Tank Rider: Into the Reich with the Red Army

We advanced a bit further on tanks, some 2 or 3 kilometres from the road. The tank crews reported to Stolyarov that the mission had been completed, German traffic had been stopped and the Germans were nowhere to be seen; we also reported our co-ordinates. I did not have a radio and had to maintain communications with the command through tank radio. We received an order to wait for the main body of the Brigade. We had to wait for it for a long time; it was growing light.Visibility was good. A cold day came, we waited in a forest and there was no wind. We had a snack using the German food – of course, we shared the food with the tank crews. Tanks with tank riders of our battalion appeared. Battalion commander Major Kozienko arrived, but I did not see the company commander Chernyshov. During the whole operation I was receiving orders from battalion commander or even Major Stolyarov, the tank regiment commander, and in fact never saw the company commander. At that point the battalion commander gave a new order – to inspect several houses located far from the road.

I deployed my platoon in a line, and the enemy fired several rounds at us, but they all missed. We rushed into the houses, and in close combat, even in hand-to-hand fight we destroyed the Fritzes. Some of them fled, and we did not pursue them. My platoon did not have any losses. The mission was thus completed and we came back to the battalion.

Brigade commander Colonel Turkin arrived and again sent me forward as a vanguard on three tanks, gave me a route of advance and pointed out a place where I should stop for a halt. The depleted platoon of Shakulo, who was wounded, was also with me. The vanguard moved forward some 5 to 7 kilometres from the main body of the Brigade, maintaining communication over tank radio in order to warn the main body about enemy forces. The vanguard is always the first unit to receive a blow from the enemy, in some cases a deadly blow from an ambush, so one always had to be careful.

That was the beginning of a long journey on Polish soil, up to the Oder and then to the Neisse river. In general, one has to know how to ride on a tank, how to jump off it and how to mount it. We had a special training session for that during our time in reserve. It is harder to do in wintertime than in summertime; besides that, armour is cold and there is no protection from the wind, and one has to hold on to something in order not to fall from the tank during a cross-country march. There were railings on the tank’s turret, but they were not enough. There was an incident when during a cross-country march one soldier was knocked off the tank by a tree branch, which hooked round neck and threw him on the ground. No one noticed his disappearing – apparently, everyone was asleep, and the soldier had to travel on alone on foot, following the tank tracks. It was good that the column stopped soon after the incident and the soldier, who was from Petr Shakulo’s platoon, was able to catch up with the battalion. For a long time the man was the butt of friendly jokes from the ‘Slavs’.