Valentina Vlasenko (Subbocheva)

Valentina Ivanovna Vlasenko (Subbocheva)
File:Valentina Vlasenko (Subbocheva) in 1944.jpg Vlasenko (Subbocheva) in 1944
Born	19 August 1919 Goloplioky, Tula Region, USSR
Died	4 January 2005(2005-01-04) (aged 85) Kiev, Ukraine
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Years of service	1942–1945
Rank	Major
Commands held	Company of the Medical Battalion
Battles/wars	Battle of Stalingrad Battle of Kursk Battle of the Dnieper Operation Bagration Vistula–Oder Offensive Battle of Berlin
Awards	Four orders see below
Other work	Surgeon

Valentina Ivanovna Vlasenko (Subbocheva) (19 August 1919 - 4 January 2005) (Ukrainian: Валентина Іванівна Власенко (Суббочева), Russian: Валентина Ивановна Власенко (Суббочева)) was a military surgeon in the Red Army during World War II. She performed several thousand surgical operations on the battlefield.

Biography

Subbocheva was born on August 19, 1919, in a family of railwaymen; her father worked as a locomotive driver. She studied at the First Moscow Medical Institute and simultaneously at the Moscow Aeroclub. She became a pilot and instructor before becoming a doctor, but she chose medicine as a profession.

When the war with Germany began, Subbocheva was completing her course at the medical institute. Then she passed a course of operating surgery under the guidance of professor A. Vishnevsky and in early 1942, she voluntarily joined the Red Army. She received her baptism of fire in Stalingrad, in the 95th Rifle Division. She was a surgeon of the 161st Rifle Regiment, which was fighting at Mamayev Kurgan, where the regiment was almost completely destroyed. During these fights, Subbocheva provided surgical aid for 272 combatants and pulled out two wounded soldiers from a burning house.

For replenishment, the regiment was moved to the opposite bank of the Volga, while Subbocheva remained in Stalingrad. She was appointed the commander of the medical unit of the 103rd medsanbat of the 95th Rifle Division, which defended factories "Barricades", "Red October" and Tractorny. The Division suffered heavy losses, including among doctors, so the surgeons worked twenty hours a day. Surgical operations were performed in a dugout dug into a steep bank near the Volga, with the light of an oil lamp made from a cannon shell sleeve. For excellent combat achievements, the Division became the 75th Guards Rifle Division and Subbocheva was awarded the Medal "For the Defence of Stalingrad".

Personnel of the 585th Medical Battalion of the 75th Guards Rifle Division, 1944

After Stalingrad, the Division was replenished and moved to combat positions on the northern front of the Kursk salient near the Ponyri village, where it took an active part in the Battle of Kursk. Senior Lieutenant Subbocheva provided operative surgical care for 1500 wounded fighters and commanders and was awarded the Order of the Red Star.

The Division liberated Khutir-Mikhailovsky, Yampil, Baturin, Bakhmach, for which the Division was given the honorific "Bakhmach". Together with her comrades in combat, Subbocheva crossed the Desna and Dnipro rivers, fought on the bridgehead near Yasnogorodka-Glibovka, north of Kyiv. During the battles on the Dnipro line, Subbocheva worked at the operation table for several days, selflessly providing assistance to the wounded. From August 22 to October 5, she performed surgeries on 516 seriously wounded patients and on October 28, 1943, was awarded the Orders of the Patriotic War, 2nd class.

Then there were battles in Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states, the liberation of Riga. Together with the soldiers of the 274th Rifle Division of the 61st Rifle Corps, Subbocheva participated in the battles in Poland, crossing the Vistula and Oder and in the final fight with the German troops near Berlin. At any time of the day or night, without considering her own rest, she provided skilled medical assistance to wounded men and officers. On June 7, 1945, Captain of the medical service Subbocheva was awarded the Medal for Battle Merit.

The number of surgical operations that Subbocheva performed during the war is estimated as thousands – this is, in fact, the number of lives she saved. After demobilization, she worked as a surgeon in different cities where her husband, Ilya Arkhipovich Vlasenko, was stationed. The couple tied their fate during the battles in Stalingrad.

In recent years, Valentina Ivanovna Vlasenko (Subbocheva) lived in Kyiv. She died in 2005 and was buried in Kyiv’s Lukyanovka military cemetery next to her husband.

Awards

• Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (Ukraine), 3rd class № 40880
• Defender of the Motherland Medal
• Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd class № 34128 (1943)
• Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd class № 3504341
• Order of the Red Star № 265792 (1943)
• Medal for Battle Merit № 2335160 (1945)
• Medal "For the Defence of Stalingrad"
• Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
• Medal "For the Capture of Berlin"
• Medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw"
• Twelve Jubilee Medals

Bibliography

• О войне и товарищах. Сборник воспоминаний. — Красноград: АО «КМП», 1996. — 208 с. с илл. — 950 экз. About the War and Comrades. Collection of the veterans memories.
• Чарашвили И.Г. На Мамаевом кургане (воспоминания о Сталинградской битве). — Тбилиси: Изд-во Тбилисского университета, 1975. — 38 с. с илл. — 1000 экз. On Mamayev Kurgan (memories of the Battle of Stalingrad).

External links

• Front-line surgeon V.I.Subbochev (Vlasenko)
• Heroic Medical Battalion

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