Mikhail Gerasimovich Mikeladze (, ; 22 October 1899 – 5 July 1975) was a Soviet Army major general of Georgian ethnicity who held divisional and corps command in World War II.
Conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army during World War I, Mikeladze became a junior officer. Wounded while fighting on the Western Front, he was taken prisoner by Ottoman troops during the Caucasus campaign. Released from captivity, he served in the army of the Democratic Republic of Georgia. Joining the Red Army after the Soviet invasion of Georgia, Mikeladze rose through command and staff positions and was an instructor at the Frunze Military Academy when Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Wounded while commanding the 195th Rifle Division in the defense of Voronezh in mid-1942, Mikeladze served as an army chief of staff in the Battle of the Caucasus. He commanded the 7th Guards Airborne Division in late 1943 and the 10th Guards Airborne Division in early 1944. After being wounded in the latter position, Mikeladze commanded a corps on the Turkish border for the rest of the war. He continued to serve in the army until the mid-1950s.
Early life and World War I
A Georgian, Mikhail Gerasimovich Mikeladze was born on 22 October 1899 in the village of Kilda, Akhalkalaksky Uyezd, Tiflis Governorate. He worked as a loader and counter in the office of the freight station in Aleksandropol. During World War I, he was mobilized in December 1915 for construction work in a labor battalion at the Aleksandropol fortress during the Ottoman advance, then transferred to the 22nd Reserve Rifle Regiment stationed at the fortress. In May 1916 he was sent from the regimental training detachment to the 1st Tiflis School for Praporshchiks for junior officer training. Graduating from an accelerated course there in August of that year, Mikeladze received the rank of praporshchik and was appointed commander of a platoon in the 16th Reserve Infantry Regiment of the Kazan Military District at Alatyr.
In late September, he was sent to the Western Front with a march company. He fought as a rifle company junior officer near Baranovichi with the 8th Moscow Grenadier Regiment of the 2nd Grenadier Division. Mikeladze was twice wounded in January 1917 and sent to a hospital in Moscow for treatment, returning to his regiment in March. He was transferred to the Caucasus Army in July 1917 and in early August appointed a junior officer in the 2nd Rifle Regiment of newly formed 1st Caucasian Rifle Division at Aleksandropol fortress. The regiment was transferred to the Kars fortress in November, and in December it abandoned the fortress with retreating units and returned to Aleksandropol. Mikeladze served with the regiment until March 1918, reaching the rank of podporuchik.
Mikeladze was wounded in action in the region of Dzhalal-ogly in April 1918 and captured by Ottoman troops. He was sent to Erzerum as a prisoner of war, and spent eight months in captivity. Returning to Tiflis, Mikeladze was mobilized into the army of the Democratic Republic of Georgia in February 1919 and appointed commander of a half-company and junior lieutenant in the 12th Rifle Regiment at Poti. A month later his battalion was relocated to Manglisi, and then to Ardahan on the Turkish border that summer. He served at Ardahan as commander of a half-company until the Soviet invasion of Georgia in February 1921.
Interwar period
Mikeladze joined the Red Army in March 1921 and was appointed commander of the guard company of the Senaki uyezd military commissariat. In April he was transferred to command the guard company of the Kutaisi Governorate military commissariat. Mikeladze served as a commander in the 2nd Poti District Vsevobuch at Poti from May. In August he was posted to an operational unit as a company commander and chief of the training detachment of the 3rd Georgian Rifle Regiment of the 1st Caucasian Rifle Division of the Separate Caucasus Army. Mikeladze was transferred in November to serve as a company commander in the 1st Georgian Rifle Regiment of the division. He took part in the suppression of the Khevsureti uprising that year. Mikeladze completed the recurring command courses of the Separate Caucasus Army between December 1922 and April 1923. Returning to the division, he continued to serve as a company commander in the 1st Georgian Rifle Regiment, rising to command a battalion of the 2nd Georgian Rifle Regiment in October 1926 and to chief of the 1st (operations) section of the division staff in November 1930.