Tank Rider: Into the Reich with the Red Army

BROTHERS IN ARMS

The company commander’s staff consisted of the company commander himself, the company’s Sergeant Major, the clerk, the medic, the orderly and the runners from the platoons. It is impossible to remember all the names of all soldiers, and there is no point in listing all the names. However, I will provide several names.

Vasily Blokhin, the company’s Sergeant Major. He was older than me. He had been in the war for a long time, even taking part in the battle of Stalingrad. He was strong and tough, a former seaman of the Pacific Fleet. We became good friends. In March 1944, in the town of Skalat he was heavily wounded. After Blokhin Mikhail Karpovich Bratchenko, born in 1916, was appointed the company’s Sergeant Major in September 1943. He was a veteran; in Kursk he was a machine-gun crew leader in the machine-gun company. A tall and strong person, he was a brave and demanding NCO, but also caring for his subordinates. He was with the company in action all the time. He treated me as a friend, but did not allow for any familiar manners. He was in the company from 1943 till the end of war. I met him in Moscow in 1995.

Barakovski, the company’s clerk. A big guy, but not strong physically. He suffered from night-blindness – could not see anything in the evening. Took good care of his responsibilities. Soldiers often asked him for help. As a rule, he was with the company. I think that he went missing in action in January 1945 – I cannot remember where and how he disappeared.

Safronov, medic. He was approximately 45 years old, the company’s veteran. He was a big and physically strong person. He took care of us well. He was kind-hearted and soft, a good comrade, he sometimes called us younger officers by our first names ‘Zhenya’, ‘Pete’. It was only the company commander that he addressed with full title. He was killed in August 1944 at the Sandomir bridgehead by a shell from our Russian tank.

Jambul, sniper. A strong and muscular man. He was a Kazakh. He was expert in handling his rifle. Went missing in action in March 1944. He was very quiet as he did not speak good Russian.

Sabaev, assistant platoon leader. I took part in battles at Kursk together with him. He was of medium height, some five years older than I was. He was a cunning guy. After those battles he was appointed Sergeant Major of the 2nd company. I rarely saw him after that. He survived the war – I met him by accident after the war in Germany (in May 1945), when I was on my way back from hospital.

Andrey Ulianovich Drozd, my orderly from January 1945. Born 1925. In general, he was supposed to be called runner, but I would call him orderly. A tall guy, of the same height as me, he was fast, brave and always an optimistic person. He was very enduring, a wiry kind of guy. He saved my life during an assault, when he cut down a Fritz that had been aiming his rifle at me. He is still alive, living in Korosten (Ukraine). Worked as a driver after the war. Now retired.

Nikolai Ilyich Chulkin, clerk. Born in 1925. He arrived in the battalion in October 1943. He was of average height, not very strong physically, but enduring and brave. He was very modest. He would often go on reconnaissance missions with the squad, and many times was in hard situations, but managed to get out from them due to his bravery and cleverness. He had good handwriting and was appointed the company’s and then battalion’s clerk for his diligence, eagerness for work, as well as modesty and literacy. He served in the personnel section of the Brigade for a long time after the war (Bernau, Eastern Germany). He was awarded several times during the war. He worked as an operator of harvesting machine and was awarded with Order of Lenin already in peace time. He lives in Vinnitsa area (Ukraine).

Nikolai Mikhailovich Savkin, Sergeant. Born in 1925. He arrived at the battalion in October 1943 with a replacement of almost untrained soldiers. He quickly won a good reputation. In almost every operation he was acting platoon leader, replacing wounded Lieutenant Petr Shakulo. Savkin was tall, quick and enduring. He was extremely brave. Always followed order. I liked him a lot. He went missing in action in January 1945 together with his squad and a tank that had broken down and had to stop for repairs. They later said that retreating German units that ended up in our rear, attacked the village where the tank had to stop. After a short battle Germans burnt the broken tank, destroyed the crew and executed the squad from main guns of their tanks. This is how Sergeant Nikolai Mikhailovich Savkin died, being 19 years old.

‘Brotherly Heart’, medic. He arrived after Safronov’s death. He appeared in the company in October 1944. For some reason I only remember this nickname, not his last name or even his first name. He knew his job well, bandaging soldiers on the battlefield, sending wounded to the hospitals and burying the dead. He was quite old already, he was around 40 years old. He was a real fan of card games and made many officers addict to cards, but never cheated during card games. He was tall and slim, physically strong. When we were stationed on Sandomir bridgehead (autumn 1944), he was quite good at making moonshine. In April 1945 he was wounded in his back, when he was standing behind me on a tank and all splinters hit him, not me. I left a soldier together with him to send him to a hospital. I have not heard anything about him since that time.

Karabai Tajidaev, Sergeant. Born in 1925, a heavy machine-gun (Maxim) leader from the company’s MG platoon. A Kazakh, he fought the war from 1943 to 1945. He survived the war. He was a great guy. He was of medium height, enduring and brave person. He arrived in the company in October 1943. At first he did not speak good Russian, but later learnt the language very well. I was always relying on the fire support of his Maxim machine-gun. He distinguished himself among other soldiers of his age with his outstanding bravery. Both the battalion and the company loved him, he was awarded with several decorations. He left the Brigade in 1947 (from Bernau, Germany).

Ivan Egorovich Karnaukhov, Sergeant. Born in 1925. He was short and not very strong physically, but fast and enduring. He was fast and mean in battle. He came back into the company after being wounded. He was the battalion’s veteran, soldiers respected him and were not afraid to fight the war by his side. He was a good comrade and could find common language with everyone. He survived the war. In recent times (around 1995) he lived close to Samara. Until 1991 he worked as a chairman of his village soviet. Now retired.

Ivan Zakharovich Chechin, Maxim heavy machine gun crew leader. Born in 1925, a tall and physically strong person. In battle he was brave and smart. He provided fire support for our company in the battles in Lvov. He survived the war. In April and May 1945, we were in the same hospital with him. He had several decorations. He did not come back to the battalion after the hospital. Apparently, he left the service.

Konstantin Mikhailovich Efron, Private. Born in 1921, a tall, physically strong and enduring soldier. He was also brave. He arrived in the company in June 1944. Wounded in August 1944. Was treated in hospital in Kopychintsy. He survived the war and found me after the war. He lives in Moscow.

Anatoly Nikolaevich Danilyuk. Born in 1923. He arrived in the company in August 1944. He was part of partisan movement in Ukraine. It was he that swam across Havel channel in front of Ketzin together with several other soldiers and brought the ferry to our side, so that the company could cross the channel and assault the German positions. For this heroic deed, a real act of heroism, no one received an award. Danilyuk survived the war. He lives in Kiev. He used to work as a surgeon. We met in Moscow in 1995.

Mikhail Vladimirovich Sarafanov, Sergeant, rifle squad leader. Born in 1925. He was short and enduring, but not very strong physically. He was modest, but brave and stoic. One could rely on him, especially in reconnaissance missions. He had a sailor’s gait – he would rock from side to side when walking and then step firmly on the ground. He was the first one to stand up during the assault, and the whole squad, and sometimes even platoon and company followed him. He was expert in handing his weapon. He cut down quite a few Fritzes with his submachine-gun. He survived the war. He passed away in 1977.

Pavel Nazarovich Poddubny, Sergeant, rifle squad leader. Born in 1925, he was quite tall. He was well-built, physically strong and enduring. One rarely meets a braver guy than him. He always assaulted the enemy at his full height, pressing forward. He was not afraid of Fritzes, on the contrary, they were scared of him. He never used a submachine-gun, he fought the war with his carbine. During an assault in April 1944 (in the vicinity of Dobropolie) a German machine-gun crew fled after seeing Poddubny, leaving their MG34, submachine-gun and lunch behind. His bravery was a good support and example for his soldiers. His soldiers felt confident and fit next to him. He had several decorations. I cannot say anything else about him or his life after the war.

Shamrai, Junior Sergeant. Arrived in October 1944 at Sandomir bridgehead. He fought the war well and had several decorations. But I do not remember what happened to him. When I came back from the hospital, he was no longer there.

Ishmuhametov, RPD machine gun crew member. Born in 1925. He was a tall, slim and enduring guy. Survived the war. He was brave and his machine-gun always worked. However, during battles around Sambor (Lvov operation) he screwed up, which was really not like him, leaving his machine-gun behind, so that it would be easier to flee the Germans. That was his only act of cowardice in the whole war. He fought till the end of the war and retired from service.

Alexei Pavlovich Kolesnikov, Sergeant, assistant platoon leader. Born in 1925. He was of medium height, slim, physically strong and quick (an important feature in combat). He distinguished himself with bravery. He would be the first one to stand up during the assault, carrying the rest of the platoon behind. Was also tenacious in defence. He easily took all hardships of life at the front. He would never lose heart and was always cheerful. He was awarded with the Order of Glory 2nd and 3rd degree. He was wounded in the end of the war and went to the hospital.

I also still remember several names of women that fought the war in the battalions of our Brigade.

Praskovia Mikhailovna Pankova, Senior Lieutenant of Medical Corps, doctor of our 1st battalion. Born in 1920, she arrived at the battalion in June 1944. She survived the war. Dismissed from service in June 1945 on the grounds of pregnancy. She was married to deputy battalion commander M. T. Burkov, who was killed in January 1945. Her ambulance vehicle was in the same column with us, with tanks. She provided timely treatment to the wounded. I remember two or three occasions when their ambulance was destroyed by the enemy. Guri Borisovich Yaranski, her medical assistant, was killed. She must have had a hard time to be the only woman among hundreds of soldiers, but she stood up to the test. Everyone respected her a lot. She had several awards from the government.

Cook. The second woman in our battalion, I do not remember her last name, but everyone called her Lelka (apparently her full name was Elena). She survived the war and was dismissed from service after the war. She was no more than 25 years old. She was quite chubby and short. She arrived in the battalion most probably in November 1944. I saw her after the war, she left service in 1945.

Alexandra Grigorieva. (We called her Shurka) After the war she married the battalion’s chief of staff, Grigoriev. I do not remember how she ended up in the battalion, she was some kind of a medic. I think she arrived in March or April 1945. I rarely saw her and can say almost nothing about her. She survived the war and stayed in the Brigade as Yuri Grigoriev’s wife.

Maria Ivanovna Chernomorets, doctor of the 2nd battalion, Lieutenant of Medical Corps. She went through the war and survived. She married 2nd battalion commander Major Grigori Afanasievich Chernomorets. I kept correspondence with them after the war, but after Grigori’s death the correspondence stopped. They lived in Stryi, Western Ukraine.

Nina Arkhipovna Vasiltsova, doctor of the Brigade’s medical platoon. She went through the whole war as Captain of the Medical Corps. She was a fragile woman, but everything worked out fine. After the war she married to tank regiment commander Major Alexander Danilovich Stolyarov. I maintain contact with her, she lives in Gomel (Belorussia).

Evdokia Alexandrovna Chuyah, medic of the Brigade’s medical platoon. Born 1921. She had been at the front from the battle for Stalingrad (from 1942). She survived the war. After the war she married to the 3rd motor rifle battalion commander of the Brigade, Major Alexander Grigorievich Chuyah. They had three sons, now already grown up, they have their own families. However, one of their sons died, and Evdokia herself also died (in 1998). Alexander, her husband, died in 1988. They lived in Dnepropetrovsk. I stayed in touch with them until their deaths.

I remember that there was also Anastasia Mikhailovna Turchenko, born in 1921, in the medical platoon. She lives in Dnepropetrovsk. Sukacheva, another female medic, also served in that platoon. After the war she married to deputy Brigade commander (technical support) Leonid Timofeevich Sukachev. She lives in Saint Petersburg.

I would like to add few final lines about the fate of my brother officers from the Brigade, about their lives after the war. Some of them continued their service in the army:

Colonel Petr Nikitovich Turkin, Brigade commander. He stayed in the army after the war and served for some seven to ten years. Before his retirement he served in Kaliningrad (former Koenigsberg). This is where he settled with his wife, Alla Alexeevna. When he passed away in the spring of 1987, he was over 80 years old.

Colonel Grigori Vasilievich Starovoit, Deputy Brigade commander. Born in 1915. Apparently he served in the army until 1965 and settled down in Kiev. I met him at the Brigade’s veterans meeting in Kiev (as he left for Kiev for the office of Brigade commander in 1946). Passed away in 1985.

Lieutenant-Colonel Afanasi Grigorievich Skryago. Born in 1906. Settled down in Kiev after retirement. Passed away in 1966. I did not have any contact with him.

Major-General Vasili Ignatievich Koretski, Chief of Staff of the 6th Guards Mechanized Corps. Born in 1913, retired from the office of chief of staff of the 5th Guards Tank Army. He lived in Dnepropetrovsk. Passed away on 23 August, 1986.

Lieutenant-Colonel Terenti Grigorievich Kozienko, battalion commander. Born in 1914. Served in the army until 1955. Retired as deputy regiment commander and settled down in Cherkassy. He passed away on 30 January, 1995 after a prolonged illness. Our families stayed in touch with him and often visited each other.

Major Abram Efimovich Gerstein. Born in 1912, former political officer of the battalion. He was in the army until 1955. After his retirement he lived in Moscow. He died in 1995. I used to meet him often at the veteran meetings. I visited him when S. N. Kostenko and I. S. Tsikanovski visited Moscow.

Major Petr Sergeevich Shakulo. Born in 1923, served in the army until 1971. He did not have any higher military education, this is why his career was so slow. He served in the local army recruitment office in town of Essentuki. This is where he died on 6 July, 1986 after a serious illness.

Colonel Fedor Grigorievich Popov. Born in 1925. He was in the army for over 40 years, until 1985. He retired at the age of 60. Together with him I served in the head personnel section of the Defence Ministry. After that he was transferred to the office of head of personnel department of the Engineer department of the State Committee of external relations (there was such a body during the soviet times). Fedor died on 10 April, 1994.

Lieutenant-Colonel Nikolai Danilovich, mortar platoon leader. Born in 1923. Retired in 1947 and joined the service again in 1957 – he entered the military institute of conductors (there was such a college, later it was reformed and made the military faculty at Moscow Conservatoire). After graduation he served in the Baltic Military district. Later, in 1957, he was transferred to the Ministry of the Interior and appointed the military conductor of Irkutsk military academy of the Ministry of the Interior. He died in February 1996 after a prolonged illness.

Colonel Alexander Danilovich Stolyarov, Commander of the tank regiment of the Brigade. Born in 1914, served in the army in different offices after the war. After his retirement from the army he settled down in Gomel (Belorussia). He passed away on 4 December, 1999.

Colonel Vladimir Dmitrievich Belyakov, Company commander. Born in 1924. Retired from the office of military commissar of Chimkent (Kazakhstan). Passed away on 24 June, 1989. He lived in town of Troitsy, Moscow region.

Colonel Alexander Ivanovich Traiduk, deputy chief of staff of the battalion. Born in 1923. Was the deputy chief of staff of the battalion. Later served as military prosecutor in Nizhni Tagil, Sverdlovsk region. He passed away in 1990.

Colonel Nikolai Dmitrievich Tsygankov, the Brigade’s HQ commandant. Born in 1923. After the war he served as the military commissar of Timiryazevo district in Moscow. Passed away on 22 October, 1991.

Nikolai Konstantinovich Chernyshov, Senior Lieutenant, 1st company commander of the battalion. Born in 1924. They said that he drank himself to death, selling all his war decorations. He died in 1978.

Lieutenant Alexei Kuzmich Belyakov, commander of the 2nd company of the battalion. He lived in Podolsk. Passed away in 1987.

Lieutenant Israel Solomonovich Tsikanovski, machine-gun platoon leader of the 3rd company of the battalion. Died in Tashkent in 1990.

Senior Lieutenant Anatoly Anatolievich Kashintsev, commander of the battalion’s mortar company. Passed away on 9 July, 1992.

I think that now it is time to recall my classmates and friends from school. The guys with whom I graduated from high school in June 1941. I will mention the guys of my age, the ones that went into the war in 1941 and many of whom did not make it back. Dozens of years have passed since the end of the Great Patriotic War, and now I am writing about the guys that I grew up with, the ones I studied with and with whom I was good friends. First I will mention my classmates. There were 31 children in my class, 15 girls and 16 boys. Of these boys 9 survived and 7 died.

German Gavrilov. Born in 1923. I studied with him from the 1st grade. He looked quite sickly. He was physically weak and I think he did not even do physical education. He studied quite well, even very well in the last classes. He was modest, silent and quiet. He was good friend of everyone, did not have any best friends. Killed in action.

Vasily Zolotukhin. Born in 1922. I started to study in the same class with him in the 8th grade. He was a very successful student. He was also physically fit – he was a good soccer player and was even part of Lokomotiv youth team. A very ambitious guy. Was slightly arrogant with the rest of the guys. I did not make good friends with him. He was the school’s Komsomol secretary in the 10th grade. It was only Nikolai Kaminin that was at friendly terms with him – Zolotukhin helped him in his studies. Zolotukhin was killed in 1941 during battle of Moscow.

Nikolai Kaminin. Born in 1923. A short and physically strong guy, he was a fast, happy and kind-hearted person. He was a good friend of everyone, but especially with Zolotukhin. He was quite bad in his studies. Everyone in the class loved him. For some time I helped him in mathematics, as we lived on the same street. He was killed in battle of Kursk in 1943. I studied with him from the 8th grade.

Yuri Novitski. Born in 1923. He was a tall and slim guy. He did not have a sense of humour and was always offended with our jokes. He was an athletic guy and a successful student. He did not have any good friends, I do not know why. He was killed in 1944. I studied together with him from the 1st grade.

Vladimir Popov. Born in 1923. He was a good comrade and a calm person. He could study better. I was friends with him. He was physically strong. He left school before graduation. He completed a course in pilot club and entered a military school of junior specialists. During the war he was a tail gunner and a radioman of a bomber crew. He was killed in 1943. I studied with him from the 8th grade. Everyone in the class respected him.

Leonid Fetisov. Born in 1923. A good guy. I studied with him from the 1st grade. He was tall and calm. He did not do any sports. He had the best grades in the 10th grade, especially in mathematics. We were good friends with him. He was modest and timid. He was the first guy in our class to be killed – on 8 August, 1941 he was killed by a German bomb next to his house at Bolshaya Pochtovaya street.

Alexander Fokin. Born in 1923. He was a tall and athletic guy. He was good at volleyball and taught me to play volleyball, too. He was calm and the most beautiful guy in the whole class. He was quite respected in the class. He had good grades. He, Zolotokhin and I had the best results in high jumps in the whole school during the 10th grade. He studied with us from the 8th grade. He was a sociable and humorous guy. We were good friends and also had another friend from another class – Andrey Otryganiev. That guy survived the war and died in 1955 from stomach cancer. Alexander and I were drafted on the same day; the only difference was that I went into infantry, while he went into artillery academy. He was killed during the battle of Kursk in 1943.

Nikolai Balabanov. Born in 1923. He was of average height, physically weak. He was calm, but he deserved his last name – he was an awful balaban (chatterbox), he could lie very well. He was not a very good student, as he was awfully lazy. He would often copy homework from the others. I studied with him from the 7th grade. I met him after the war, he said that he had been at the front, but I did not understand where he was and what he we was. I have not heard anything about him later.

Vladimir Grivnin. Born in 1923. He came to our class in the 8th grade. He had top grades. He was of average height and a physically fit, calm and modest person. I was a good friend of his. We prepared for the final exams in the 10th grade together at his place. He helped me a lot. We heard the news of the war together with him at retro film theatre. In 1941 he entered the Military Institute of oriental studies and graduated it. He did not go to the front. Some twenty years ago he was a professor in Moscow University, as they told me. I did not meet him after the war.

Viktor Kasatikov. Born in 1923. He was a strong and average sized guy. From the 1st grade he only had excellent grades. He was especially strong in mathematics. He was modest and timid, somehow he did not make friends with anyone. He fought the war and survived. I met him after the war, but did not quite understand what he did at the front and where he was. I did not have any contact with him. They said that he joined the Ministry of Interior.

Boris Kopchenov. Born in 1923. I studied together with him from the 1st grade. He was shy and timid, he would blush all the time. He studied well and in the 10th grade he started to study very well. He was a company commander in the war. I met him in 1949 after the war, but the meeting was short. I have not heard anything about him since that time.

Alexander Lapin. Born in 1923. He was a short, but strong guy. I studied together with him from the 8th grade. He was silent and modest. He had top grades in the 10th grade. He did not have any good friends, but I was at friendly terms with him. He had a good sense of humour. He fought the war and survived. He graduated from college after the war and worked in a factory as an engineer. I met him between 1949 and 1952, although quite rarely. I did not have any close contact with him. I do not know where he is now.

Mark Popov. Born in 1923. He studied in our class from the 8th grade. An excellent student, a decent and clever guy. Of small height. He had weak health, something went wrong with his leg and he was incapacitated. He did not serve in the army. I met him in 1943, he lived with his parents somewhere in Siberia. I have not heard anything from him since that time.

Ivan Sedov, Born in 1922. I knew him from the 1st grade. He was very diligent student. He was quite well built, but did not do any sports. He did not have friends. He was modest. He fought the war. Actually, in 1941 he entered the Military Institute of oriental studies (together with Grivnin), but in 1942 he asked the Institute to let him go to the front. He went through the war. For some time he served in the army. Retired from service in 1955. Later he worked as a professor in Moscow University. He lives in Moscow. Sometimes we call each other, but never meet.

Viktor Selvanovich, Born in 1923. We studied together from the 1st grade. He had weak health and was modest. He was calm and did not have friends. He studied quite well. We were friends with him; he did not make friends with anyone else. We were also neighbours, our houses were facing each other. We were drafted on the same day, on 11 August, 1941.He fought the war, was heavily wounded and retired from service. He lived in Perm together with his wife. I met him when he came to Moscow to visit his mother. After that I lost contact with him.

I have already written about myself during my school years. I was skinny, but sports helped me: bar, soccer, volleyball, wrestling, skiing and skating – well, I was quite bad at skating. I did not obtain any significant results, but became stronger, especially after starting wrestling sessions at Lokomotiv stadium. For some reason I was a bad student before 6th and 7th grades. In the 9th and 10th grades I started to make progress. I did not become a distinguished student and never was one. I was good friends with everyone. As someone said: ‘we only deserve respect to the extent that we can appreciate the others.’