Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko

The Early Years

Semyon Timoshenko was born in 1895 in the village of Furmanka in the Odessa province in southern Ukraine, where he grew up and was educated. At the outbreak of WW1 he was conscripted into an infantry Regiment, where he served as a machine gunner, winning the St George Cross for bravery, twice. When the Civil War began in 1918 he joined the Red Army, serving in a cavalry Squadron. He rose rapidly through the ranks, commanding first a cavalry detachment, then a Squadron and finally in early 1919 he became commander of the 1st Crimean Cavalry Regiment. In October of the same year he was promoted again and given command of the 6th Cavalry Division. In mid 1920, he moved commands again, taking over command of the 4th Cavalry Division.
He was regarded as a capable leader, both demanding of his subordinates and yet always concerned for their welfare and as a man of great personal courage and loyalty. To this end he enjoyed the affection and respect of his officers and men. His respect for others welfare was illustrated in an order issued by him, regarding the local civilian population, in November 1919. 'Arms alone cannot win the war as quickly as a conscientious attitude to the local population. Understand that you are bringing liberation to the poor, not oppression and violence'.
In 1920, during the Russo-Polish war he was wounded by machine gun fire. Despite this he personally led an attack against an armored train and continued to command his Division for several hours before seeking treatment. For his actions he received his second Order of the Red Banner.
Following the end of the Civil War he was given command of the 3rd Cavalry Corps, within who's ranks were several prominent up and coming commanders, including Rokassovsky and Zhukov. In 1922, he attended a higher academic course for officers at the Frunze Academy and in 1930 a course for military-political commissars at the Military-Political Academy. In 1933 he became deputy commander of first, the Belorussian Military District and then in 1935 the Kiev Military District. In 1937, as the Stalinist purges began, he moved through a string of positions, replacing commanders who had been arrested or executed. During 1937 he held several posts, becoming commander of the North Caucasus Military District and then the Kiev Military District. He later commented on this difficult period at a seminar in 1968. 'During the dangerous years, many party, state and military cadres were wiped out. Of the old guard there was only Voroshilov, Budenny and I remaining, no one else was left alive. I commanded practically every military District, I'd be making trips from place to place all the time'. Despite his comments, he neither opposed nor condemned the mass arrests of officers during that time.
In 1939 he was given command of the newly formed Ukrainian Front, which took part in the occupation of eastern Poland. In early 1940 he was given command of the Northwestern Front, which was fighting in the Russo-Finnish war. Following a poor start to the campaign, Timoshenko was installed to improve the situation. He was tasked with breaking through the strongly defended Mannerheim Line and destroying Finnish forces in the Karelian Peninsula, prompting Finland to sue for peace in March. Although the aim was achieved, it came at a high cost in men and material. For his actions during the campaign he received the honor 'Hero of the Soviet Union' and in mid 1940 became a Marshal of the Soviet Union and appointed as Defense Commissar.
In his new position he set about restructuring and rearming the Red Army, whilst also improving its training. In an order he issued in mid 1940 he stressed, 'It is important to develop high battle qualities in every officer and soldier and instill firm discipline, initiative, energy, audacity, doggedness, persistence, camaraderie, and self sacrifice. The troops must be taught only what they need for war and only under the conditions they are carried out in war'.

The War Years

In early June 1941, he finally managed to persuade Stalin to move some forces into the border areas, however the number of forces released and their level of preparation was insufficient to meet the German attack, which was about to begin. On the morning of June 22nd, reports of the German attack began to filter through. Timoshenko reported them to Stalin, who ordered that confirmation was first to be sought from the German ambassador before any retaliatory action was taken. During the early hours of that day, Timoshenko received a telephone report direct from General Boldin, the Deputy Commander of the Western Military District, informing him that German forces had crossed the border in many places, were continuing to advance and that German aircraft were attacking a variety of targets along the front. Timashenko replied, 'Comrade Boldin, take note that you are not to begin any action against the German forces without our knowledge.' Boldin yelled down the telephone, 'what do you mean? Our troops are retreating, towns are in flames, people are dying! It was only after the Foreign Commissar, Molotov, confirmed that Germany and Russia were in fact at war, that the order was rescinded. At 08:00, Timoshenko issued a new directive calling on all forces 'to use all their strength and means to fall upon the enemy forces and destroy them where they had violated the frontier,' but also warning that, 'they were not to cross the frontier themselves until they had received further orders.' However at many of the fronts, by the time the order was received, command and control was already beginning to disintegrate. On the 23rd of June, the Supreme Headquarters, STAVKA, was created and headed by Timoshenko. However all decisions had to be approved by Stalin before they could be implemented, reducing Timoshenko's ability to react to the rapidly changing situation. So on the 30th of June, he asked Stalin to take full charge. Stalin was duly named Chairman of the State Defence Council, Chairman of the General Staff and Defence Commissar. As for Timoshenko, he became Commander of the Western Front on 1st July 1941, the former commander, General Pavlov, having been arrested and executed. A large part of the front's forces had already been encircled and destroyed and so Timoshenko had to create a new front along the Dnepr using reserves from the interior.
Timoshenko was tasked with halting the enemy armored groups on the Dnepr. On the 6th of July he attacked the flanks of the 39th Panzer Corps near Senno. Timoshenko's force was destroyed during five days of heavy fighting and its remnants withdrew in disorder across the Dnepr towards Smolensk. On the 10th of July German forces also crossed the Dnepr and on the 13th of July Timoshenko launched another series of counterattacks between Vitebsk and Gomel. The same day he was appointed Commander in Chief of the Western Axis, which included both the Western and Central Fronts. As German units broke through, he ordered his unit commanders to withdraw systematically, whilst fighting, to rear defensive positions. On the 19th of July, Timoshenko was summoned to Moscow, to meet with Stalin and Zhukov and plan offensive actions on the western axis. On the 21st, he returned to his HQ to implement the plan and five newly created strike groups began to mount counter attacks against Army Group Center. On the 5th of August he returned to Moscow where he was given the task of developing the offensive. Subsequent offensive actions in the Yelnya and Dukhovshchina areas halted the German advance towards Moscow.
In September, he replaced Budenny as Commander of the Southwestern Front and was given the task of preventing the fall of Kiev. At Kiev, he was told to hold the city at all costs and destroy the German armored spearheads trying to encircle the city. On the 16th of September, as communications began to break down, he ordered the forces of the Southwestern Front to occupy defensive positions on the River Psel. The order to withdraw to the river failed to be carried out, due to confusion caused by the breakdown in communications and a large part of the Southwestern front was surrounded in the Kiev area. The front commander was killed in the encirclement and Timoshenko took over command of the front, which then went over to the defensive along the Kharkov and Rostov axis. On the 17th of October, the rapid advance of the German 6th and 17th Armies forced him to withdraw his front behind the Oskol and Northern Donets Rivers.
On the 6th of December, as part of the Russian winter counteroffensive, Timoshenko's Southwestern Front attacked the German 2nd Army in the Elets area, encircling and then destroying the 34th Army Corps.

Defeat and Disgrace

In March 1942, at a STAVKA meeting, Timoshenko declared, 'I believe that we are now in a position to deliver a warning blow to the enemy in the south and disrupt his plans for an offensive.' After considerable preparation, the offensive began on the 12th of May from the Barvenkovo salient and initially progressed well. Despite an early breakthrough near Volochansk, it ran straight into German forces that were themselves preparing to launch their own offensive. On the 17th of May, elements of the 1st Panzer Army attacked the weak left flank of the strike group and the offensive began to grind to a halt. The same day Timoshenko reported to Stalin, informing him 'I feel that the danger is exaggerated and that there are no grounds for halting the offensive!' However, by the 19th of May, German forces had almost encircled the strike force and by the time Timashenko realized this and begun to withdraw his forces, it was too late. On the 20th of May, 6th Army closed the trap to the north. Following the defeat, Timoshenko was recalled to Moscow on the 21st of May and relieved of his command.
In July 1942, he was sent to take command of the Northwestern Front. In August 1942 Timoshenko learned of a play entitled, 'The Front', which had been written by the playwright Korneichuk and was being presented to audiences in Moscow. The play depicted a number of Generals from the older generation in a sarcastic way, himself among them. He wrote an angry letter to Stalin requesting that the play be closed and the author be called to account. He received a stinging rebuke from Stalin who replied, 'your judgement of the play is incorrect. It has great educational significance for the Red Army and its officers. The play correctly exposes the shortcoming in the Red Army. One should have the courage to admit these shortcomings and take steps to eradicate them. That is the only way to improve and perfect the Red Army.'
In November 1942, Timoshenko commanded the Demyansk offensive against the German 16th Army occupying the salient to the south of Lake Ilmen. The offensive opened on the 28th of November, with the 11th and 27th Armies attacked against the northern flank of the salient, while the 1st Striking Army attacked the southern flank. Despite total air supremacy and overwhelming numbers, the Russian forces failed to collapse the salient. On the 4th of December, the Germans reinforced the salient with three divisions and on the 12th of January Timoshenko called off the offensive. However on the 15th of February, as German forces prepared to withdraw from the salient, the offensive was resumed. On the 19th of February, the Russian forces realized that the Germans had begun to withdraw from their positions and took up the pursuit. The evacuation was completed on the 27th of February and although Timoshenko was credited with successfully destroying the salient, the German forces managed to withdraw in good order and with all their equipment.
Despite the relative success of the operation, it failed to help Timoshenko regain his prestige with Stalin and in March 1943 he was again relieved of his command. For the remainder of the war he served as Stalin's representative on various fronts, but would never again hold an active command. He also took parting the planning of a number of operations including that of Jassy-Kishinev in August 1944.

The Post War Years

After the war Timashenko commanded various military districts including Belarus in March 1946, the southern Urals in June 1946 and then Belarus again in March 1949. In 1960 he became Inspector General of the Ministry of Defence and also chaired the Soviet Veterans Committee. In 1965, he received his second honor 'Hero of the Soviet Union' and amongst his other awards were the Order of Victory, the Order of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Suvorov. He died in Moscow in 1970 and received a military funeral with full honors, his ashes being buried in the Kremlin wall. Zhukov said of Timashenko afterwards, 'He was an old and experienced war leader, stubborn, strong willed and well versed in tactical and operational terms. He was a far better Defence Commissar than Voroshilov and in the short time that he held the post the army made significant improvements. But Stalin was angry with him over Kharkov and it affected his career for the rest of the war.'