Malinovsky

[Owen]

Reading up on Родион Яковлевич Малиновский or in English, Rodion Malinovsky.
Rodion Malinovsky - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Still seems to be held in high regard in Russia.
He seems a loyal General and so far after only a brief read I can see no problems between him and Stalin.
I saw that he served in France in WW1 with the Russian Expeditionary Corps and later with the Légion étrangère .
Did his service in France ever get him "noticed" by the OGPU/NKVD?
Or did he serve so loyaly in the Red Army in the Civil War and later Spain that there was do doubts about his elligence.
I know Stalin was hyper-paranoid aout his Generals and thought that service in the French Army would be a big black mark on his record.

EDIT: I've read article in full now & Stalin did have his doubts but Malinovsky's performance in battle proved his worth.
Jolly interesting chap by all accounts, I must learn more about Soviet Generals.

[Zoya]

His is an interesting life story, including two awards of military honours by the French:

The child years of the would-be Marshal were not easy. His mother, a struggling cook, hardly managed to send her son to an elementary school after which he was forced to take up a number of manual jobs. Reading books about Russian heroes was his only diversion from the daily toil. Impressed by his readings, the young Rodion dreamed about someday becoming a military man too. By the time World War One broke out he, already a 16-year-old young man, made his way to the battlefront. He fought valiantly, was wounded and decorated with the much-touted St. George’s Cross for Valor. In 1916 his life took a drastic turn and he found himself on board a steamer that was taking elite Russian soldiers to Marseilles across two oceans around Asia, via Singapore and across the Red and Mediterranean Seas. The Russians were being sent to reinforce the allies who were fighting an uphill battle against the Germans. Once, it was outside Rheims, a small Russian unit was encircled by the Germans and held out heroically for nearly 24 hours until reinforcements finally arrived and pushed back the advancing enemy.

The best fighters were later awarded by the French, including Rodion Malinovsky who received a military cross for meritorious service. He spent two more years away from Russia fighting the Germans as part of the Foreign Legion of the First Moroccan Division. His second French award was for the heroism he displayed fighting the enemy in Picardy.

Source: Whims of Fate [The Voice of Russia]

[Gotthard Heinrici]

Malinovsky was but one of a number of Soviet Generals who forged their reputations in the dark days of 1941-42 and then rose rapidly to lead their troops onwards into Europe. He seemed an excellent Commander and typical of the Russian General Staff at the war's end.