During the years of the Great Patriotic War, the 112th Bashkir (16th Guards) Cavalry Division covered over 4000 kilometers from the Don to the Elbe. The division was marked fifteen times in the orders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief as having distinguished itself in the battles and was awarded four orders.

The museum collection contains a replica of the Order of Kutuzov, 2d class. The 16th Guards Cavalry Division was presented with this award for the participation in the Berlin strategic offensive operation and the conquest of the city of Brandenburg.

The participation in the Berlin offensive operation as part of the 1st Belorussian Front was the final stage of the division’s combat path. Particularly fierce battles broke out at the end of April 1945 for the conquest of the city of Brandenburg. During the battles, the cavalry guards showed high fortitude and genuine heroism.

The 3rd Squadron of the 60th Guards Cavalry Regiment made an assault crossing of the Silo Canal and captured a bridgehead on its southern coast. The enemy managed to blow up the bridge over the canal and cut off the squadron from the main forces of the regiment. Under the cover of strong artillery, mortar and machine-gun fire, the Nazis with superior forces repeatedly counterattacked the battle formations of the cavalrymen. However, each time Senior Sergeant Nikolay Chernenko and Private Alexander Panov forced the enemy to retreat with major losses by heavy firing their machine guns. Courageous machine gunners were awarded the titles of Heroes of the Soviet Union.