Pictured: Marshal V. I. Chuikov (center) flanked by G. D. Protodyakonov to the left, and Soviet sniper V. Zaitsev and Yakov Pavlov (of “Pavlov’s House” fame) to the right, Volgograd, 9 May 1972.
Until Marshal Chuikov’s final days, he was actively involved in the veteran’s association for the 62nd-8th Guards Army. The defenders of Stalingrad were always near and dear to his heart, and he often advocated for them to receive recognition. Sometimes his effort was successful, and other times it was not. However, he was sure to share the stories of Stalingrad’s heroes in his memoirs, and he spoke of them often and included them in special recognition events.
The following is an account of one special veteran—a Yakutian—who Marshal Chuikov celebrated in his writings and beyond. Published on the Sakha Parliament website, Mikhail Gulyaev shared about the relationship between Chuikov and Gavriil Dmitrievich Protodyakonov:
“Commander of the 62nd Army V. I. Chuikov […] was interested in who was operating on the neutral zone, a little later he called G. D. Protodyakonov to his dugout. This episode was mentioned in the military memoirs of V. I. Chuikov titled From Stalingrad to Berlin. The tactical innovation of the ordinary warrior was adopted by many defenders of the city, who moved their positions to no man's land, hitting the enemy from a short distance and saving themselves from enemy bombing and artillery fire.
Marshal of the Soviet Union V. I. Chuikov (06/10/1965) and the Trans-Baikal Military District (05/11/1965) [advocated] for G. D. Protodyakonov [to receive] the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. But they were refused, because after the 20th anniversary of the Victory, the assignment of such a title to veterans of the Great Patriotic War was stopped at that time. The fact that in connection with the 20th anniversary of the Victory G. D. Protodyakonov, among many participants in the war, was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, cannot be a reason for refusing to award him the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, since he received such an award, like everyone else, for being wounded.
‘It would be wrong to talk only about snipers from small arms—we had a lot of snipers, artillerymen and mortars,’ said Marshal of the Soviet Union V. I. Chuikov in his memoirs of the Stalingrad battles. ‘I can’t forget the armor-piercing artillery sniper Protodyakonov, with whom I talked in the dugout, where he appeared on my call,’ the Marshal wrote. ‘By nationality, he is Yakut, tall and physically strong. He was the only one left of the whole calculation with his 45-mm cannon between our trenches and enemy trenches in a hollow on the northern slope of Mamaev Kurgan. He was so well camouflaged that the enemy tankers found out about this gun only when they were already on fire or were hit.’
On 9 May 1972, Marshal Chuikov and war veteran G. D. Protodyakonov met again on Mamaev Kurgan, where Gavriil Dmitrievich was personally invited by Chuikov to film the documentary ‘Marshal Chuikov and His Associates.’ There were other well-known participants in the Battle of Stalingrad - the famous sniper, Hero of the Soviet Union V. G. Zaitsev, commander of the garrison ‘Pavlov's House’ I. F. Afanasiev, and others.”