Konstantin Balakhonov, Radist of the 59th Guards Mortar Regiment of the Red Army. The inscription on the reverse side of the photo: “Dear friend Lyolechka from Kotka. Moscow, January 1944».
Konstantin Gavrilovich Balakhonov, born in 1923, a native of the city of Chkalov, Orenburg region, was drafted into the Red Army on November 10, 1941. In the army since June 1942, in the regiment of the legendary Katyusha MLRS.
On April 24, 1945, during the storming of Berlin, Private Guard Konstantin Balakhonov, the radio operator of the 59th Guards Mortar Regiment, correcting the fire of the Guards mortars, was mortally wounded in the head, died in the hospital on April 25, 1945. He was buried in Friedrich-hafen, Germany.
Konstantin Balakhonov was awarded the medal “For Courage”.
Source: Dmitry Lukin’s family archive.
Location: Moscow, USSR
Date: January 1944