, Lieutenant General P.N. Wrangel was promoted to the rank of major general. On August 6, in the battles near the Friedrichsfeld colony in Northern Tavria, he took command of the Drozdov Rifle Division from the General Staff of Lieutenant General N.K. Keller. In the last battles for the Crimea in late October - early November, the Drozdov division played a decisive role in the counteroffensive of the strategic reserve of the Russian army near Yushun, ensured the successful evacuation of the army and refugees, while suffering the least losses. At the end of October 1920, he became seriously ill with typhus, having handed over command of the division to Major General V.T. Kharzhevsky. He was evacuated to Constantinople on the Kherson transport as part of a division on November 14 from Kilen Bay in Sevastopol. After folding the army divisions into the 1st Army Corps, he received the 3rd Infantry General M.G. Drozdovsky regiment of the infantry division of the 1st Army Corps.

At the head of the ranks of the regiment was in Gallipoli from November 23, 1920 to August 31, 1921, then until 1922 - in Bulgaria. Subsequently, he lived in Paris, was one of the prominent generals of the ROVS, constantly insisted on the active work of the ROVS against the Soviet regime, not limited to maintaining army personnel and preparing a shift for a future war. When the active work of the EMRO as a result of the operation "Trust" and the abduction of the general from infantry A.P. Kutepova ceased in January 1930; on February 23, 1935, together with Major General A.V. Fock and 14 senior heads of the ROVS signed an open memorandum addressed to the head of the ROVS of the General Staff, Lieutenant General E.K. Miller, demanding that he turn the organization into a single center for the entire Russian Diaspora and insisting on continuing active work in the USSR. In support of his position, on July 16, 1936, he created an organization in Paris - the Russian National Union of Participants in the War (RNSUV). On July 28, by order of the head of the EMRO, Lieutenant General E.K. Miller was expelled from the ROVS. Entered into secret contacts with the Japanese military attaché in Berlin, Oshima, receiving through him the main financial investments for the RNSUV. In April 1938, by order of the French government, he was expelled from France and moved to Berlin. After the conclusion of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact on August 23, 1939, he left for Italy and lived in Rome, and after the cessation of active work of the RNSUV - in Bulgaria, near Sofia. In 1943, he made a trip to the occupied Sevastopol, where he unsuccessfully tried to find the graves of the General Staff of Major General M.G. Drozdovsky and Colonel V.B. Tutsevich near Malakhov Kurgan.

From the very beginning, he showed interest in the Vlasov movement and the Armed Forces of the KONR, but he was very wary of Lieutenant General A. A. Vlasov and his chief of staff, Major General F.I. Trukhin. Only in December 1944 did he join the Armed Forces of the KONR with the preservation of his rank, and at the beginning of 1945 he began to form a separate corps near Salzburg (Austria), relying mainly on the Drozdovites, members of the White movement and officials of the RNUV. On December 17, 1944, he was co-opted a member of the KONR.

At the end of hostilities, he was arrested by the allies and was imprisoned for a long time on suspicion of collaborating with the German secret services.

Not later than 1947, he was released and joined the active political activity in the western occupation zone of Germany. Intending to lead the former participants in the Vlasov movement, he organized a congress of ROA personnel in August 1950 near Schleichsheim, at which he announced the creation of a new political organization - the Committee of United Vlasovites. Until the end of his life, he headed the KOV and published the Volunteer newspaper in Munich. The author of a cycle of short stories in the processing of I.S. Lukash, combined in the collection "Drozdovtsy on Fire" (Belgrade, 1937 - 1st edition; Munich, 1948 - 2nd edition. In Russia, the 1st edition, edited by V.G. Bortnevsky, took place in Leningrad in 1991).

He died on the night of August 19-20, 1957 in Munich. He was buried on September 14 at the Drozdovsky section of the Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery near Paris.

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In 1937, the Parisian white-émigré newspaper Vozrozhdenie published a speech by General A.V. Turkul, the former commander of the Drozdovites (and the author of the famous book "Drozdovians on Fire"), which he said before the meeting of the RNSUV.

A.V. Turkul

"World events are coming- wrote Turkul. - In all countries there is a union of forces: some in the name of the establishment and flourishing of the nation, others - not organic, but revolutionary - in the name of the establishment of the Marxist doctrine and the communist terror of the "International". The clash of these two forces is inevitable.

The Russian people, enslaved by the communist power of the "International", will inevitably be drawn into this clash, but not in the name of Russia, but in the name of saving Soviet power and enslaving other peoples by it. What should we, Russian soldiers, do in these terrible hours? It is impossible to wait for some order, to wait for someone to decide for us. From this position of fruitless expectations many are now descending. Before, we waited for the word of the order, but because our war leaders were with us. We will not hear such a word since the days when General Kutepov was torn from us ...

You can’t wait indefinitely for someone or something to save Russia and do nothing yourself. It's time for us to start believing in our own strength, it's time to organize and work. We do not believe in the evolution of Soviet power. Stalin is the same executioner of the Russian people as Trotsky or Dzerzhinsky was. From Russia, the authorities of the III International have already torn away 710 thousand square meters. miles with 28 million inhabitants, and what other "pieces" will the Soviet government give away, what other obscene treaties will it conclude just to save its own skin?

And the so-called "defencists", accomplices of the Soviet butchery, are shouting here about "defending Russia." Their leaders and inspirers, when we, the soldiers, were on fire for Russia, were both against us and against Russia, and when the Russian empire was collapsing in blood and confusion, they helped its collapse ... What kind of "defense" are they calling now ? They are calling for the defense not of Russia, but of the Soviet power. But we, Russian soldiers, are against Soviet power. Every extra year, month, day of power of the Third International over Russia destroys the Russian nation. The Bolsheviks have been corrupting and tormenting the Russian people for twenty years. That is why we, Russian soldiers, are irreconcilable enemies of the Bolsheviks and all their fellow travelers. We believe in Russia and the Russian people and are not afraid of upcoming events, no matter how formidable they may be "(end of quote).

Frankly, when I first read this text, I almost threw the book away, so every word here causes a protest from a morally sane person. But interest in the White Movement in general and in the Drozdovites in particular overcame. Nevertheless, it would be unfair to leave this text unattended, to attribute it to the nature of the era and the general's personal grievances. Especially when you consider that the enemies of Russia today are very actively trying to appeal to the authority of people like Turkul.

Without understanding this text, it will be difficult to understand the further behavior of Anton Vasilyevich, who ended up in the ranks of Vlasov's operetta "army" by the end of World War II.

What catches your eye first? We have a classic false prophecy. Now it is difficult to judge whether in Turkul the old hatred for the Bolsheviks spoke for the three dead brothers, or whether German money rang in his pocket (it is known that before the war Turkul talked quite a lot with SS chief Himmler). One way or another, Turkul definitely declares that in a future world war the Russian people will have to defend not the interests of Russia, but ... exclusively Soviet power. Moreover, Turkul directly states that this same government will strive to "enslave other peoples." Meanwhile, it was Soviet Russia in the Second World War that was the side that was subjected to aggression, and the Russian people were forced to defend not Soviet power, but their own existence, moreover, the Soviet power itself, by objective circumstances, was still forced to defend the national interests of Russia (the same , One and Indivisible, for which Turkul fought in the Civil War).

This mistake of Turkul cannot be explained by a tribute to the ideological clichés of the Civil War: the general knew firsthand about the plans of the Nazi Reich, moreover, after June 22, 1941, he quite consciously agreed to promote these plans. Echoes of this future collaborationism of his are already heard in a 1937 speech. Turkul calls his listeners to.... " crusade against the Bolsheviks", just like Goebbels in 1941. I don’t know who stole the idea from whom, but an accidental coincidence is excluded - it turns out to be too complete a coincidence. The conclusion suggests itself that even then, in 1937, Turkul knew about plans for a German attack on the USSRand energetically worked on their ideological justification. Which does not prevent him from broadcasting with a blue eye that it is the Russian people "in the name of the interests of Soviet power" that will enslave other peoples. Conscious deceit is evident.

Further. Turkul recalls the "obscene" Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918, speaks of the territories lost by Russia, and immediately prophesies new similar agreements. And just spoke about "the enslavement of other peoples." So, on the eve of the world confrontation, was the Soviet government going to enslave Europe or continue to squander the Russian lands? Where is the logic?

This illogicality becomes clearer when one comes into contact with other fabrications of the former commander of the Drozdovites. " We will then strive so that somewhere, even on a small patch of Russian land, the Russian tricolor banner will still rise, "he writes in 1939. Let's think about what this means. In fact, Turkul calls for nothing more than dismemberment Russia, in order to establish an anti-communist government at least on some small piece of it. And how small will this piece be, at the expense of what resources will it exist, and most importantly - at the expense of what is this anti-communist government going to survive in a very aggressive environment of the great European powers? And this is Anton, Vasilyich's light, as it were, is not interested. Little things.

However, no. He still talks about some guarantees."Our ideal is the fascists of all countries and peoples in which their national honor burns, in which their national truth is strong, and who understand and do their due both to someone else's honor and someone else's truth. Not exploitation and exploitation, but mutual respect and good neighborly peace and union - this is what we expect and what we see from the fascist idea. Question: where did he see that the fascists, obsessed with the idea of ​​racial superiority, "did their due both to someone else's honor and someone else's truth." What makes him think that they will suddenly take and give anti-communist Russia "mutual respect and good neighborly peace"? Russia at the beginning of 1917 was a completely anti-communist state, so what? German imperialism, with the help of its paid agents, tore it to pieces and did not wince. And he did not bother at all with any "good neighborliness" when he sent Lenin to Russia in a sealed carriage. Europe has always and everywhere solved exclusively its geopolitical problems, and the Russian White Guards had to fully experience this in their own skin during the years of the Civil War. That is why the emigrant historian Anton Kersnovsky (no less of a monarchist than Turkul himself) spoke out with sharp criticism of fascism and Nazism, and therefore called on the emigration not to interfere in the Spanish Civil War, to save their strength and their lives until the day when they Russia will need. By the way, in Spain, Russian volunteers, among whom there were many honored generals and senior officers, were accepted into Franco's army exclusively by ordinary soldiers - and only after the end of the war did some (!!!) of them manage to receive junior officer ranks from the caudillos. This - "to pay tribute to someone else's honor"?

Blatant inconsistencies in the constructions of Turkul and his like-minded people were seen by many in emigre circles. By no means only Kersnovsky. Well, Turkul had a heavy slap in the face for them: "And the so-called "defencists", accomplices of the Soviet butchery, are shouting here about "defending Russia." Their leaders and inspirers, when we, the soldiers, were on fire for Russia, were both against us and against Russia, and when the Russian empire was crumbling in blood and confusion, they helped its collapse.

A.I. Denikin is one of the main ideologists of "defencism" in exile.
Was it he who "destroyed the Russian empire"?

So, let's go by name. Who are these "leaders" whom Turkul accuses of all mortal sins? The most famous of them is ... Anton Ivanovich Denikin, the former commander-in-chief of the All-Russian Union of Youth (and personally Turkula). Was it he who "destroyed the Russian empire"? When? Is it not then when he turned to Kerensky with the last desperate appeal: "You have trampled our banners into the mud. The time has come - raise them and bow before them!" Or, perhaps, when he agreed to support the Kornilov uprising in the summer of 1917? Denikin, it turns out, was ... against the Drozdovites when they were on fire for Russia! But how, then, Turkul himself writes in his book "Drozdovites on Fire":"If it were not for faith in Drozdovsky and in the leader of the white cause, General Denikin, if it were not for the understanding that we are fighting for human Russia against all inhuman darkness, we would have disintegrated"? Isn't Turkul himself writing: "Another leader of the white movement, General Denikin, who recently died in America, wrote: “If at this moment of the greatest collapse there were not people ready to go to death for the sake of a desecrated homeland, it would not be a people, but manure, suitable only for fertilizing the fields of the western continent. Fortunately, we belong to the tortured, but great Russian people."At that time, we all believed so with our instinct and our heart"? Why does he refer to the "enemy" and "destroyer" who "helped the collapse of the empire", what does he quote him with such reverence?

Turkul's words about the defencists could be taken as a spit in their address by many of his brother-soldiers, Drozdovites, who professed a completely different view of the Nazis and the coming World War than that of their former commander. Maurice Konradi, "tied" with Turkul by one song, in which their names are mentioned together. Ivan Prokopov, the young hero of the Civil War, is one of the "eggplants" to which the most touching chapter of "Drozdovites on Fire" is dedicated. Pyotr Koltyshev. Nikolay Zhukov. Vladimir Harzhevsky. One can add here the Kornilovite Platon Kopetsky - Turkul also writes a lot about the military brotherhood with the Kornilovites in Drozdovtsy on Fire. Is it any wonder that when Anton Vasilyevich visited Prague, trying to recruit his former brother-soldiers into the ROA, as a result, only a few followed him?

Drozdovites - Mikhail Polzikov and Anton Turkul.
Polzikov did not live to see the Great Patriotic War, died in 1938.
I would like to believe that these two after 1937 were not like-minded people.

The white "defencists" with Denikin at the head were not baked about the defense of Soviet power - Denikin in an exhaustive way this is after the war. And about the protection of Russia, which could at any moment be subjected to aggression, followed by dismemberment and mass genocide of the population. And which Turkul was calmly ready to give up to be torn to pieces. Denikin confessed during the years of the Civil War that he was not fighting for "forms of government", but only and exclusively for Russia. He remained true to these declarations. Turkul has a lot of words about the "tricolor Russian banner" - but, alas, there is no readiness to fight for Russia. On the contrary, one feels a strange readiness to slander one's own people, who are in Bolshevik enslavement. And neglect his vital interests for the sake of ... "form of government."

However, one can agree with Turkul on some points. One can only join his assessment of Stalin - here the former white general is fair. And it is worth noting that Turkul calls the emigration not to serve the Germans (they are not mentioned at all in the text of 1937), but to fight independently for Russia, albeit using external circumstances in the form of a new World War. The idea that the liberation of Russia from the tyranny of the atheists must be accomplished by Russian hands, and not by the forces of any foreign allies, while the emigration is passively watching, is profoundly true. That's just the time for its implementation Turkul chose more than inappropriate. It seems that he seriously believed that he could become a real "third force" between the European invaders and the Russian Bolsheviks in the impending world slaughter. Believed contrary to common sense, completely disregarding any power Nazi Germany, neither the power of the opposing Red Army, nor the lack of such power among the small and practically unarmed emigrant organizations. The desire to become a third force between Hitler and Stalin is, of course, commendable, but, alas, it is timeless and spaceless. "Defender" Denikin, as an older and more experienced military leader, Turkula.

________________________________

Notes.
RNSUV is The Russian National Union of Participants in the War is an organization created by Turkul as part of the ROVS, as a result of which Turkul himself was expelled from the ROVS. RNSUV stood on the far right positions, having experienced a strong influence of Nazi ideas.
See the preface by O.G. Goncharenko to the book by Turkul "Drozdovites on fire" orhttp://www.belrussia.ru/page-id-2265.html
And Turkul was a direct witness and an active participant in the events, and talking about the White Movement in the South of Russia without reading the "Drozdovites on Fire" is as absurd as expounding political economy without referring to Karl Marx.
[4] See: http://www.belrussia.ru/page-id-4196.html
There.
By the way, the unexpected and completely illogical in this context mention of the "obscene peace of Brest" can be safely considered another indirect evidence that Turkul was well aware that the roles would not change in the new World War. Germany will again act as an aggressor, and Russia will be forced to defend its territorial integrity.
"Signal", 1939, No. 48. Cited. on:http://www.belrussia.ru/page-id-4196.html
"Signal", 1938, No. 32. Cit. on: http://www.belrussia.ru/page-id-4196.html
And especially - the Nazis, under the influence of whose ideas the views of the RSNUV were largely formed.

Turkul Anton Vasilyevich (1892-1957) - major general. The First World War began as a volunteer of the 75th Sevastopol Infantry Regiment. He earned two soldier's St. George's crosses and was promoted to officer. Staff captain - at the end of the war. Sergeant major in an officer company - in the first campaign from Yassy to Novocherkassk, General Drozdovsky in 1918

In 1919 - commander of the 1st and 2nd officer general of the Drozdovsky regiment in the Volunteer Army and in the All-Union Socialist Republic. In the Russian army, General Wrangel was promoted to major general and appointed head of the Drozdov division. After the evacuation of the Crimea, he was appointed by General Wrangel as commander of the consolidated Drozdovsky regiment. In exile in 1935, he founded the National Union of Participants in the War and became its head. During the Second World War, he participated in the formation of the Russian Liberation Army (ROA). He died on August 20, 1957 in Munich. He was buried on September 14, 1957 at the Russian cemetery in Sainte-Genevieve de Bois near Paris.

Used materials of the book: Nikolai Rutych Biographical directory of the highest ranks of the Volunteer Army and the Armed Forces of the South of Russia. Materials for the history of the White movement M., 2002

Major General Turkul A.V. 1920

Turkul Anton Vasilievich. Second half of the 40s.

TURKUL Anton Vasilievich (12/11/1892 - 08/20/1957), military and public figure. Born in the city of Bender in a noble family. In 1909 he graduated from the Odessa Richelieu Gymnasium. He served in active military service as a non-commissioned officer. During the First World War, he was promoted to officer for military distinction. Awarded 5 orders, including the Order of St.. George of the 4th degree and the St. George weapon. In the rank of staff captain, he commanded a shock assault battalion, the emblem of which was the image of a skull and crossbones as a sign of contempt for death.
After the Bolshevik coup, Turkul, as part of the volunteer detachment of Colonel M. G. Drozdovsky, made a 1200-kilometer campaign from the Romanian city of Iasi to Novocherkassk. He ended the Civil War as the head of the Drozdov Rifle Division with the rank of major general. He was awarded the newly established White Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which received only 338 people.
In exile, he headed the association of former Drozdovites, among whom he enjoyed great prestige. He was a supporter of the continuation of the active struggle against Bolshevism. In 1933, his people were preparing an attempt on L. Trotsky-Bronstein, who was expelled from the USSR, which failed due to the opposition of Soviet agents.
Wishing to "rally all those who, in the difficult emigrant night ... did not tear themselves away from their fatherland and people, who ... fought and stood in battle fire for the Fatherland, was a white warrior of Russia and remained such a warrior," Turkul on June 28, 1936 formed on the basis of the Drozdov association, the military-political organization Russian National Union of Participants in the War (RNSUV) with a center in Paris. Soon, departments of the RNSUV appeared in Albania, Argentina, Belgium, Greece, China, Uruguay, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and other countries. The organization published the newspaper "Signal" and the magazines "Military Journalist" and "Always for Russia" (the last words were also placed on the badge of the Turkulites).
The motto of the RNSUV was: "God - Nation - Social Justice". The program documents of the Union said: “Democratic fabrications and imitations of the “European models” of Russian liberals are a pathetic parody of the sovereign course of Russian history, there is a grimace of history, a disease of the nation.
Undoubtedly, the revival Russian Empire is possible only through the revival of its historical, national core - the monarchy. If the Russian Empire exists, it will only be monarchical. But the 20-year domination of non-Russian communist power in the USSR could not pass without leaving its mark. Awareness of the need for the Russian Empire of the monarchy may not occur the next day after the overthrow of the communist government. The task of the national dictatorship is to help the Russian nation embark on its historical path. This task is not easy... Therefore, just as the Russian nation will have to deserve its Emperor, so the Russian Emperor will have to deserve Russia.
The “leading role of the Russian People” was especially stipulated: “The high lot” that fell to the lot of the Russian People (Great Russians, Ukrainians-Little Russians and Belarusians) imposes on him a special historical responsibility. Therefore, he will have to occupy the "responsible position of the ruling arbiter of the Empire."
In the field of financial and economic provision was made for the unconditional limitation of the "autocracy of finance capital."
“A single government bank can perfectly fulfill the economic function of private banks, without their irresponsible politicking. This is especially important for Russia.
To allow freedom of capitalist activity after the overthrow of the communist authorities means deliberately handing over the country to the flow and plunder of international predatory capital. But, of course, it is impossible to do without foreign capital in an impoverished Russia. It is a matter of special control to establish how private foreign capital can be used” (“Signal” [Paris], 1939, No. 58).
Turkul himself stated: “We took fascism and National Socialism as the basis of our political thinking, which in practice showed their viability and defeated communism in their homeland. But, of course, we refract these doctrines in Russian history and apply them to Russian life, to the aspirations and needs of the Russian people ... Our ideal is the fascists of all countries and peoples in which their national honor burns, in which their national truth is strong and who understand and do their due and someone else's honor, and someone else's truth. Not exploitation and exploitation, but mutual respect and good-neighborly peace and alliance - this is what we expect and what we see from the fascist idea ”(Signal”, 1938, No. 32).
Considering that an "explosion of effectiveness is needed to liberate Russia from the bloody paws of Judeo-Marxism," the leadership of the RNSUV in Sept. 1937 joined the Russian National Front, uniting a number of patriotic emigration organizations.
In Apr. 1938 Turkul, Captain Larionov and several right-wing Russian emigrants were deported to Germany as "unwanted persons" by the pro-communist French government of M. Blum.
General Turkul lived first in Berlin, and after the signing of the Soviet-German pact in August. 1939 moved to Rome.
On the eve of the Second World War, he wrote: “Any strike against the Comintern on the territory of the USSR will inevitably cause an explosion of anti-communist forces within the country. It will be our duty to join these forces. We will then seek to see that somewhere, even on a small patch of Russian land, the Russian tricolor banner will nevertheless rise ”(“ Signal ”, 1939, No. 48).
Therefore, Turkul and his supporters joined the "Russian Liberation Army" - in n. 1945 he formed a volunteer Cossack brigade, planning to deploy it in a separate corps. After the war, he collaborated in the magazines "Volunteer" and "Sentry".
Turkul died in Munich. He was buried in the Russian cemetery in Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois.

Naumov S.

Site materials used Big Encyclopedia Russian people - http://www.rusinst.ru

Sitting from right to left - the generals - Shteyfon, Kutepov, Vitkovsky.
Standing (behind Kutepov) are the generals - Skoblin, Turkul. Bulgaria, 1921.

TURKUL Anton Vasilievich (1892-20.08.1957) Staff captain (1916). Colonel (1918). Major General (04.1920). He graduated from a real school, an accelerated course of the cadet school (1914) and was promoted to ensign. Member of the First World War: officer in the 75th Sevastopol Infantry Regiment, commander of the shock battalion of the 19th Infantry Division; 1915 - 1917. Wounded three times. In the White movement: in the detachment of Colonel Drozdovsky, a participant in the Yassy-Rostov campaign; 12.1917 - 05.1918. Company and battalion commander, received 4 wounds; 05.1918-09.1919. Commander of the 1st officer Drozdovsky regiment, 09.1919 - 06.1920. Commander of the 3rd Drozdov Rifle Division in the Russian Army, General Wrangel, 06-10.1920. Evacuated from Crimea to Gallipoli (Turkey). In exile since 11.1920: Turkey, Bulgaria, France. In 1941 - 1945 collaborated with the Germans; in 1945 he took part in the formation of parts of the ROA - the Russian Liberation Army of Vlasov in Austria; Commander of the Volunteer Brigade. After 1945 - Chairman of the Committee of Russian defectors. Died in Munich (Germany), 08/20/1957. Buried (reburied) 09/14/1957 at the cemetery of Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois near Paris.

Used materials of the book: Valery Klaving, The Civil War in Russia: White Armies. Military History Library. M., 2003.

Officers of the Drozdov division. 1920 Galipoli.
Sitting in the center are General Kharzhevsky V.G., General Turkul A.V.
(to the left of the officer standing behind V. G. Kharzhevsky)

General Turkul: “We fought for the Russian people, for their freedom and soul, so that they, deceived, would not become a Soviet slave”

In Soviet literature, his name was usually accompanied by the epithets "punisher", "executioner" and "bastard". And in the Russian diaspora, one of the youngest generals of the White Army, Anton Vasilyevich Turkul, was described as a knight who devoted his whole life to the fight against Bolshevism. During the First World War, he was wounded three times, awarded the Order of St. George IV degree and the golden St. George weapon, received the rank of staff captain. After the February Revolution, Anton Turkul, without hesitation, joined the shock battalion. At that time, the front rested solely on these "suicide squads", which were entered only by volunteers. Their hallmark was a chevron with a skull and crossbones on the left shoulder - a symbol of readiness to give one's life without hesitation for the Motherland.

Anton Vasilyevich Turkul was born in 1892 in Tiraspol in the family of a Russian employee. He graduated from a real school and served in a civil department. In 1910, he voluntarily entered military service as a private on the rights of a volunteer of the II category in the 56th Infantry Regiment of His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Zhytomyr, stationed in Tiraspol. In January 1913, Turkul was transferred to the reserve with the rank of junior non-commissioned officer. With the outbreak of World War I, he passed an accelerated military school course and was released as an ensign in the 75th Sevastopol Infantry Regiment. By the end of the war, Turkul was wounded three times, promoted to staff captain, awarded the St. George weapon, the Order of St. George 4th degree and other military orders.
After the February revolution, Turkul became the organizer and commander of the shock battalion of his division. In the conditions of the disintegration of the army, the front rested solely on the so-called "suicide squads". After the October coup and the dissolution of the shock troops, Anton Vasilievich, with a group of his comrades-in-arms, enrolled in the detachment of the general staff of Colonel Mikhail Gordeevich Drozdovsky. At the end of the Yassy-Don campaign, in Novocherkassk, he took command of an officer company. From January 1919, Turkul commanded the 1st battalion of the 2nd officer general of the Drozdovsky regiment. On October 24, 1919, with the rank of colonel, he took command of the 1st officer rifle regiment of the Drozdov division.

The Drozdovites loved their commander, calling him “himself” behind his back. Often in the attacking chains it was heard: “He himself arrived. Well, now let's give life to the reds. Turkul was indeed a staunch fighter, as Aleksey Tolstoy would say, a "distinct grunt". During the years of the civil war, he lost three brothers. One was put on bayonets by revolutionary sailors who broke into the hospital where he was being treated. The second was burned alive for brand new crimson epaulettes of the Drozdov division. How the third brother died is not exactly known. Anton Vasilyevich himself, repeatedly wounded in attacks, always repeated: "My life and fate are inseparable from the fate of the Russian army, captured by a national catastrophe."

Most of the generals of the white movement did not declare political slogans, but fought for their homeland out of a sense of patriotism instilled in them from childhood. And they fought to the end, sparing neither themselves nor others. The well-known writer Ivan Lukash, a former member of the volunteer army, wrote about the last commander of the Drozdov officer division, General Turkul: “He is the most terrible soldier of the most terrible civil war. He is a wild madness of attacks without a single shot, a chin cut open by a blued handle of a revolver, a cinder of furious fires, a whirlwind of madness, death and victories. A man whom his officers and soldiers idolized, whom they sought to imitate in everything, whose name they tried not to sully with cowardice and betrayal. Such a case is very indicative: once the infirmary of the Drozdov division fell into the hands of the Red Army. Most of the soldiers in this convalescent team were former Red Army soldiers. But there were forty officers in this team. Real White Guards, gold-chasers. And for them, the Bolsheviks have one thing: execution.
Turkul himself, in his memoirs, wrote with undisguised pride: “Among the Drozdovites from the captured Red Army soldiers, no one became a traitor, not a single one reported that an “officer” was hiding between them. The fact that not a single white officer was given to death in Bolshevik captivity was a victory for man in the most inhuman and merciless times of pitch Russian darkness.

In exile, General Turkul was active, sought to continue the fight against Bolshevism. After the Crimean evacuation and the famous "Galliopoli seat" he moved to Bulgaria, and in the early 30s he moved to France. Turkul headed the Drozdov units, which were part of the Russian All-Military Union. However, the apolitical nature of the ROVS, which did not at all correspond to the current situation, the controversial selection of personnel, as well as a noticeable decline in activity, prompted Turkul in 1936 to create the Russian National Union of Participants in the War (RNSUV). RNSUV was entirely on the monarchist platform. “Our ideal is the Orthodox Kingdom-Empire,” said the publications of the Union. “Our ideal is a fascist monarchy” is the well-known cry of Gen. Turkula. The motto of RNSUV is “God, Fatherland, Social Justice”. The newspaper "Signal" became the press organ of the Union, which was published 2 times a month from 1937 to 1940. After in April 1938, by a decree of the government of L. Blum, the general was included in the list of "undesirable persons" and expelled from France without explanation He settled in Germany.

During World War II, Anton Vasilievich commanded a separate Cossack brigade (approximate number of 5200 people), which fought against international Bolshevism; at the very end of the war, she became part of the Armed Forces of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (SC KONR). After the war, in Germany, Turkul spent several months in prison on a denunciation to the occupation authorities.
General Turkul in 1948 wrote his memoirs about the Civil War - "Drozdovtsy on Fire" (another name is "For Holy Russia"). This work is recognized as one of the most emotional, lively books telling about the Civil War: “They, these future white fighters, are the subject of my book. In the images of their predecessors, the fallen white soldiers, whose souls continue to live in their souls, may they draw that impulse and that sacrifice that will help them complete the cause of the struggle for the liberation of Russia.

Officers of the Drozdov division. 1920 Gallipoli.

In 1950, in Munich, under the leadership of the general, the Committee of the United Vlasovites (KOV) was formed, which published the Volunteer magazine - an organ intercom ROA staff. KOV united a small, but the most healthy, ideologically, part of the Vlasovites.
General Anton Vasilyevich Turkul died on August 19, 1957 in Munich. He was buried on the outskirts of Paris in the Russian cemetery of Saint-Genevieve de Bois next to the monument to "General Drozdovsky and the Drozdovites."

Sitting from right to left: Generals Shteyfon, Kutepov, Vitkovsky.
Standing (behind Kutepov): Generals Skoblin, Turkul. Bulgaria, 1921

March of the 2nd officer general Drozdovsky regiment

Oh God right, languishing
Under the yoke of Russia - save her!
Your people are calling you
Reveal your miracle to us.
Be bolder, daring Drozdovites!
Forward without fear! God is with us! God is with us!
Help us, as in the days of old
Helped wonderfully. Yes, God Himself!
Fulfilling the sacred covenant,
The one whose voice has long been silent,
Goes, delivering Russia,
Forward Drozdovsky glorious regiment.
The Lord sent us trials
And the burden of hard work
But despite all the suffering
We will never give up.
Let's hear the order again:
“Forward, Drozdovites, on a good journey!”
And our combat mission -
Return freedom to the Motherland.
The raspberry icon will rise
Before the front of our regiment.
And the heart beats joyfully
In the chest of each shooter.
The glorious Turkul will gallop forward,
Behind him Conradi and the convoy.
We will hear again our swearing cry,
Our battle cry Drozdovsky.

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