[烛光生存狂]-【卫国战争老兵回忆】阿尔汉格尔斯基·谢尔盖·亚历山德罗维奇

Archangelskii: My name is Sergey Alexandrovich. I was born on 10th of October, 1922, at Sokol, near Vologda. My parents had very respectable professions at the time: my mother, Anna Vikentievna[安娜·维金捷夫娜] was a nurse, father, Alexander Viktorovich was a teacher.

At Sokol I went to school. It happened in 1930. There I finished 4th grade. After that we moved to Syasstroy, near Leningrad. I lived there until the beginning of Winter War. When it broke out I moved to Leningrad, and finished 10th grade here. After I finished school, at autumn 1940 I was enlisted into the army and sent to the Krasnoyarsk. There was a 52nd ShMAS – school of aviation specialists. In May 1941 I finished education there, and after that I was sent to Kansk, which is located east of Krasnoyarsk.

— What types of airplanes you were taught to service?

I was taught to service SB — fast bomber. We were studying the construction of the aircraft and repairing possible damage. After I finished ShMAS I was sent to Kannskaya School of navigators and gunners. We serviced R-5 training planes. There I stayed until august 1942.

— Were there problems with servicing R-5 after SB?

No, not really. Basis is the same, so we just had to remember where which switch and device was located.

— What about repairs?

There were PARMs – field repair stations, and most difficult repairs were made there…

— How did you find out about wars beginning?

We used to live in Kansk. At the morning, at 7 o’clock maybe, we were gathered by alarm and an announcement was made that war had begun. Everything was as usual in several days. There was no panic or anything…

In 1942 school was disbanded, and all technicians, pilots and students were sent to Chelyabinsk. There we underwent forming into motorized infantry. Stalingrad campaign was coming…

— You were a technician, and ended up in motorized infantry? And how you were trained?

We went to the shooting range, we were trained to dig trenches and dug outs, and so on...

In November we were sent to Stalingrad. We went to Volga via Leninsk, and just before November festivities we were sent to cross Volga. When we arrived to the other side of Volga we were hit by bombs. They blew by the side of our boat, and it overturned. We all ended up in the freezing water. Luckily it was very close to the shore, so no one got frozen or drowned. We got out to the shore and ran to Krasnoarmeysk. A new moto-mechanized brigade was forming there. Later it earned a name 12th Guards brigade. We were sent where they pleased. I was appointed to the sub-machine gun company with a rank of sergeant.

We had T-34 as tank component of our brigade. We advanced from Krasnoarmeysk to Novocherkassk, and then to Miuss. At Miuss we were forced to stand in defense. It was not a matter of German defense, but due to logistics problems – all the roads became muddy, and there was no way to get supplies. So we were in defense for half a year or so. Germans were on the Western bank of Miuss, and we were on the Eastern bank. In March an order was issued by Stalin: all specially trained personnel to be returned to their intended type of armed forces. I had a note in my personal card that I was an aviation technician...

— Let’s return a little bit: during Stalingrad battle you rode on tanks or on trucks?

In the rear we were moved by ZIS trucks, and sometimes on Studebakers. In combat we went on tanks.

— Did you help tank crews to rearm and refuel tanks?

Of course…

— Did you ride on the outside of the tank, or inside?

Outside only. By the way, I was taught to drive a tank. Right before I got into infantry I was sent to Chelyabinsk tank school. There were three pilots and me – a technician. We applied a report that we did not want to be tank crewmembers, and as my companions had pilots logbooks, they were transferred to aviation, but I was sent to infantry…

— Germans state that there were very low temperatures that winter?

Yes, it was very cold. When we were crossing Don in November-December. In January 1943 it was even colder, but by the end of January temperatures had risen, and roads became muddy.

— How you were dressed?

Simple. Soldiers greatcoats and cotton-wool trousers. It was cold, but we were young, and we made it.

— Germans, and especially Italians complain, but our soldiers do not. Why?

We did not complain. What for? We came there to fight, not to complain… It was cold, so we got our 100 grams…

— Were there frostbites?

Of course there were. I had hands and legs frostbitten myself. Up until now my fingers don’t work properly. What was strange – such a huge mass of people were gathered together, and no epidemics… And there were no doctors to prevent them!

— Did Germans provide stiff opposition, or did they just flee?

In the beginning they fought fiercely – we lost somewhere around 70% of personnel. Second difficult time was when they tried to breach our blockade. After that we mostly chased them.

— How you were fed?

At first it was good. Each way we had some hot food, and we also had some “dry ration”. We would march or ride several kilometers, and then we would stop. A field kitchen would come, and we would eat. Then we marched again. Everything changed with mud. When we came to Miuss, we did not eat for 5 days. There was nothing left. Then we would make a “soup”: 200 grams of hot water with some flour per day. Then we got some fish, and we were given porridge with fish. And not a single gram of salt! Up until now I can’t withstand the smell of porridge with fish…

— Were German bombing a problem to you?

Yes.

— And was there a fighter cover present for our forces?

Of course. Fighters were often barraging.

— Most of infantry men told us that up until the last days of the war they haven’t seen our aviation.

Yes, near Stalingrad there was not a lot of aviation, but it was present, and helped a lot.

— In archival documents it is quite common to see the investigation reports: fighters did not get involved in fighting with Germans, bombers and Shturmoviks attacked wrong targets... Have you seen actual dogfights?

Very few, to speak honestly. Most commonly we saw I-15s and I-16s. They were no match to Messer, but if they appeared, German bombers quite commonly dropped their bomb load anywhere except their target and fled the battle field. We, infantry men, were grateful for that.

— As you described your advance it looked like a nice walk in a park...

Not at all. There were some strongholds, which cost us dearly. As a matter of fact, I tried to find somebody who fought there in the infantry after the war – and I found no one! It was pure luck that I made it through…

— Did you attack before or after tanks?

After tanks. We would ride them to some point, and then a command would come to dismount them. Then we would run…

— What if tank in front of you was damaged?

It happened… Bad luck. We would keep advancing…

— Please, tell us, did tank crews suffer a lot of losses?

They lost a lot of tanks, but not necessarily in destroyed tanks. If a tank looses a track – it’s also lost for the time of attack.

— What was the main reason for tank losses? Artillery? Aviation, tanks?

As far as I remember their aviation did not even damage a single tank in our brigade, although they tried. Main loss reasons – artillery and tanks. They had better tanks at the time. Their SPGs also fought well…

— How do you think – it was German weapon better, or German tactics?

I think their tactics was rather poor, but they had excellent weapon systems…

— So, by the order of Stalin you were sent to aviation…

I was sent to Shturmovaya aviaciya, to 7th ShAK, which was based near Salsk, and division was stationed at Proletarskoye. We would get there by different trains. At this time I became blind. My friends woke me up during

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