| Battle at Borodino Field | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Battle of Moscow | |||||
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| Belligerents | |||||
| Germany | Soviet Union | ||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||
| Günther von Kluge | Dmitry Lelyushenko | ||||
| Strength | |||||
| 2nd SS Division Das Reich 10th Panzer Division 18th Panzer Brigade 19th Panzer Brigade |
32nd Rifle Division 82nd Rifle Division 36th Motorcycle Regiment 509th Anti-Tank Regiment |
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The Battle at Borodino Field was a part of the Battle of Moscow, on the Eastern Front of World War II. While referring to the battle in Russian, the Borodino Field is actually more commonly applied rather than just Borodino, cf. Georgy Zhukov ("...this division [32nd] was forced to cross the arms with the enemy on the Borodino Field...").[1]
At noon on 13 October 1941, German Junkers and Messerschmitt aircraft appeared over the Borodino Field,[2] site of the climactic 1812 French-Russian clash. On 16 October, severe fighting broke out in the center of Borodino Field. Subsequently, the Germans managed to take the field. The Spaso-Borodinsky Monastery was burnt and the Borodino Museum suffered damage.[1] Borodino Field was freed by the 82nd Soviet Rifle Division during the counter-offensive.
A monument was later erected in the field with the inscription in bas-relief: "Here, on the lines of the sacred Borodino Field in October, 1941 the heroic units of the 5th Army have been fighting to the bitter end, rebutting the furious onslaught of German fascist usurpers".[1]