# Pyotr Berestov

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**Pyotr Filippovich Berestov** (Russian: Пётр Фили́ппович Бе́рестов; December 21 [O.S.](/source/Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates) 1896, Berestovo – November 26, 1961, Zaporozhye) was a [Red Army](/source/Red_Army) major general during the [Second World War](/source/World_War_II). Drafted into the [Imperial Russian Army](/source/Imperial_Russian_Army) in 1917, Berestov participated in the [Russian Revolution](/source/Russian_Revolution). He was drafted into the [Red Army](/source/Red_Army), fighting in the [Russian Civil War](/source/Russian_Civil_War) and the [Polish–Soviet War](/source/Polish%E2%80%93Soviet_War). He became a Red Army officer and served in several positions during the interwar period. Berestov was arrested and released during the [Great Purge](/source/Great_Purge). He fought in the [Winter War](/source/Winter_War) as a regimental commander. In the early days after the [German invasion of the Soviet Union](/source/Operation_Barbarossa), he was given command of a [People's Militia](/source/People's_Militia_(Soviet_Union)) regiment, which was converted into a regular regiment. Berestov led the regiment in the early period of the [Battle of Moscow](/source/Battle_of_Moscow) and transferred to lead a regiment of the [82nd Motor Rifle Division](/source/82nd_Motor_Rifle_Division). Berestov became the division's commander and in the spring of 1942 briefly led the [50th Rifle Division](/source/50th_Rifle_Division_(Soviet_Union)). In April, he took command of the [331st Rifle Division](/source/331st_Rifle_Division_(Soviet_Union)), which he led during the rest of the war. For his leadership, Berestov was awarded the title [Hero of the Soviet Union](/source/Hero_of_the_Soviet_Union) in late June 1945. Postwar he commanded the [72nd Guards Rifle Division](/source/72nd_Guards_Rifle_Division), which was downsized into a brigade, and the 43rd Guards Rifle Brigade, which became the [113th Guards Rifle Division](/source/113th_Guards_Rifle_Division). Berestov retired in 1955 and lived in [Zaporizhia](/source/Zaporizhia) until his death in 1961.

## Early military career

Born into a large peasant family of Russian[1] ethnicity in the aptly-named village of Berestovo, Berestov obtained an elementary and some secondary education before going to work at age 14 as a [sawyer](/source/Sawyer_(occupation)). In February, 1917, he was drafted into the [Imperial Russian Army](/source/Imperial_Russian_Army), just as the [Russian Revolution](/source/Russian_Revolution) was beginning. He was promoted to the rank of junior non-commissioned officer in the 165th Reserve Infantry Regiment at [Simbirsk](/source/Simbirsk), and participated in revolutionary demonstrations both there and in [Petrograd](/source/Petrograd). In February, 1918, he was demobilized.[1]

Berestov returned home, and worked his father's farm until he was drafted again in November, now into the 38th Rifle Regiment of the Red Army, in the town of [Glazov](/source/Glazov). By 1920 he had taken part in fighting against the forces of [A.V. Kolchak](/source/Alexander_Kolchak), done a course for infantry leaders at [Kazan](/source/Kazan), and served as a machine-gun platoon commander in [4th Rifle Division](/source/4th_Rifle_Division_(Soviet_Union))'s 12th Rifle Regiment in the [war with Poland](/source/Polish%E2%80%93Soviet_War_in_1920). During the war, Berestov became a company commander in August 1920.[1]

## Interwar period

Berestov continued his service in the Red Army through the 1920s and '30s. In 1921 he graduated from a battalion commander course held at [Vitebsk](/source/Vitebsk). In 1924 he graduated from the Higher School of Physical Education in [Leningrad](/source/Leningrad). Later that year he was in command of a battalion of the 4th Rifle Regiment. In November, 1930, he moved to a similar assignment the 54th Rifle Regiment of the [18th Rifle Division](/source/18th_Rifle_Division_(Soviet_Union)) in [Yaroslavl](/source/Yaroslavl). Late the next year he got his first staff assignment in the same regiment, becoming a logistics officer.[1]

During Stalin's [Great Purge](/source/Great_Purge) in 1937, Berestov fell afoul of the [NKVD](/source/NKVD) and was arrested. In the course of his interrogation he had all his front teeth smashed out, all of his toes were broken, and he also suffered a broken rib. In 1939 he was released and rehabilitated, having been vouched for by [Gen. S.K. Timoshenko](/source/Semyon_Timoshenko).[2] After his release, in August, 1939, he became head of supply in the newly formed [168th Rifle Division](/source/168th_Rifle_Division_(Soviet_Union)). In December he took command of the 402nd Rifle Regiment in that same division. Wounded in late February, 1940, during the [Winter War](/source/Winter_War), he continued in command and was soon awarded his first of four [Orders of the Red Banner](/source/Order_of_the_Red_Banner). On 5 March he was promoted to Colonel. After the end of the war Berestov was sent to the [Vystrel courses](/source/Vystrel_courses), from which he graduated in June 1941.[1]

## Second World War

In the days after the German invasion, Berestov was appointed commander of the 1st Moscow Peoples' Militia Regiment, recruited from the [Leninsky District](/source/Leninsky_District,_Moscow_Oblast). Berestov later became commander of the [60th Rifle Division](/source/60th_Rifle_Division_(Soviet_Union))'s 1281st Rifle Regiment, leading it at [Yelnya](/source/Yelnya,_Yelninsky_District,_Smolensk_Oblast) and [Spas-Demensk](/source/Spas-Demensk). In November 1941, Berestov became commander of the 601st Motor Rifle Regiment. He later became commander of the [82nd Motor Rifle Division](/source/82nd_Motor_Rifle_Division), defending the [Minsk highway](/source/M1_highway_(Russia)) near [Kubinka station](/source/Kubinka) during the [Battle of Moscow](/source/Battle_of_Moscow). In 1942 he joined the [Communist Party of the Soviet Union](/source/Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union).[1]

On Mar. 13, 1942, he was named as the commanding officer of [50th Rifle Division](/source/50th_Rifle_Division_(Soviet_Union)), a post he held for less than a month, before being reassigned to command of [331st Rifle Division](/source/331st_Rifle_Division_(Soviet_Union)), where he would continue for the duration. The 331st would compile an enviable record during the rest of the war, mostly as a division of [31st Army](/source/31st_Army_(Soviet_Union)), where it became known as "the best of the 31st".[1][3][4] On 27 June 1945, Berestov was awarded the title [Hero of the Soviet Union](/source/Hero_of_the_Soviet_Union) for his leadership.[1]

## Postwar service and later life

In his postwar service, Berestov moved to command of the [72nd Guards Rifle Division](/source/72nd_Guards_Rifle_Division) in the [Central Group of Forces](/source/Central_Group_of_Forces) ([Hungary](/source/Hungary)) in July; this division was transferred to [Kiev Military District](/source/Kiev_Military_District) in January, 1946. His next assignment, from May until the end of the year, was as commander of 7th Separate Guards Rifle Brigade. During the whole of 1947 he led the [59th Guards Rifle Division](/source/59th_Guards_Rifle_Division) in [Odessa Military District](/source/Odessa_Military_District). In 1948 he upgraded his command skills at the [Frunze Military Academy](/source/Frunze_Military_Academy), graduating successfully. His last assignment was the command of the 43rd Guards Rifle Brigade in the [Tauric Military District](/source/Tauric_Military_District) from December 1948. In October 1953, the brigade was upgraded into the [113th Guards Rifle Division](/source/113th_Guards_Rifle_Division).[5] Berestov retired in December 1955. He lived and worked in the Ukrainian city of [Zaporizhia](/source/Zaporizhia) until his death on Nov. 26, 1961. He was buried in the "May Cemetery" in Zaporizhia.[1][4]

## Notes

**Citations**

1. Kargapoltsev, Sergey. ["Берестов Пётр Филиппович"](https://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=8010) (in Russian). *Герои страны*

1. Boris Gorbachevsky, *Through the Maelstrom*, ed. and trans. by Stuart Britton, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2008, pp 335-36. Gorbachevsky gives the year of Berestov's release as 1940, but it must have been the previous year, given Berestov's service in the Winter War.

1. Gorbachevsky, p 333

1. ["Biography of Major-General Petr Filippovich Berestov - (Петр Филиппович Берестов) (1896 – 1961), Soviet Union"](http://www.generals.dk/general/Berestov/Petr_Filippovich/Soviet_Union.html). *www.generals.dk*. Retrieved 2016-08-31.

1. Feskov et al 2013, p. 149

## References

- Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). *Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской* [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306.

## Further reading

- Boris Gorbachevsky, *Through the Maelstrom*, ed. and trans by Stuart Britton, University Press of Kansas, 2008, part four

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Pyotr Berestov](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr_Berestov) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr_Berestov?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.