Defence Constructions of 1941-43

Categories / Army. Navy/Blokade
DEFENCE CONSTRUCTION OF 1941-43. Mass defence construction across Leningrad and the Leningrad Region was conducted throughout the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45 by civilians (mainly women, school-children and students) conscripted by the Military Command. At the end of June 1941, construction work on the fortification of the Luzhsky Line was launched, engaging over 475,000 citizens of Leningrad and 250,000 Leningrad Region residents. From the beginning of August, defence construction concentrated on enemy approaches to Leningrad, and from September 1941, on the city itself. As the front line stabilised at the beginning of the famine, defence construction was suspended in October 1941, and resumed only in April - November 1942; even then, construction was limited to inner Leningrad precincts to create defence centres in case of a successful invasion by the enemy (works were carried out by the Engineering Corps and about 50,000 citizens, according to a specific plan in each district). In May - September 1943, defence construction was conducted mainly to the south of Schlisselburg to protect the Road of Victory (with about 15,000 citizens taking part). Within the city's boundaries, a total of 127 resistance centres and 445 defence stations were constructed; beyond city limits, over 12,000 firing points, over 38,000 km of trenches, and other construction was undertaken. In memory of the work to fortify Leningrad, the sculpture In the Trenches (1975) was erected as a part of the Monument to Heroic Defenders of Leningrad.

References: Рубежи мужества. М., 1978.

G. V. Kalashnikov. Рубежи мужества. М., 1978
История ордена Ленина Ленинградского военного округа. 3-е изд., испр. и доп. М., 1988 Luzhsky Line
Famine of 1941-42
Road of Victory
Heroic Defenders of Leningrad, Monument to