Tank Rider: Into the Reich with the Red Army

Nikolai Savkin was angry at me because I did not support him with another group of soldiers in that fight. Only after it grew dark did I reach him with my soldiers; the Germans had already abandoned the battlefield. Apparently, the Germans wanted to delay us for some time, depriving us of the possibility of advancing to the centre. A soldier went missing in that fight, he was around 40 years old, and our search for him did not produce any results. Savkin’s soldiers told us that that soldier was Polish and was from either Lvov or its suburbs. Probably that soldier just went home, deserted – it is hard to say. Anything can happen in the war; that’s why war is war.

I should mention that during the battles in Lvov a Lieutenant (I do not remember his name) arrived with a battery of 120 mm mortars. He failed to find his unit and decided to stay and fight the battle together with us. Of course, we warmly welcomed him. His battery had four mortars with a full boyekomplekt [complement] of mines, each mine weighing around 16 kg. The Lieutenant was dashing. Many times we climbed into the attics of a tall building and he adjusted the fire on the enemy from there. In any case, it was of assistance to us. In order to be on the safe side and not be convicted of desertion, the Lieutenant asked for a letter that would state that he took part in battles for Lvov. I wrote such a letter, signed it and got it stamped with the battalion’s stamp.

One day in late July (24 or 25) a T-34 tank showed up some 500 to 700 metres from us. Apparently, it did not notice us and we could not establish communication with it. The tank disappeared in the labyrinth of the city streets and we never saw it again. It was only many years later that I learnt the story of that tank and its crew. The tank was knocked out, the whole crew died except for the driver. They were all awarded with the status of Heroes of the Soviet Union. The crew of that tank is considered to be the first one to enter the city, although it was Tsikanovski and me with our soldiers who entered the city first. Apparently, battalion commander Kozienko did not report on time to the brigade commander that we had entered Lvov. The only thing that consoles me is that we did not fight for history, and we did our soldier’s duty without paying attention to who was first and who was second.

In the course of those battles Lieutenant Oplesnin, submachinegun platoon leader from our battalion, went to the city centre dressed in civilian clothes with a local Polish guy, who could speak German. Several times they ran into German patrols, but everything went well, and knowledge of the language helped them.

Also in late July (25 or 26), our tanks from the 10th Guards Tank Corps arrived, but they entered the city at some distance from us. Their actions made us bolder, and we also advanced into the city in order to cut the road that fleeing Germans used for retreat and capture the railway station and crossing. We completed the mission, consolidating our positions in two smaller abandoned buildings, there was not even any furniture in the rooms. The city was not damaged, neither our nor the German air force bombed it, and it seems that it was only our half company that was involved in street fighting in the city. As soon as our tanks entered the city, The Germans evacuated the city almost without a fight. The Lieutenant that joined us with his 120 mm mortars was with me throughout the battle. He rained down his mines on the highway that the Germans used for retreat from Lvov, we cut another highway, and the Germans only had one road for withdrawal. However, quite soon the Germans ceased movement on that road as well, having chosen a less comfortable but safer route of retreat.

I decided to send several soldiers to find out what was in front of us, whether the Germans had stayed in their positions or abandoned them. They returned and said that there were no Germans. They brought along several piglets from a huge refrigerator that they found – the Germans had not managed to evacuate food supplies from there. There was a lot of canned food and other stuff, but mostly the refrigerator was filled with piglets. I had to send other soldiers to the refrigerator; we managed to keep some food for the future and cooked a fantastic dinner. It had been a long time since we had had such an abundance of food. In general, I did not forbid the soldiers to get their own food, especially given the fact that we had not seen the battalion kitchen for a long time. However, I strictly warned the soldiers and they never looted the locals, as they knew my strictness and harshness in this respect.