Zhemal Imalev

Zhemal Imalev

Medal for Courage nr. 144172 was awarded by Order of the Ladoga Military Flotilla of March 27, 1943 to 29- or 30-year-old Senior Seaman Zhemal Imalev, machine gunner on schooner Uchoba, Transport Vessel Detachment, Ladoga Military Flotilla, Red Banner Baltic Fleet.

Award citation

Concerning: Senior Seaman Zhemal Imalev, machine gunner on schooner Uchoba, Transport Vessel Detachment, Ladoga Military Flotilla

Nominated for: Medal for Courage

1. Year of birth: 1913
2. Nationality: Tatar
3. Social position: Unskilled laborer
4. Party affiliation: Not a member
5. Since when in the Navy: Since 1942
6. Service in the Civil War: No
7. Wounds and contusions received: No
8. Has he been nominated for an award before and if so, what for: No
9. Which commendations and awards did he receive and what for: Three commendations in a unit order for excellent service
10. Service in the White Army or other bourgeois armies and time spent as a prisoner of war: No, no
11. Permanent address: _______________

Brief, concrete description of his feat of arms or achievements:

On June 10, 1942, during the passage from Osinovets to Kobona with evacuated passengers from Leningrad on board, he fired his ShK machine gun with great precision. Three times he knocked two He-111 aircraft, which were diving on our ship, off course, owing to which the bombs dropped by the enemy and his machine-gun fire did not inflict any harm to either the ship or its crew or the evacuees.

On June 11, 1942, during the passage from Kobona to Osinovets, he warded off an attack by a Ju-88 by firing his machine gun.

On June 28, 1942, during the passage from Kobona to Osinovets with military personnel on board, he repelled an attack by two Me-109s by firing his machine gun. During both of these last two instances his accurate fire prevented the enemy from causing harm to the ship or the people on board.

Commanding officer of schooner Uchoba
Captain Lieutenant [signed] /Matavkin/
December 7, 1942

Medal for Courage nr. 144172, obverse and reverse

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the image.

Schooner Uchoba	Schooner Uchoba after the war
Map of the various ports on Lake Ladoga, including Osinovets and Kobona	Wounded men are brought on board a medical transport at one of the Ladoga ports, 1942
Evacuees from Leningrad awaiting embarkation, 1941	One of the ports on Lake Ladoga
When the ice froze, supplies were driven across the ice between Kobona and Osinovets	Rear Admiral Viktor Cherokov, commander of the Ladoga Military Flotilla