Tank Rider: Into the Reich with the Red Army

I was left there as a condemned man, with a company of 25 or 30 soldiers, of whom half had not seen battle and were untrained – they had not even been sworn in. We had neither heavy nor light machine-guns. The bridge did not have a strategic significance, as its capacity was low. Dobropolie village also did not have any military significance, as it was located in a depression between the high banks of Strypa river. Even now I do not understand what the battalion leadership had on their mind when they left the company on the western bank of the river, holding literally a patch of soil. The battalion and the Brigade had no reinforcing units left after the heavy fighting before we reached Strypa, but we all knew that the enemy brought up fresh reserves, which were superior to our Brigade.

The engineers said that they hoped we would survive as they withdrew, expressed their sympathy and said that they were not guilty. They looked as if they were saying their last good-bye to us – apparently, they thought that we were already dead. I had to follow the order, what else could I do – an order is always an order.

I do not want to praise myself, but by that time I was already an old hand and was not planning to give up my life or the lives of my soldiers yet; I did not hope for luck either. I thought that it was impossible for me to hold the bridgehead anyway, and ordered my soldiers to join our bank with the remains of the bridge on the other bank using wooden beams, thus creating some kind of bridge across the river. Besides this, I transferred soldiers from the southern part of the village to the northern side, where the earth road to the bridge was located. I thought that the Germans would not attack across the ploughed field, where we initially had our defences, but would advance on some sort of a solid road. In each foxhole on both sides of the road I placed two soldiers, to make each other braver through mutual support.

A dark night fell. I was at the right side of the road with several soldiers. Everything was quiet so far. I checked the positions of the soldiers. The men couldn’t sleep, but some were sleepy and I warned them to be at full alert, as we could overlook the moment of German assault. Personally I, fearing a German assault, was also awake. The Fritzes rarely attacked at night, but anything could happen, the possibility of a night assault could not be excluded, and I did not have much faith in my new soldiers. It all happened just as I thought it would. Just as dawn broke and the sky started to grow lighter, the Germans assaulted the company. It was a surprise attack, but some soldiers opened fire. Some, especially the rookies, left their foxholes and ran to the bridge. Some of them were wounded; we bandaged them and sent them into the rear. The veterans were not hurt, as they fired on the enemy and did not run without a backward glance. We had to retreat.

I gathered all the soldiers at the bridge, and we opened fire from submachine-guns at the Germans, stopping them at the line of our foxholes. It was hard to see either the Fritzes or our own men in the gloom. I wanted to regain the positions, but assistant platoon leader Savkin talked me out of it, pointing at the green soldiers, who, putting it mildly, did not feel well, shivering with fear. They received several boxes on the ears from the more experienced soldiers for their behaviour. Such a ‘teaching method’ was rarely used, but in that case I did not object and did not stop the men. Wooden beams were carefully placed on the bridge, and we safely crossed to the other bank, digging in at the bridge. Day came and I informed the battalion commander that we had had to abandon the western bank of the river. As an answer I received an order: ‘Come back to the other bank the same way that you ran away from there, immediately recapture the positions.’ Why on earth did they need that bridgehead?

I had to fulfil the order, and for the successful completion of it I studied the enemy’s positions, noting his weapon emplacements. I got some understanding of where the enemy was, how many Germans were there and what they were doing. It was quiet and calm, except sometimes the Fritzes fired single shots at us; we did not return fire. Preparing for assault on the lost positions, some soldiers cooked food – one still had to eat. I talked personally to every green soldier, debriefing his behaviour in battle. I told them that fear was natural for everyone, but one should never lose control over fear and let it grow into horror of the enemy. I gathered the squad leaders separately and shared the object of the assault among them.