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Car traffic launched along the legendary ice track – the “Road of Life”
On November 22, 1941, automobile traffic was launched along Military Highway № 101, which connected besieged Leningrad with the eastern shore - the “Big Land” - along the ice of Lake Ladoga. Considering the great strategic importance of transportation carried out along the road during the difficult period of the siege winter of 1941–1942, the ice route went down in history as the legendary “Road of Life”.
With the capture of Shlisselburg by Nazi troops on September 8, 1941, Leningrad's land communication with the country was interrupted. Lake Ladoga remained the only way to supply food to Leningrad, as well as logistically support the troops of the Leningrad Front and the Baltic Fleet. On August 30, 1941, the State Defence Committee of the USSR issued Resolution No. 604 “On the transportation of goods for Leningrad”. On September 12, 1941, the first convoy of ships with food and ammunition arrived on the western bank, to the Osinovetsky lighthouse - the beginning of the water communication between Leningrad and the “Big Land” was laid, which lasted until November 15.
In October, with the approach of cold weather, preparations began to organize transport links on the ice of Lake Ladoga. The preparatory work was carried out by the road department of the Logistics Directorate of the Leningrad Front under the leadership of military engineer 1st rank V. G. Monakhov. Specialists collected and analyzed information about the ice regime of the bay, the results of observations of weather and climatic features of this area, including those obtained at the beginning of the 20th century. lighthouse keepers. Data on the structure and properties of ice in freshwater bodies of water, its elasticity, as well as the carrying capacity of ice layers obtained before the war by Soviet scientists were actively used. To resolve specific issues, the Hydrological, Road Institutes, Institute of Public Utilities, etc. were involved. The founder of national road science, Professor N. N. Ivanov (1888–1977), meteorologist and hydrologist Professor S. A. Sovetov (1873– 1942).
From November 12 to 18, groups on foot and in vehicles carried out reconnaissance of the ice situation. It was found that the best route is the village of Kokkorevo - Astrechye Bank - Zelentsy Islands - the village of Kobona. On November 19, the Military Council of the Leningrad Front issued Resolution № 00410 “On the delivery of food to Leningrad through Lake Ladoga and on the production of food pulp”. The resolution obligated the “chief of rear services of the Leningrad Front, Comrade. Lagunov, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Leningrad City Council of Workers' Deputies Comrade Popkov and Major General Comrade Shilov to prepare transport, fuel and food cargo for transportation in such a way that from the moment the road across the lake opens, at least 100 tons of food cargo per day can be transported from Kobona to Osinovets. On the same day, Order № 00172 of the commander of the Leningrad Front “On the organization of a motor-tractor road across Lake Ladoga” was issued, according to which the movement of horse-drawn columns was to begin on November 22, and the movement of cars on November 25. The total length of the ice road was 30 km.
Earlier than planned, on November 20, when the ice thickness was only 180 mm, the first horse-drawn convoy, numbering 350 carts, set off from the village of Kokkorevo to the village of Kobona for food. By the morning of November 21, it returned back to the western bank, to Osinovets, delivering 63 tons of flour. On the evening of November 21, a test automobile convoy of the 389th separate motor transport battalion of 10 GAZ-AA vehicles under the command of Senior Lieutenant E. A. Biryukovich set off for the village of Kobona, delivering 10 tons of flour. On the evening of November 22, a convoy of 60 vehicles under the leadership of the battalion commander, Major V. A. Porchunov, made a trip. To increase the transportation of goods and prevent vehicles from falling through the ice, sleds were attached to the trucks in tow.
With the capture of Tikhvin by Nazi German troops on November 8 and the enemy’s advance to the Voybokalo station, the Soviet command was forced to move the transshipment supply bases to the Zaborye and Podborovye stations, which were located more than 300 km from the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga. On November 24, by decision of the Military Council of the Leningrad Front, the construction of Military Highway № 102 began from Zaborye to Kobona. On December 7, the ice road across Lake Ladoga (VAD-101) was subordinated as a site to the head of VAD-102, General A. M. Shilov.
After the liberation of Tikhvin by Soviet troops on December 9, the transshipment bases were moved to the city, and the total length of the Military Highway was reduced from 308 km to 180 km. On February 22, 1942, the head of the ice road, Captain 2nd Rank M. A. Nefyodov, was appointed deputy of General A. M. Shilov. The VAD-101 department was renamed the ice section of the Military Highway № 102.
The ice road was subjected to systematic attacks by the German Air Force, shelling from heavy artillery and attacks by enemy landing forces. They were successfully countered by air defence systems of the Leningrad Front, the Baltic Fleet and the Ladoga Military Flotilla. The defence of the ice road was held by the 8th, 23rd and 54th armies.
Movement along the ice route stopped on April 24, 1942. During the first siege winter of 1941–1942. 361 thousand tons of cargo were delivered to Leningrad, including 262 thousand tons of food, and 550 thousand people were evacuated from the city. The ice route continued to operate in the winter of 1942–1943. The total amount of goods transported to Leningrad along the “Road of Life” for the entire period amounted to over 1 million 615 thousand tons. About 1 million 376 thousand people were evacuated from the besieged city.
On the A128 highway “St. Petersburg - Morye” in the Vsevolozhsk district of Leningrad Region, which runs along the historical section of the “Road of Life” from Leningrad to the shore of Ladoga, memorial structures dedicated to her heroic history have been erected. Since 1968, the Road of Life museum has been opened in the village at the Ladoga Lake station, and in the village of Kobona, since 1980, the Kobona: Road of Life museum has been opened.
Лит.: Дорога жизни // Большая российская энциклопедия; Жога С. В., Ковалёв В. В. Дорога жизни во имя Победы // Героическая эпопея Ленинграда в годы Великой Отечественной войны (к 75-летию полного освобождения Ленинграда от фашистской блокады): сборник материалов конференции, Санкт-Петербург, 22–25 января 2019 г. СПб., 2019. С. 107–110; Ковальчук В. М. Ленинград и Большая Земля. История Ладожской коммуникации блокированного Ленинграда в 1941–1943 гг. Л., 1975. Режим доступа: http://militera.lib.ru/h/kovalchuk_vm/index.html; Орлова С. А., Светлов Л. П. «Дорога жизни» и её роль в обороне Ленинграда (к 75-годовщине освобождения Ленинграда от вражеской блокады) // Героическая эпопея Ленинграда в годы Великой Отечественной войны (к 75-летию полного освобождения Ленинграда от фашистской блокады): сборник материалов конференции, Санкт-Петербург, 22–25 января 2019 г. СПб., 2019. С. 202–206; Павлов Д. В. Ленинград в блокаде. [Л.], 1985.
Based on the Presidential Library's materials:
Ленинградская правда: ежедневная газета / орган Ленинградского обкома и горкома КПСС, областного и городского Советов депутатов трудящихся. 1942, № 113 (8219) (14 мая) (статья «Ледяная дорога», стр.2);
Павлов Д. В. Ленинград в блокаде. [Л.], 1985;
Ленинград. Трасса жизни. [Художник В. В. Богаткин. 1942 г.]: [открытка]. М., 1985;