Tank Rider: Into the Reich with the Red Army

^{A junior officer, holding a submachine-gun, watches as his troops fight their way into a wood. The submachine-gun was the weapon of choice for many tank riders and it meant they could combine firepower with mobility.}

^{A junior officer leading Soviet infantrymen forward through wooded terrain. Junior officers such as Bessonov were expected to lead from the front and suffered enormous casualties as a result. In four years of war the Red Army alone lost 90, 210 company commanders and 296,744 platoon commanders killed in action.}

^{An action shot of Red Army soldiers changing position during an attack. The lead soldier is armed with a Degtyarev light machine-gun.}

^{A T-34-76 tank, heading to the front, fires at a distant enemy position.}

^{A Maxim machine-gun crew opens fire on a village occupied by Germans. The Maxim was a morale-boosting addition to any attack as well as a crucial way to ‘soften up’ any enemy position.}

^{A Soviet divisional ZIS-3 76mm gun being towed by a Studebaker US6 truck drives through the streets of a liberated European town.}

^{A T-34-76 ploughs its way through a forest.}

^{The wreckage of a German Mittlerer Zugkraftwagen 8t Sd.Kfz.7 destroyed during a Soviet assault.}

^{A KV-1 heavy tank mounts a slight incline. Its complement of tank riders follow in its wake, ready to offer infantry support.}

^{Tank Riders on a column of T-34-85 tanks move through the streets of a European town. Riding a tank was a hazardous affair. Near Lodz a tank carrying Bessonov’s men was hit by a shell from a German Tiger: ‘The explosion killed almost everyone, some soldiers were simply blown to pieces and nothing remained of them’.}

^{Another photo of T-34-85 tanks with tank riders. Despite the hazards, riding tanks meant that infantry could at least travel at speed.}

^{These remarkable photographs show Soviet infantry taking cover as they come under German fire during a battle for possession of a forest. Fighting in such terrain was extremely hazardous. Bessonov and several of his men were wounded by splinters when a German shell struck a tree in August 1944.}

^{A sparsely camouflaged Soviet artillery column moves forward. Dodge 3/4s pull ZIS-3 76 mm divisional guns while Willis jeeps tow 45 mm antitank guns.}

^{This photograph was taken in Poland in November 1944. Left to right: Bessonov, Petr Shakulo and another soldier.}