Tank Rider: Into the Reich with the Red Army

On one of the days in late March 1944 a heavy snowfall set in, and it continued the whole night. I slept in my foxhole like a baby, covered by two German blankets. In the morning, when I woke up, it turned out that the foxhole was full of snow. There was so much snow that my soldiers literally had to dig me out. At the same time, Chernyshov was in the house, in the warmth – they had a stove there. He did not care to invite me to get warm, even though we were both platoon leaders. As soon as he was appointed company leader, his attitude toward me and to other officers of the platoon – Shakulo and Gavrilov – changed. I did not visit him in that hut, always stayed with the soldiers, had my meal with them, but I really wanted to have some hot soup or schi, or just some tea.

The Germans, under cover of the blizzard, abandoned their positions and disappeared. So, when we finally got out from the snow, the guys told me that there were no Germans opposing us. It was only then that we went into the huts to cook something hot. We were already tired of chocolate, cookies and canned food, as well as wine, too.

The enemy bypassed the town of Kamenets-Podolsk and moved to the west, abandoning cars and other vehicles on the roads in the blizzard. I have never seen so many burnt or abandoned vehicles. From the east, from Vinnitsa, the army units of the first Ukrainian front chased Germans towards us, but we did not have enough resources to stop the enemy at Kamenets-Podolsk and fully encircle him, as happened in Stalingrad. Disregarding their losses, abandoning vehicles that were stuck because of lack of fuel or mud, the Germans broke through to the west. The fighting was bloody and heavy. I remember that we used to find Soviet propaganda leaflets signed by Marshal G. K. Zhukov, calling for German soldiers to surrender, as they were surrounded and were to be destroyed if they did not lay down their weapons. It is indeed a pity that we could not repeat the Stalingrad scenario. At the same time, we threw the Germans far to the west.

As Lieutenant Petr Shakulo told me after his return, he was in a medical platoon in the small town of Orinin, near to Kamenets-Podolsk. The HQ of our 6th Guards Motorized Corps was also stationed there under General Akimov. Retreating westwards, the Germans tried to capture Orinin. Even wounded soldiers that could still hold weapons had to fight to repel the German attacks. The battle lasted for several hours and the outcome was uncertain until several JS-2 tanks arrived to assist the besieged troops. As a result, the German tanks were destroyed and the infantry scattered, some surrendered. This is how 100 wounded and the Corps HQ were rescued.

The battles for Kamenets-Podolsk were over. Some time in early April general army units arrived from the east.

THE BRIDGEHEAD AT THE RIVER STRYPA

The Commander in Chief expressed his gratitude for the liberation of Kamenets-Podolsk to the soldiers of the Brigade in his Order of the Day of 27 March, 1944. Our Brigade and some other units of the 4th Tank Army received the honorary title of ‘Kamenets-Podolsk’, the full of name of the Brigade becoming ‘49th Mechanized Kamenets-Podolsk Brigade’, while its commander, Petr Nikitich Turkin, was promoted to the rank of Colonel.