​The war front was round the corner

By Tamara Soukhmlinova

Thumbing through documents of regional archive

On the pages that turned yellow because of time with fainted letters printed on a typewriter that are kept in tens of thick volumes in the local archive there is history of Atyrau Oblast and our city that once was called Guriev.

The history tells that our city also contributed to the great Victory.

PLANTS WORKED FOR WAR

At the beginning of the war an engineering plant named after Petrovsky was evacuated to Gurшev from the village of ....New York located in Dzerzhinsky district of Stalin region (the present Donbass). The plant was producing items for oil industry - drilling rigs, mud and steam pumps, percussion type drilling equipment, etc. In January of 1942 the plant was already operating as Guriev machine-building plant named after Petrovsky. After the start-up the plant here was completing military orders.

Another plant that was evacuated from Astrakhan to Guryev was the mechanical plant of Narkomrybprom (for fishing industry) and some parts of ship-repair plants named after Lenin and the 3d International. The mechanical plant of Narkomrybprom was relocated to the building of College of Fishery in Balykshi. The purpose of relocated plant during wartime was production of ammunition.

On April 13 of 1942 on the island Big Peshnoi the new seaport was put into operation. It became a transition point for further transportation of oil products and military freights to the front. By the way, here for the first time in the world the transportation method of oil products on water in tanks by means of towage was applied. In July of the same year literally in 15 days the local workers laid a railway line from Guriev station to oil depot. And in August the oil products delivered from Baku was transported to the front. For protection of oil storages the 471st shooting artillery division arrived to Guriev during that time.

THE GERMANS LANDED HERE

There are documents in the archives that prove that talks about German saboteurs. In August of 1943 the intelligence service of fascist Germany dropped near Guriev 3 groups of parachutists-scouts. Sixteen German parachutists were sent here with a special task. All of them voluntary gave up to local law enforcement agencies and there were no fatalities during capture.

On the night of May 2 and on May 5-6 in 1944 near Sarykask village in Zhyloil Distrcit two groups of parachutists-saboteurs consisting of 6 people in each group were dropped from the German planes with the task to blow up the railroad Guriev – Kandagash and Guriev - Orsk oil pipeline.

During detention they showed armed resistance. Enemy saboteurs killed Ataguzhiyev, the foreman of collective farm in Zhyloi Distrct. Two members of diversionary group gave up voluntary and three other members were detained.

In May of 1044 the German planes from the height of 100 meters fired from a large-caliber machine gun at three steamships sent by sea from Guriev with military freight. During the attack the assistant to the captain of the steamship "Proletarian Revolution" was wounded.