Soviet Conquest: Berlin 1945

Born in the Ukraine in 1911, Chartshenko left in 1929 for Leningrad (now St Petersburg once more), where he was eventually assigned to a large electronics factory in the Vyborg District, soon being elected secretary of the Komsomol group in his building and following a political career leading to his election to membership of the Communist Party. Following the Japanese invasion of Mongolia, it was suggested he attend the F.E. Dzierziynski Military Technical Academy, where he was accepted as a student in October 1932. Among those he met there was Michail Fadeievitch Joffe, under whom he was later to serve in the Red Army. Chartshenko graduated in December 1940 and was persuaded by Joffe to join him in his electrified fencing project at the academy.

At the end of 1941 Stalin ordered the formation of the first independent engineer brigades for the establishing and overcoming of obstacles of all kinds, particularly minefields. The 33rd Independent Engineer Brigade was established at Kaluga under Lieutenant-Colonel Axiutshiz, with Joffe as his deputy and Chartshenko as chief of staff.

In May 1944 several motorised engineer brigades were formed out of the original brigade, each consisting of three motorised engineer battalions, an electric fencing battalion and a company for special mining tasks. At the same time the independent engineer battalions serving with the Fronts and armies were amalgamated into brigades at army level. Special assault engineer brigades were formed for breaking through enemy defences, and the number of engineer pontoon bridging brigades increased.

At the beginning of 1945 the components of the 33rd Independent Engineer Brigade were assigned within the 1st Byelorussian Front as follows: 1st and 7th Battalions to the 5th Shock Army, 2nd and 3rd Battalions to the 61st Army, and 4th and 5th Battalions to the 47th Army, with the 6th and 8th Battalions in reserve.

Launching their attack on 14 January, leading elements of the 1st Byelorussian Front reached the Oder River near Küstrin on the 31st and established a bridgehead on the west bank, but much of the area east of the river had yet to be cleared. In fact the Soviet plans for the destruction of the German forces in Prussia were still tying down Marshal Rokossovski’s 2nd Byelorussian Front there. When the Germans assembled a large force to clear Pomerania, the area east of the Oder, from the north, Stalin had to order the 1st Byelorussian Front to drop Zhukov’s plans for the immediate taking of Berlin and wheel north to clear the area that Marshal Rokossovski would occupy for the combined Soviet assault on the city in due course. Zhukov launched his attack on 1 March and achieved his objective within three weeks. He then left holding detachments on the east bank of the Oder until Rokossovski could take over, while he started preparing for the main assault on Berlin, but the key location of Küstrin did not fall to the Russians until 29 March.

The Küstrin Bridgehead

Our 1st and 7th Battalions had been in the Küstrin area with elements of the 5th Shock Army since the beginning of February 1945. During the first days of February the enemy had blown up the ice on the Oder River above the bridgeheads, thereby artificially removing access across the ice. The situation in the bridgeheads became drastic, our troops being cut off from their supply depots. Only seldom did we receive radio messages from the bridgeheads. One clearly detected that the radio operators of the isolated battalions wanted to preserve their batteries. Most were: ‘All in order. Mines wanted urgently.’

Following a talk with the brigade commander, I decided to drive to the bridgehead. We got through to a small village on the east bank of the Oder. My driver, Volodia Koslov, found it easily. Suddenly several shells exploded quite close. We stopped next to a traffic controller.

‘Where is that coming from?’ asked Koslov.

‘From Küstrin,’ answered the girl. The enemy controlled a bridgehead on the east bank of the Oder with the town of Küstrin and its fortress. Several attempts to remove it had failed so far.

It was not quite so simple to get to our bridgehead. At the beginning of February we had thrown several pontoon and shallow bridges of various carrying capacities over the Oder but, as a result of the artificially speeded up thawing of the ice and encroaching spring flooding, they had been swept away despite all the sappers’ efforts. There was nothing for us to do except bring all loads across to the other bank by boats and ferries. Long queues formed at the crossing points. Finally, after a long wait and a short but heated dispute with the commander of the crossing point, we obtained a place on the ferry.

The river at this point was about 300 metres wide. Ice floes floated in the blue-grey water. With them in the flow on the river floated stakes with torn barbed wire and dead bodies. Silently we removed our headwear.

The staff of the 7th Battalion had set themselves up in the cellar of a half-destroyed building in Kienitz. In the vaulted room, lit only by a flickering light coming from a makeshift funnel made out of shell cases, I was received by Major Ogurzov, the deputy battalion commander. He had joined the army immediately after graduating at the Leningrad Water Transport School of Engineering in December 1940. The war had caught him by surprise on the western border. He had fought his way out with our troops to Kiev and further back to the Don and Volga. Ogurzov had belonged to the brigade since it had been formed. The major was an experienced, strong-willed man.

‘You are surely frozen through, Comrade Colonel. Do you want to warm yourself up a bit?’ asked Ogurzov, and held out the field flask. ‘I know how difficult the way is.’

‘Thank you, later. Where is Issaiev?’

‘He is sleeping nearby. Issaiev was up the whole night in the front line controlling the survey of the newly laid mines. Finally we will have to clear them again one day. Shall I wake him?’

‘Let him sleep. Tell me how things are with you.’

‘Who’s there?’ sounded a strong bass voice from behind the rain curtain covering the entrance. Issaiev had woken up. A moment later he came in adjusting the collar of his shirt as he did so. We saluted each other.

‘You want to know what we are doing? We are laying mines in front of the position.’ The battalion commander spoke in short, clipped sentences. ‘Then we beat back all attacks. If we only had more mines. All in all we still have 200 in stock.’

I also visited Folov’s 1st Battalion, where everything was also taking its normal course, but 200 to 300 mines were requested.

On the bridgehead I met the commander of the operational group, Lieutenant-Colonel Golub. He had considerable concerns. ‘General Fursa has ordered mines to be laid in the river to protect the crossing points. However, we only have the SRM type – they react to the pressure of the stream and cause the mine to detonate.’

A difficult situation. The enemy was trying to destroy our crossing point by all means available. This had failed by air as our fighters and anti-aircraft guns had beaten back all attacks. Now the enemy was using floating mines and sundry assault groups.

Under these conditions the demand of the 5th Shock Army’s chief engineer, General Fursa, was completely understandable but technically impossible. I had to go and discuss the situation with him. As always we were quickly unanimous and decided to protect the crossing points with several steel cables stretched across the river upstream to catch the floating mines or cause them to explode. Special teams were to repair torn cables and prevent frogmen breaking through to the crossing points. But the Fascists gave us no peace. One day I was offered an unusual spectacle. A Heinkel 111 dived out of the clouds and aimed for a pontoon bridge over which a stream of soldiers was crossing. After a short delay the 37mm anti-aircraft guns opened fire. Suddenly the bomber went into a dive and bored into the collapsed soft bank 800 metres from the crossing point. A mighty column of fire rose into the sky. Several seconds later the hot blast of the explosion hit us and swept several men off the bridge, but the traffic continued.

Later we discovered that the enemy had tried to use flying bombs (Mistels) against our crossing points. A crewless He 111 was suspended under a Focke-Wolfe 190 and stuffed full of explosives. Shortly before reaching the target, the fighter released the bomber, which was radio-controlled and flew independently to its target. Theoretically this system worked faultlessly, but in practice no hits were made on our bridges. Apparently the ‘helmsman’ lost his nerve in the face of our anti-aircraft gunfire and the expected attack by fighters. The enemy tried once more near Küstrin, but also without success.

From the bridgehead I was able to return to the brigade headquarters without any big adventures. Even the two Focke-Wulf 190s that dived down on our ferry could not change anything. Their bombs exploded well away from us and we were merely splashed by a few drops of water.

While our sapper battalions were blocking the way for German tanks with their mines, and those near Stargard and on the Oder conducted counterattacks, the 8th Guards Special Mine Laying Battalion had been carrying out tasks of a special kind. Ships and boats of the Dnepr Red Banner Flotilla had to be moved from the Vistula to the Oder, going from Bydgoszcz by canal to the Varta and on to the Oder. Our guardsmen had to clear the canal route for the flotilla to get through. The deputy commander of the 8th Battalion, Major Boltov, was entrusted with this task, with his deputy, Captain Melamed. Attached to them were Captain Budko’s 2nd Company and a naval diving team from the Fleet.

The clearing of the route began in Bydgoszcz. The canal’s lock gates were still in order, the enemy apparently no longer bothering to destroy them in his retreat, but several bridges had been blown in the town itself. In order to impede the restoration work, the enemy had driven vehicles, locomotives and wagons onto the bridges before blowing them. The rubble now lay at the bottom of the canal that our sappers had to make navigable again.

The schedule timing was difficult, which is why General Joffe in his orders had told them not to spare the explosives. Naturally it would have been easiest to clear the canal with heavy explosives. We had captured enough Trotyl, but we could only use it at some distance from the built-up areas as the shock waves would have caused too much damage. The work in Bydgoszcz took several days to achieve, the destroyed bridges having to be blown with appropriately small charges. The rubble was then secured to long cables and hauled off the bottom of the canal by winches and tractors.

Once the route had been cleared, our sappers returned to the Varta. Near Deutsche Krone they discovered a T-34 at the bottom of a lock. Local people said that its crew had tried to cross the canal over the footbridge, but the bridge was unaccustomed to such a weight and collapsed under the tank. How could we get past the T-34? We lacked the means of lifting it, and using explosives might damage the locks. Fortunately there was a tank repair workshop battalion nearby that collected and repaired damaged equipment. Boltov began his talk with the commander of this battalion by going straight to the point. ‘We have a fully intact T-34 for you.’

The captain was immediately excited. ‘Where is it?’

‘At the bottom of the lock!’

But this did not put the captain off. Next day he turned up with a towing vehicle and recovered the tank.

Shortly afterwards the divers were called away and our sappers had to continue on their own. The base of the canal was protected against the explosive charges with a home-made apparatus consisting of a steel hawser with weights towed by two boats.

At the beginning of March the Varta had spilled wide over its banks, the fast current forming many whirlpools. Nevertheless the sappers went on clearing the channel. On the 13th March the boat containing Major Boltov and his sappers was driven by the strong current on to a destroyed bridge, hitting it. The men fell into the ice-cold water. Comrades in the rescue and mining detachment under the deputy battalion commander for political work, Major Beumelstein, hurried to their help. In doing this the major himself fell into the water and had to take an icy bath.

Immediately behind the clearing team came the ships and boats of the Dnepr Red Banner Flotilla. They continued on to the Spree River and took part in the battle for Berlin. The armoured gunboats achieved considerable success, being armed with multi-barrelled weapons. They later enabled our troops to make a quick forced crossing of the Spree. The boats were also used for reconnaissance and transporting men and equipment. Our Guards Engineers also played a part in the sailors’ achievements.

Once the water route to the Oder had been cleared, our 8th Battalion was given a completely new task. The sappers had to make floating mines to go down the Oder into the Oder Harbour. The task of constructing these floating mines was given to Captain Melamed and several sappers.

Captain Melamed set up a research station on a little lake where he blew up captured steel pontoons, as next he had to establish the approximate weight load suitable for speedboats and other small craft. After several attempts the men decided upon a weight of 10 kilograms of Trotyl. The explosions thus produced were sufficient to severely damage the boats.

Meanwhile the battalion’s field workshop was fully occupied. Various floating mines with wooden casings were built there. Some were equipped with FTD apparatus with which the mine could be fired by radio, others had clockwork or chemical fuses. Apart from this, the mines had contact fuses that immediately detonated when the end of a wooden pole hit the ship’s side.

The prepared mines were carefully released into the water under cover of darkness from a destroyed bridge. A gentle push and the mine slipped off noiselessly into the stream. They were still safe, as the electrical fuses had not yet been set. Only after a certain time, when the mines were sufficiently distant from the bank, were these engaged. Our sappers constructed the various safety devices, most being electro-chemical. After a certain time the acid ate away a copper wire, thereby closing the contact to feather-weight pressure, the ignition only being activated when the fuse was disturbed. Sometimes the mine was only activated when a pin was pulled out by a line.

One night I watched the floating mines being launched. They were released at intervals of two to three minutes. It was pitch black. Only to our right were there flares going up near Stettin occasionally. Now and then the searchlight of a German warship tore through the darkness. Time passed slowly. A good hour had gone since the launching of the first mine. It could not have reached its target.

Suddenly the darkness was lightened by a glaring light. ‘Damn it!’ swore Lieutenant Colonel Pergament. ‘The wind drove the mine on to our own bank.’ He had hardly finished his sentence when another explosion followed. A little later two further mines went up on the river bank. ‘We are out of luck; the wind is blowing from the west.’

Then came a long interval. It was almost dawn when there were two explosions out there in the harbour. That could have been German ships.

We obtained better results with winds coming from the east or the south. Then the mines were carried quickly into the harbour and our observation posts registered their explosions.

Naturally it was difficult to estimate enemy losses from our mines. But we established from our observation posts that the enemy lost three ships and a loaded barge, a mine-sweeper was badly damaged and two bridges destroyed. Far more important than these losses was the uncertainty our floating mines caused among the German sailors. The shipping traffic in the harbour was destroyed.

Unfortunately we sometimes had to wait several days for favourable winds. During one of these imposed breaks Colonel Leontiev, the deputy brigade commander for technical equipment, visited the battalion. He suggested Lieutenant-Colonel Pergament should occupy himself seriously with ‘Sapper Artillery’. During the offensive our troops had captured artillery ammunition of all kinds of calibres that could not be used by our artillery, so our sappers decided to organise their own sapper artillery.

At this juncture Major Boltov, who had cleared the canals with Captain Budko’s company, returned.

‘Right, comrades, get busy with the captured shells,’ proposed Leontiev. The colonel issued general instructions. Construction and fitting went to the officers, NCOs and sappers of the company. The best ideas came from the platoon commander, Lieutenant Alexandrov.

On the west bank of the Oder the enemy had gone over to the defensive. For the first barrage 200 captured shells of between 150 and 211 millimetres were assembled; explosive, splinter, shrapnel, fire and smoke shells. The sappers had dug launching ramps out of the earth and laid each shell on a plank 4 to 6 centimetres wide and about 50 centimetres long. On the plank they fastened an Ammotol explosive charge, over which a second plank held the base of the shell. Instead of the head fuse, a 75 gram Trotyl was inserted in the shell body. Every shell had two electronic fuses. The first, with immediate ignition, sat in the Ammotol explosive body, the second, with a delay of 3 to 5 seconds, in the hole in the shell head. Two batches each of 100 shells were prepared in this way.

Towards midnight the enemy began expanding his defences on the west bank. We heard voices, the blows of axes and the rattling of metal. Towards 0200 hours, when the work on the west bank was in full flow, the command to fire was given.

Flames blazed up on a width of about 500 metres. 200 shells of varyingly set explosive timings flew in the enemy direction. Some exploded over the water, but most burst over the enemy trenches, a fire storm falling on the west bank. Flashes of explosions, crashes, smoke and dust! The losses could only be assessed with difficulty but were certainly significant.

In contrast we could reckon our losses exactly. Our specialists were so engaged with their task that they had not reckoned with the weight of the propelling charges of almost 1.5 kilograms. That was 300 kilograms for 200 loads. The detonation shock waves damaged several positions on our bank and severed telephone cables. Also the rifle company commander’s position collapsed in which Lieutenant Alexandrov was located with the firing controls. Fortunately all got out with minor bruises.

On the 12th March the 5th Shock Army had taken the town and fortress of Küstrin after a short but devastating artillery preparation. Ten days later it attacked out of the Kienitz bridgehead north of Küstrin, as did the 8th Guards Army from a bridgehead south of the town. After some bitter fighting they joined up west of Küstrin, confining the remains of the enemy garrison to the suburbs and Oder Island.

The enemy quickly sent in fresh forces and tried several times to release those trapped. On the 26th and 28th March they attacked at intervals of two to four hours. The enemy counterattacks were conducted in narrow strips with forces of up to a battalion reinforced by ten to thirty tanks, but all attacks could be beaten back. Two battalions covered the tank-vulnerable directions with mine barriers, mobile blocking battalions being prepared in time. Thanks to the well organised reconnaissance and stable radio connections, the enemy tanks kept running up against our mobile blocking units. On the 26th and 28th March the enemy lost twenty-six tanks and about 200 men to the mines laid by the 1st Battalion.

On the evening of the 28th March the surrounded group was destroyed. From the large bridgehead thus formed, our troops would soon set out to storm the capital of Fascist Germany.

During the first days of April the destruction of the German groups in East Prussia was completed. The 1st Byelorussian Front was no longer threatened from the north. The 2nd Byelorussian Front destroyed the enemy near Gotenhafen and Danzig and began redeploying to the lower reaches of the Oder. The 47th and 61st Armies moved to the area south of Schwedt and went over to the defence. Our 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Motorised Guards Engineer Battalions that were included in the ranks of these armies went temporarily into reserve.

The enemy engaged in bitter attacks against the 1st Byelorussian Front’s bridgeheads. His desperate assaults broke on the staunchness of our soldiers. A contribution to this was made by the combatants of the 1st and 7th Motorised Guards Engineer Battalions commanded by Lieutenant-Colonels Frolov and Issaiev. The enemy lost forty tanks and more than 300 soldiers to the mines laid by them.

The temporary pause could not fool anyone. It was obvious that we would soon be striking out with the last and decisive blow. Our goal was Berlin.

In the woods were the thickly packed tanks and vehicles of the 2nd Guards Tank Army, mainly moving at night. Nevertheless such a mighty concentration of troops could not be kept secret from enemy reconnaissance.

That day the staff held a conference with the battalion commanders. Colonel Sokolov unfolded a large map made up of several pieces stuck together. On its left side was shown Berlin, the city that we had been marching towards for four long years. Numerous defensive rings were shown around Berlin.

‘Our troops have to break through a massive defence. Its general depth, including the fortifications in Berlin, is about 120 kilometres. Here on the Oder’, Colonel Sokolov indicated the river with his pointer, ‘begins the up to 10 kilometre deep main defensive lines, which consist of two or three positions with fully constructed rifle trenches. Numerous barbed wire obstacles have been erected before the front line and deep minefields laid. All barriers and obstacles are covered by numerous fire points.

‘The second line of defence lies 10 to 12 kilometres behind it, is up to 5 kilometres deep and includes at most three fully constructed lines of trenches. The strongest sector of the second line of defence is at the Seelow Heights. The third line of defence was built 20 to 40 kilometres beyond the Oder and consists of up to two lines of trenches. All villages have been carefully prepared for defence.

‘Then come the Berlin defences. They consist of three defensive zones: the outer barrier zone, the outermost defensive ring and the inner defensive zone. Apart from this the Berlin defence is divided into eight sectors, in the centre of which lies the special sector “Z”. In this sector is the Reichstag.

‘The outer defensive one begins 25 to 40 kilometres from the city centre and consists of strong-points with numerous barricades and street barriers. The outer defensive zone extends along the city boundary and consists of 3 to 5 lines of trenches for a depth of about 5 kilometres. The inner defensive ring follows the S-Bahn ring. The strongest fortified is sector “Z”, where every building is a small fortress. Now we know what to expect,’ ended Colonel Sokolov.

The stability of the enemy defence was significantly enhanced by the terrain. Even from a fleeting glimpse of the map one could make out the natural obstacles in the attacking strips: lakes, rivers, canals, woods and villages, whose massive buildings could be used for the defence. All this presented serious difficulties and demanded a careful preparation from us, military craftsmanship and great courage.

‘Yes, it won’t be easy,’ remarked a battalion commander quietly.

No loud words were spoken at this conference. No one doubted our victory. We had been convinced of this before Moscow, and in the difficult days of the retreat to the Volga, utterly convinced of a successful outcome to the war. But we also knew that not all present here would survive to that happy day.

In the discussion above all we talked about how we could best use the remaining time before the beginning of the attack in training for battle. The basic tasks for the brigade were clear. Firstly, gaps had to be made in the minefields in front of the enemy defences to ensure the passage of the second echelon and the tank army. Subsequently came the secure handling of the tank troops in depth. We knew these tasks well enough. On the other hand we were disturbed by the thoughts that our sappers would have to cooperate with the storm troops in the fighting in built-up areas. Such fighting had only been experienced by the 4th and 6th Battalions so far. All others would have to enter new territory. Consequently the officers of these two battalions were given the task of supporting the training and passing on their experiences.

Our troops near Küstrin received further reinforcements, ammunition, fuel and food. In order to handle this, the Front’s sappers erected several new bridges. For this construction work our 17th Battalion under Major Stessel was brought in. The task that the 5th Shock Army’s Chief Engineer, Major-General Fursa, had set was particularly significant. The sappers had to erect a flat water bridge with a weight capacity of 60 tons. This carrying capacity could only be for one reason: that the bridge was intended for the crossing of the heavy IS tank, the strongest fighting vehicle of the Second World War. However, as a rule this tank was only deployed on the main line of attack.

We had also General Fursa’s earlier orders to fulfil. At the front every task was important and answerable, and those received from him especially so. The general set high demands, was punctual to the minute, was an expert engineer and controlled everything himself. He often helped out at the front, always had a ready joke, and was always ready to help. Despite his not immediately impressive way of speaking, he was much liked by everyone.

Usually the Oder was about 250 metres wide but, due to the flooding in April 1945, we had to build a bridge almost 400 metres long. The conditions were complicated. The bridgehead at this point was no deeper than 2 kilometres and the enemy could overlook it from the heights on the west bank. Before the construction of the bridge could begin, Major Stessel made a reconnaissance of the actual building site and all its approaches with the battalion’s officers. The various parts of the bridge would be assembled in a little wood about 2 kilometres from the Oder. The crews of the diesel-driven pile-drivers prepared their equipment and practised the rapid assembly of ferries on the Warthe.

Construction began at dawn as the chemical warfare troops laid a thick smokescreen. Senior Lieutenant Melkumov’s sappers quickly assembled two ferries. Noiselessly they launched them from the river bank and they glided across the dark surface of the water. Everything was quiet on the enemy side. Then the diesel-driven pile-drivers roared as they hammered in the piles, the noise rumbling over the river. A few minutes later two shells exploded a good 200 metres from the working platforms. The enemy artillery had opened fire. But the sappers kept on working indefatigably. They were used to being under fire. They were more concerned about the piles, driving them only one and a quarter metres into the river bed instead of the usual one and a half metres.

‘What should we do?’ Stessel wanted to know from me.

But as I also did not know the answer, we decided to immediately inform the brigade staff. Three quarters of an hour later came the reply: ‘According to the Front Staff’s technical department the river bed is firm enough for a depth of one metre to be sufficient. Sokolov.’

The enemy kept on firing. We had dead and wounded, but the work went on. The place of someone falling out was immediately taken by another. Stessel’s men were used to all kinds of tasks. At the slightest failure of a pile-driver Sergeant Majors Krasnoshtchek and Permiakov were there and sorted it out.

General Proschliakov had ordered that the state of construction be reported to him hourly. It was already apparent how important the construction of the bridge was to the Front Staff. The work continued even at night. As the morning dawned the last planks were inserted. This work had been led by Captain Shirov. Several times Stessel had demanded: ‘Vassia, lie down for at least an hour. You have already been the whole day on your feet!’ But Shirov remained on the bridge. Nobody would leave his post voluntarily.

Exactly twenty-four hours after the work had begun the bridge was complete. Slowly a self-propelled ISU-152 gun inched over the bridge. Would the sappers’s efforts pass the test? The bridge sank a little under the weight of the gun. The men turned ice cold at the sight. It was the same with me. The gun rolled slowly forward. It worked! Once several tanks and self-propelled guns had crossed the bridge it had sunk 60 to 70 centimetres deeper. How far would it have sunk after hundreds of heavy tanks had rolled over it? But everything went well, the bridge held!

Through the self-sacrificing engagement of the sappers there were already twenty-five bridges across the Oder by the beginning of April. Guardsmen of the 17th Mechanised Battalion had participated in building three of them. Apart from this there were forty ferries with carrying capacities ranging from 3 to 60 tons.

Our 2nd, 4th, 5th and 7th Battalions were at the Küstrin bridgehead on the 16th April and were under the command of the 3rd and 5th Shock Armies. The members of these battalions had cleared the concentration areas and the approach routes of mines during March and early April. Parallel to this was the engineering reconnaissance, as well as the structural reconnaissance by the battalions, led by the reconnaissance teams from each company. The battalion commanders Koslov, Eiber and Issaiev spent many hours in the front lines observing the enemy defences. From time to time our sappers even went behind the enemy lines with the army scouts, reconnoitring the defensive mine layout behind the front lines and the terrain in the lines of attack.

In the woods north of Küstrin on the east bank lay the 3rd and 6th Battalions allocated to the 2nd Guards Tank Army. They had their hands full with the simultaneous testing of the river banks and the de-mining of the army’s concentration area and its approach route to the bridgehead.

In reserve were the 1st Battalion, the 6th Battalion for electrical barriers and the 8th Battalion for special de-mining tasks, who were preparing themselves for mine clearance in Berlin and its suburbs.

On the night leading to the 13th April paths through their own minefields were cleared for the 3rd and 5th Shock Armies. By midnight four to six paths for every rifle battalion and two to three paths for every tank company had been cleared. Altogether 340 paths were cleared in the 1st Byelorussian Front’s area, the sappers having cleared and deactivated 72,000 mines.

The night leading to the 16th April was stressful. Time seemed to stand still. Then, exactly at 0550 hours, the earth shook. Thousands of guns and mortars showered the enemy with a hail of fire. This hurricane of fire fell on the Seelow Heights for 70 minutes while 800 long-range aircraft bombarded the enemy’s second line of defence. Then 140 mighty searchlights lit up and blinded the enemy. The artillery moved their fire deeper into the defence. Two or three minutes later the infantry and tanks thrust forward. As it became light, the air was filled with the droning of aircraft engines.

Towards 0700 hours the first line of the main line of defences was breached almost along the whole front, but the resistance increased. Every metre had to be fiercely fought for. It was only on the morning of the 18th April that the second line of defence was breached.

As the attack began, the elements of our brigade in the rifle corps battle groups cleared the main lines of advance and de-mined them. Each battalion kept back a company at the commander’s disposal for expanding the gaps in the previous front line.

Our 3rd Battalion dealt with the Guards tank units. On the morning of the 14th April Lieutenant-Colonel Gassenko had received orders from General Joffe to concentrate his battalion in the Genschmar area by the 15th April, where it would then come under the operative command of the 9th Guards Tank Corps.

The battalion moved out of the bridgehead that night. The vehicles moved with their headlights masked. All equipment not specifically required was left behind with the Rear Services. Finally a deep penetration into the enemy hinterland lay before them. Near Alt-Schaumburg the column passed over a flat water bridge that had been constructed by the engineers while under artillery and air attack. Individual planks had been destroyed several times, but could be quickly replaced. The bridge reflected this: it was awry and crooked with ups and downs between the pillars. Here and there the planks of the decking had been replaced by solid poles, whose uncut ends stuck out widely over the water. The sappers had not had it easy here.

On the approach to the bridge all the lights were switched off and the vehicles drove carefully over the bridge. In the darkness there seemed to be no end to its 400 metres.

The bridgehead bore traces everywhere of bitter fighting. On the 14th and 15th April our units had forcibly cleared it and pushed the enemy back 2 to 4 kilometres. The land won that way was regularly studded with mines.

The commander of the 9th Guards Tank Corps, General Vedeneiev, explained the task to Gassenko. ‘Above all the corps’ concentration area must be checked and cleared of mines. Here and here.’ The general pointed to the map. ‘Secondly, check the two routes from the concentration area to the enemy’s front line and clear all mines to a width of 100 metres. The corps operates in two echelons. In the first echelon a tank brigade advances on each route, in the second echelon a tank brigade on the right-hand and the motorised infantry on the left-hand route. After the corps has driven into the breach there are two routes for the brigades to advance along to be reconnoitred and de-mined.’

By the morning of the 16th April the routes were ready and carefully checked. Towards midday the first tank officers met Gassenko to make themselves familiar with the routes and by 1630 hours the tanks were rolling westwards.

For the reconnaissance and clearing of the routes a sapper company was officially allocated to each of the brigades. The third company remained in the corps commander’s reserve.

The sapper scouts worked with the battle reconnaissance troops sent forward by the tank units. Should they come across mines, the sappers would sign them and make a way through for the tanks and armoured cars. By radio the tank troops informed the leader marching with the sapper platoon in the vanguard about the obstacles. If need be the company commander could send the two remaining platoons in support. Thus it was ensured that the route would be cleared before the arrival of the brigade’s main forces. The platoon with which the vanguard dealt had to be changed every two or three days because of the losses and severe strain on the nerves.

Lieutenant-Colonel Gassenko and the reserve company stayed with the tank corps headquarters. Communication with the companies was by radio and despatch rider.

These methods showed their value best in the introduction of the tanks into the breach. The enemy had generally not laid any mines previously in the depth of his defence, but first laid them during the fighting, mainly under pressure of time, openly and only scantily camouflaged. Mines found like this were disarmed or blown relatively easily by our men.

During the breakthrough of the enemy defences in the Wriezen–Altfriedland sector, the 9th Guards Tank Corps pushed on in order to go round Berlin from the north. Our Guards Engineers also advanced with the tank troops. On the night leading to the 20th April the 1st Company of the 2nd Battalion found itself at the head of the 65th Tank Brigade. Shortly before dawn vehicles with infantry hanging on drew into a wood next to the sappers. In the half-darkness and still moving forward, no one was interested in who was driving at the back of the column.

As it grew light in the east the column stopped. The leading battalion had become engaged in the fight for a village. In this stressed situation the company commander, Captain Schimarovski, noticed that some vehicles were following his unit with their headlights on. He ordered his sergeant-major to immediately get them switched off and get things in order.

A soldier hurried to the rear. But before he reached the vehicles he was shot from the first vehicle. At the same moment the other vehicles opened fire on our column. Germans!

The tank-men turned the turrets of their T-34s and fired. Our sappers also fired. Within a short time the enemy column was defeated. Twenty-six vehicles and dozens of soldiers and officers were squashed flat by the tank tracks; the remainder fled into the wood leaving eight guns behind.

Mines at the Brandenburg Gate

On the morning of the 21st April a cheerful atmosphere reigned at brigade headquarters. Our troops had broken through the outer defence zone and were now fighting on the Berlin city boundary.

The first were elements of General Bessarin’s 5th Shock Army storming the Fascist capital from the east. In their ranks were our 2nd and 7th Guards Engineer Battalions. Lieutenant-Colonel Assonov’s operational group coordinated the management of the battalions.

Berlin had been reached! How long had we yearned for this day, now it was here at last! But we also knew that the Fascists would not willingly give up a foot of earth and that expensive street fighting lay ahead of us.

We had long since prepared our troops for this fighting. On the way from the Vistula to the Oder, during the short gaps in the fighting the theme of fighting in built-up areas had arisen. The staffs at all levels studied the experiences of street fighting in Schneidemühl and Poznan, leading to the rationalisation of the assault teams and the battalions that would play the decisive roles in the street fighting. Cooperation between the various arms was also practised.

Normally an assault team consisted of a rifle platoon, a sapper section with two or three flame-throwers, two to four guns, and sometimes also one or two tanks or self-propelled guns. An assault battalion had up to an infantry battalion, a sapper platoon, a flame-thrower team, as well as the corresponding reinforcement with artillery and tanks.

Our brigade also prepared itself for dealing with assault battalions and groups. In the technical battalion Tregub and Kuberski investigated suitable charges for blowing walls, barriers and barricades. Within the units there was training in the demolition of various objects.

On the afternoon of the 21st April we received a radio message from Lieutenant-Colonel Golub. Laconically he told me: ‘Find me at point 17–24.’

‘The 3rd Shock Army is fighting in the north-eastern suburbs of Berlin,’ remarked Sokolov after he had checked the coded map. ‘Golub’s group is already in Karow.’

The street fighting became more and more bitter from hour to hour. The nearer our troops got to the city centre, the more ferociously the enemy fought. He fired from dug-in tanks, from tank turrets and from bunkers. Machine guns fired from windows and rooftops, and machine-pistols in the streets. In the entrances of buildings and behind barricades Panzerfausts lay in wait. Numerous natural and artificial obstacles obstructed our movement.

The commitment of tanks and self-propelled guns in the streets was difficult, because within the city their manoeuvrability, their most important fighting asset, was limited. Thick clouds of smoke hung over the city and hindered the use of aircraft. Thus the artillery played an especially important role in the street fighting. Guns of all calibres, from the little 45mm to the heavy 203mm howitzers fired point-blank.

The significance of the sappers also grew by bounds. The sappers, ensuring the advance of the infantry, blew up everything that the gunners and tank-men could not destroy. But this had to take place in close cooperation with the other arms.

My task consisted above all of organising the cooperation and the exchange of experiences in the fighting until then. This is why I drove to the 7th Battalion fighting in Falkenburg, where Issaiev, the youngest of our battalion commanders, was still assessing his fighting experiences. We only got forward with difficulty in the vehicle. There were heaps of rubble everywhere; bomb craters and burnt-out tanks blocked the way. Twice we had to change tyres before reaching the headquarters of the 7th Battalion.

‘How’s it going, Michail Jakovlevitch?’

‘As usual, Comrade Colonel! The sappers are dealing with the assaults by platoons, blowing up barricades and fire positions.’

‘Have you come across mines?’

‘None so far. It looks strongly as if the Fascists have run out of equipment. Perhaps they also no longer have the time. Apart from that, the streets are asphalted, which is not very helpful.’

I could see an unspoken question in Issaiev’s eyes.

‘And what else is there?’

‘The commander of the 89th Rifle Division is demanding a company from me to send in. If I were to fulfil all his orders, a whole brigade would not suffice.’

Yes, that was the unfortunate problem with this cooperation. When it came to the laying or removal of mines we had, even when also under difficulties, fought for the right to decide for ourselves how and with what forces to deal with it. Here under street-fighting conditions we had to start apparently from the beginning all over again. What should I say to this battalion commander? Advice was quickly given, but Issaiev must also be able to translate it into action.

‘Let yourself formulate exactly every task. Decide yourself how many men you can deploy to it. If a company is too much, send only a platoon.’

In my notebook I wrote: ‘Speak to the 5th Shock Army’s Chief Engineer about the proper use of sappers.’

At that moment the deputy battalion commander, Major Ogurzov, came pounding down the cellar steps. His face was beaming. He was holding a Panzerfaust in his hand. The enemy had placed great hopes in this weapon. Its hollow charge could penetrate 150 to 200 millimetres of strong armour and it had a range of about 100 metres.

‘A fine piece of equipment,’ said the major. ‘Our boys have quickly learnt how to use it.’

That morning we had captured an ammunition dump with several hundred Panzerfausts. Ogurzov had familiarised himself with and trained the men on the weapon. Later our sappers used the Panzerfausts successfully in the street fighting. One shot in a window was sufficient to silence the enemy firing point, and three Panzerfausts were sufficient to break through a slate or thin wooden wall.

Lieutenant-Colonel Koslov’s 2nd Battalion was with the 26th Rifle Corps at this time, which was leading an obstinate fight around the Alexanderplatz and the surrounding streets.

I had to go to Koslov and asked my driver: ‘How do you find your namesake?’

‘Even if I don’t find anyone, Comrade Colonel, I will take you there to the millimetre. My vehicle is always tanked full. That is how things are when Koslov comes to Koslov.’

Volodia wanted to calm his nerves with a joke. Since the 21st April he had had only two hours sleep per day.

We drove along Frankfurter Allee. The broad street was blocked with heaps of rubble. One came across wrecked vehicles at every turn. White flags hung out of the windows, but there was no sign of the inhabitants.

The nearer we got to Alexanderplatz, the more the guns thundered. The command post of the 2nd Battalion was located in the cellar of a five-storey building just 30 metres from Alexanderplatz.

Lieutenant-Colonel Assonov reported: ‘We are fighting in Alexanderplatz, the Town Hall, the S-Bahn station and the Police Presidium. The units are working with the assault groups.’

At that moment the battalion commander entered the command post, his uniform covered in dust.

‘Twice we have tried to break through this damned wall, but it is still standing and won’t shake. We have only made a few blisters,’ grumbled Koslov unhappily.

The enemy was conducting a bitter defence near the command post. Some Panzerfaust men that had occupied a shop nearby made it especially difficult for us to act. A high wall had to be breached in order to get round the enemy. Sappers from the 2nd Battalion had twice tried to blow it in vain, and were now preparing a third charge.

‘What’s the matter, are the loads too small or don’t the calculations work out?’

‘Tregub and Kuberski experimented in the village,’ said Koslov, ‘but the walls there were not as thick as these are here.’

A soldier entered the cellar and handed Koslov a message. ‘The commander of the 2nd Company, Captain Artamonov, informs me that the wall has been blown. The storm group have forced their way in behind the shop and occupied the ground floor.’

Quite close we heard a hollow explosion and dust trickled down from the ceiling.

‘Assault guns,’ said Koslov unimpressed, and unfolded a map of Berlin. ‘At the moment our troops are attacking the Police Presidium, an old building with strong walls. The doors and windows are barricaded with sandbags. Tuschev’s company is cooperating with General Fomitshenko’s 266th Rifle Division. It won’t take much longer. Then they will attack the S-Bahn station and the Town Hall.’

The words ‘Town Hall’ gave me a jolt. That was somewhat similar to our own ‘Town Executive Committee’. There must be departments of the city administration there responsible for the various branches of the city’s economy.

‘Boris Vassilievitch, as soon as the Town Hall has been taken, send in a smart officer. He should look for the plans of the drainage system and the U-Bahn and bring them here. We could well need them for the fighting in the city centre. We must also use the underground facilities to get behind the enemy. But don’t forget that the Germans could suddenly appear behind them.’

The fighting in Berlin continued undiminished. Assault battalions and groups broke the bitter resistance of the enemy and forced their way step by step into the city centre. Our sappers played an important role as our troops surrounded the strongpoints, blowing breaches in the walls for our infantry to get behind the enemy’s backs.

On the 25th April elements of the 47th Army and the 2nd Guards Tank Army of the 1st Byelorussian Front that had gone round Berlin from the north met up in the Ketzin area with the 4th Guards Tank Army attacking from the south. Berlin was surrounded!

As before, we found Lieutenant-Colonel Gassenko’s battalion with the 2nd Guards Tank Army.

The many small rivers and canals going round Berlin formed a serious obstacle for our tanks. They were from 8 to 30 metres wide and most had firm banks. Numerous bridges went across these water obstacles that the enemy either blew or mined as we approached. The correct timing for the taking of a bridge depended often on the success of a whole division. Speed and dexterity were thus especially important. The allocated sapper reconnaissance units were carefully selected and well equipped, and were led by clever and decisive commanders.

On the 24th April the leading battalion of the 47th Tank Brigade reached a wood 4 kilometres east of Nauen. The scouts reported that both railway bridges over the Havel Canal had been blown. The bridges on the highway were undamaged but were strongly guarded and prepared for demolition.

We immediately sent a platoon of four tanks, submachine-gunners and a sapper platoon of the 3rd Guards Battalion. The tanks rolled forward under cover of a smokescreen and opened fire on the soldiers guarding the bridge. The German soldiers took cover, enabling the submachine-gunners and sappers to cross over the demolished railway bridge in the canal and attack the bridge guards from the rear. Sergeant-Major Sokol and Privates Demin and Varava rushed to the demolition cables. But before they could reach them they were knocked down by bullets. Immediately the commander, Captain Schimarovski, Sergeant Netschipurenko and Privates Buschuiev and Doronin replaced them. They cut through the ignition cable and neutralised the charges there of half a ton of Trotyl and three 250 kilogram bombs as the submachine-gunners gave them firing cover.

Once the charges were neutralised, Captain Schimarovski signalled the way clear with green flares. Now the 47th Tank Brigade was able to cross the bridges and enter Nauen. The Fascists fled, leaving their weapons and equipment behind.

Next day the leading battalion of the 9th Guards Tank Corps had to stop at the Sacrow–Paretz Canal near Potsdam. The railway and road bridges over the canal had been blown, and the enemy were firing from the opposite bank with artillery and mortars. The approaches to the destroyed bridges were covered by several machine-gun nests.

The middle span of the railway bridge had been blown, but the girders still lay on both outer ones. Lieutenant-Colonel Gassenko had a good look and decided to let the tanks drive over this bridge. Piles were made out of the bridge beams lying in the water, which reinforced the planks. While the bridge was being built, the sappers removed twenty mines from the approaches. The following morning the 65th Tank Brigade crossed over the repaired bridge.

Captain Kurnossov’s company also distinguished itself, ensuring the success of the 47th Tank Brigade, the sappers sitting on the tanks of the leading unit. Near the Brandenburg Gate they smashed into an artillery regiment on the march. In the pursuit of the fleeing enemy, two tanks crossed over the Silo Canal in an enemy column and opened fire on the bridge guards. Lieutenant Guryliev and his sappers got up and rushed to the bridge rails. They cut through the ignition cable and separated the explosive charge. The bridge fell undamaged into our hands. Once they had recovered from the first shock, the enemy tried to regain the bridge but were beaten back by tank-men and the sappers.

After taking Brandenburg and Potsdam, the 9th Guards Tank Corps turned and attacked Berlin from the west.

The 9th Guards Tank Corps forced its way into Charlottenburg with some heavy fighting. On the morning of the 30th April the tanks were rolling towards the Tiergarten. Once more the sappers had to clear mines, barricades and barriers, and blow breaches in walls. They formed attack teams with members of the 33rd Motorised Rifle Brigade.

The Fascists had set up a large barricade on the Charlottenburger Bridge, all the approaches being mined. On the night leading to the 2nd May some sappers slipped through to the barricade under the cover of fire from the tanks and infantry. Although the enemy were using mortars, the sappers cleared twenty-two mines. Sergeant-Major Morgov and Sappers Muravkin and Schulenin were wounded but continued working, blowing the way clear for the tanks with several charges. Then they cut the ignition cable and disarmed the five 150 kilogram bombs under the bridge.

At the end of April our headquarters were in a suburb, although our troops were already fighting in the city centre. We had to change position as soon as possible. General Joffe tasked Lieutenant-Colonel Golub and myself with finding another place for our headquarters. We selected one near the stadium in Weissensee.

The street fighting was getting ever harder. Fighting broke out for every street, every building and every barricade. Our 2nd and 4th Battalions were fighting with the 3rd Shock Army and the 5th and 7th were with the 5th Shock Army.

On the night leading to the 29th April General S.N. Perevertkin’s 79th Rifle Corps crossed the Moltke Bridge under a hurricane of fire and reached the entrances to the Reichstag. When we heard this news we immediately reached for our maps. We were less than a kilometre from the Reichstag!

Also fighting in this area was Lieutenant-Colonel Eiber’s 4th Battalion, which belonged to Lieutenant-Colonel Golub’s operational group. I drove to his command post at Plötzensee on the morning of the 30th April. Golub had established himself in a cellar and reported that the 4th Battalion had taken part in the storming of Ministry of the Interior, where the men had had a hard time.

Suddenly anti-aircraft guns thundered nearby and bombs exploded.

‘Comrade Colonel, would it not be better if we took cover?’ suggested Golub. Without waiting for my assent, he ordered his radio operators: ‘Forward, men!’

In the comfortable trench, covered and lined with planks, we waited in safety for the air attack to end. A machine sped low over us. At the same moment there was a crash. It was dark in front of my eyes. When I came to several seconds later I could not hear anything, but that came back very quickly. We had all come through with our skins intact, but a nasty surprise awaited us in the cellar. The ceiling had collapsed from the bomb explosion nearby. Had we remained in the cellar, it would have been bad for us.

Golub continued his interrupted talk. ‘Do you know, Viktor Kondratievitch, that the storm battalion is a mixture of infantry, sappers, gunners, tank-men and flame-thrower teams working together. The men come from various units and hardly know each other. Even the commanders can hardly find time to know each other. But as we all know, only a precise cooperation guarantees success.’

I had already applied some thought to this. During the fighting for Poznan and Prague it had become clear to me that the street-fighting structures were not really suitable. Even the engineers’ assault brigades that had been trained for breaching strongly fortified defensive strips and for fighting in towns had neither artillery nor tanks. In our brigade there was not even a single heavy machine-gun. The fighting in Berlin showed that street-fighting demanded assault regiments or brigades. They should consist principally of infantry units to which sufficient sappers, depending on the situation of either a company or a battalion size for every rifle battalion, should be attached. Naturally flame-throwers, its own artillery, self-propelled guns and tanks also went with it. With this composition the cooperation would be far better organised.

On the afternoon of the 30th April we heard that the fighting for the Reichstag had begun. As Golub’s operation team had no exact details, I decided to sort out everything on the spot. Between Plötzensee and the Moltke Bridge were only a few kilometres in a straight line. But the attempt to get through by a direct route failed. Rubble, bomb craters and burning buildings blocked the streets. Finally we reached the Moltke Bridge.

Near the approach to the bridge stood a smoke-blackened T-34.A traffic controller waved us to drive on or the enemy would immediately shoot up the vehicle. We crossed the bridge at walking pace, turned right and found ourselves in front of a large building complex – the Ministry of the Interior. The windows on the Spree side were either bricked in or barricaded with sandbags.

In the inner courtyard I unexpectedly came across Major Tschernov. The deputy political adviser looked exhausted. He reported briefly to me on the state of the 4th Battalion. He had participated in the fighting for the Ministry of the Interior and blown up several barricades.

‘How’s the political work going?’

‘Before the battle we held several meetings on the significance of the fighting in Berlin. In Captain Kanaschin’s company the Communists took sponsorships of the recently joined young soldiers. This initiative was also copied in the other companies.’

While making some notes, it occurred to me that no better form of Party political work could be done than in this situation.

‘Would you like to take a glimpse of the Reichstag?’ Tschernov asked.

The Reichstag could be seen clearly through a hole in the wall. Behind the windows on the first floor shots flashed from time to time.

‘The ground floor is already in our hands,’ explained Tschernov. ‘Now we are driving the Fascists out of the upper storeys. It won’t be long before they are finished.’

But the fighting continued. On the morning of the 1st May the deputy battalion commander, Major Poleshtchuk, came to Lieutenant-Colonel Eiber’s observation post.

‘The enemy are attacking with tanks and self-propelled guns from the Tiergarten and want to break through to the Reichstag!’

Immediately the companies of Captains Kanashin and Suchanishvili were alerted. In all haste they laid a hundred mines in the Tiergarten. Shortly afterwards a self-propelled gun lost a tank track. Several shells penetrated its side. Our heavy IS tanks had opened fire. Then the other enemy tanks and self-propelled guns withdrew, still firing. The counterattack had been beaten back.

On the evening of the 1st May the resistance eased off. Only here and there submachine-guns let rip. Towards midnight it became quiet. The 6th Battalion had accommodated itself in a school. Lieutenant-Colonel Roshdestvenski lay with his staff in a former administrative building. Not far off was also the 1st Battalion. Late that evening Lieutenant-Colonel Frolov and Lieutenant-Colonel Roshdestvenski reported on the de-mining of the city. Finally they went off to rest.

Towards 0400 hours the sentries of the 6th Battalion heard engine noises and the rattling of tank tracks. Apparently a strong enemy group was trying to break out of the enclosed part of Berlin. The sentries opened fire and raised the alarm. The sappers took up defensive positions. Meanwhile the battalion’s chief of staff, Major Rebrov, made contact with the brigade staff by radio and told them what was happening. Lieutenant-Colonel Frolov radioed his battalion for help. Behind the 6th Battalion lay an anti-aircraft gun regiment. The crews brought their guns into position and engaged the enemy with heavy fire. Now came the moment for Captain Stalev’s company. His men blocked the enemy’s route with mines. The sappers also successfully used Panzerfausts in this fighting. They destroyed one tank and a self-propelled assault gun. In this fighting the enemy lost one tank, two assault guns, several vehicles and about fifty men.

As dusk fell the 1st Battalion attacked the enemy in the flank. Almost 200 men and officers were taken prisoner.

On the morning of the 2nd May powerful loudspeakers conveyed the appeal by the commanding general of the LVIth Panzer Corps and battle commandant of Berlin, General Weidling, to surrender unconditionally. For hours afterwards short bursts of fire came from here and there, but these outbursts were quickly quelled. Peace finally came at about 1500 hours. The capital of Fascist Germany was in our hands.