MAIN MENU   SOLDIERS AT WAR   DOCUMENTS   BATTLES   TANKS   ARTILLERY

Semion Aria

Semion Lvovich, how did the war begin for you?

I was a student at the Novosibirsk Institute for military transportation engineers. When the war started, our entire class was mobilized. They were bringing us to Moscow, but I didn't get to the front because our train was bombed, I was shell-shocked and placed in a hospital.

After the hospital they sent me to the 19th Training Tank Regiment located at Nizhniy Tagil. The regiment consisted of battalions, with each one training tankers of a certain specialty -- one trained tank commanders, another -- loaders, etc. I was put into the battalion that trained driver-mechanics.

The training was conducted on real vehicles: there were tanks, we were taught how to drive, communicate with the commander, engine layout, how to service it. I must mention that it was very difficult to start the tank engine in the winter conditions. You had to heat it two hours prior to driving, which meant put a griddle a little smaller than the tank under it, pour diesel into that griddle, and set it on fire. After an hour and half the tank, same as us, would be covered in soot, and we would attempt to start it.

Mutual replaceability was required of the crew. In reality there was nothing of the sort -- the training was too short, but I did get to fire the gun several times. They also drove us to the training ground, put us in a tank, made us drive through an obstacle course, replace track pieces (repairing the tracks was a very difficult operation). In those two or three months, the length of the training, we participated in assembling tanks at the main assembly line at the factory.

Did they teach you how to bail out of the tank?

Well, what could they teach us? You simply opened the hatch and jumped out. Besides, there was a hatch in the bottom, you could leave through it without the enemy seeing you. Basically, no training was required there.

I've read that tankers cut off pockets from their jackets so that they wouldn't get caught in the protruding parts of hatches.

We didn't cut anything off, I had a good jacket. What could you get caught by in there? The hatch was smooth, with rounded edges, there were no difficulties in getting in or out through it. Moreover, when you stood up from the driver's seat, you were already outside from your waist up.

After the training they loaded us on a train, together with our T-34's, and sent us to the front. For some reason, by the route through the Central Asia. We were transported from Krasnovodsk to the Caucasus through the Caspian Sea, on a ferry. Wind blew the tarpaulin off our tank on the way. I must mention that life in a tank without the tarpaulin was hard. It was essential -- we used it to cover ourselves when sleeping, ate on it, covered the tank with it when entraining, otherwise the tank would be filled with water inside. Those were tanks built during the time of war. There wasn't any kind of padding in the top hatch, and the driver's hatch had some kind of padding, but it couldn't keep the water out. So it was bad without the tarpaulin. And so I had to steal a sailcloth from a depot, but there's no reason to talk about it -- this isn't a combat episode, but rather one from the military criminal field.

T-34. (From "T-34 in action" by S.Zaloga & J. Grandsen)

We got to the Northern Caucasus. There we participated in fighting for Mozdok as a part of the 2nd Tank Brigade. Then we were transferred to the 225th Tank Regiment that participated in combat in the area of Mineral'nye Vody and then in Kuban'.

Was the tank's transmission reliable?

T-34's transmission was rather peculiar. It didn't have a driving shaft. The driving gears were attached directly to the secondary shaft of the gearbox. That's why the gearbox had to be centered ideally with respect to the crankshaft -- this was done with special instruments. It was attached firmly because even a micron cam led to the destruction of the entire gearbox. Overall, the tank's design was very successful. For example, we survived a most severe accident -- the tank turned over its turret, but it still started afterward.

Did you have radios in your tank?

Yes, a radio located at the right side of the hull was used to communicate with the unit commander. Internal communications were over the telephone, but it worked horribly, like pretty much everything built during the time of war. That's why we communicated with our feet, that is the tank commander's boots were placed on my shoulders, he pushed either my left or my right shoulder, and I turned the tank accordingly either left or right. When I worked as a lawyer, the manager of our office was Krapivin, a Hero of the Soviet Union, former commander of a tank regiment. When I told him how we had fought the enemy with our boots, he said: "Oh! Now I believe that you're really a tanker." Besides that, there were absolutely horrible triplexes on the driver's hatch. They were made of disgusting yellow or green plastic that gave a completely distorted, wavy picture. It was impossible to make out anything through such triplex, especially in the rocking tank. That's why we conducted war with hatches opened to palm width.

In your opinion, what were the most vulnerable places for the enemy's artillery fire in a T-34?

Side armor.

If a track was damaged during fighting, what did you have to do: leave the tank, try to repair the track?

Try to repair the track. That was not serious damage. We always had spare track pieces, they were attached to sides and in reality served as additional armor. Track replacement was not a very complicated operation.

What weaknesses in a T-34 can you single out?

Complete lack of crew comfort. I have been inside American and English tanks. Their crews operated in more comfortable conditions: the tanks were painted in light colors on the inside, the seats were semisoft, with armrests. There was nothing like that on a T-34. Care for crew comfort was limited only to basics. It's hard for me to judge the rest, I'm not an engineer.

You probably had to perform some repairs on the tank? What were the most unreliable parts: gearbox, transmission?

I hadn't encountered any significant defects in the tank's design or technology. The tanks were good, reliable.

There is an opinion that English Matildas with gasoline engines burned much easier than ours with diesel engines?

American tanks also had gasoline engines. They burned like torches. So, on one side -- caring for the crew comfort, on the other -- neglect for their defense. How can it be explained? It's hard for me to say. Besides that, their base was narrow, so they rolled to their sides on slopes. They had strange defects, incomprehensible.

Was the T-34's electrical equipment reliable?

Yes. The armament was of course insufficient because the two machine guns on such tank did not provide an all-round field of fire, since both of them were pointed forward. Although, you could turn the turret, but that was an overkill.

Was the tank's machine gun an effective weapon? Was it used often?

Fairly often. One machine gun was in the turret, the loader fired it, the other one was attached to a ring mount in the hull. It was operated by the radio operator/machine gunner. The turret one was also on a ring mount, but its mount was with a very small angle of horizontal traverse, but the lower machine gun was on a very good mount -- it could be turned 45, or maybe even 60 degrees, plus it could be easily detached.

Did you have a sidearm?

No, they didn't give them out to us. After all, I detached the machine gun from its mount. No, apparently we didn't have any. Otherwise I would've remembered it.

What was the recommendation in case you encountered enemy tanks? Engage them, avoid combat?

I couldn't say that now.

But you've never encountered either enemy tanks or SPGs?

No, I've never encountered them. We encountered anti-tank artillery, machine guns, even anti-aircraft guns. In our regiment, during the time I was in it, maybe 12 tanks were destroyed.

Could the crew manage to bail out when a tank was destroyed?

Fifty-fifty. If a shell got inside the tank, then everyone got torn to shreds, but if it was a tangential hit, or the shell hit the engine compartment and the tank burst into flames, then the crew would start bailing out. The losses were huge, it was a very rare occurrence that a tanker would got through the entire war and remain alive. The losses there were about the same as in the fighter aviation. The lifetime for fighter pilots at the front was maximum 40-60 days. It was close to that in tank units, but still there were people there that had fought a year or two.

Were there such aces in your unit?

Yes. I remember one name -- Sustavniov. He was a driver, all covered in medals. He was considered to be a competent and lucky tanker.

What characteristics of a tank seem most important in a combat environment?

Well, everything's important, maneuverability, speed, it's hard to single something out here. First of all, of course, survivability, impenetrability, protection.

Was German infantry well protected against tanks?

Same as Russian infantry. What defense does an infantryman have? A trench. He digs himself into the ground and sits there. If he runs he can't do anything against tanks. Their accoutrements, equipment were significantly more substantial, they were well prepared for war. But everything was in a horrible state with us, the army was not ready for the war, neither in strength nor equipment. Everything was done on the move, on corpses. I saw with my own eyes how we stupidly fucked up the first half of the war. Our population is huge -- cannon fodder was plentiful. If our country wasn't so big, the Germans would've won the war easily.

They say that tanks fight along roads, is that true?

I've never really thought about that, but in general, of course, tanks avoid impassable terrain. All this talk of how tanks drive through walls, knock down trees -- all that is rubbish. Apparently, it does correspond to reality -- tanks do fight along roads. Because a tank can overturn in a ravine or get stuck in a swamp. There is no driving in the woods for a tank, it can mow down sparse vegetation, of course, but I've never seen a tank push through brick walls like they show in the movies.

Did you try to take terrain into account when driving?

I said it's not a good idea to go into ravines! I can tell you a story that happened to me in the Northern Caucasus. I was driving on a mountain road, but then it narrowed, one of the tracks of my tank went a little to the right of the road and the entire tank started sliding downward. It's a good thing there was no precipice there, just a rocky 45 degree slope. I slid on that slope to the very bottom of the gorge. Then they barely pulled me out. And what if it had been a precipice there?!

Did Germans set mines on roads?

They did.

Did you have mine-sweeps?

No, there were no mine-sweeps in tank units at that time.

Did Germans have anti-tank grenades?

Anti-tank mines -- yes, I've encountered those; I've never seen infantry use anti-tank grenades. Our Soviet anti-tank grenades -- those were simply bundles of regular grenades.

And mines? How did you encounter them, you just saw them?

Well, I didn't drive on them, I saw them. They are approximately the same as now, like plates.

Were you ever hit?

Yes, but the armor wasn't pierced. When a shell hits there is a ringing like inside a bell, and you go deaf.

Did the armor crumble during such hits?

No, the armor was viscous.

How did you determine if a tank could drive over a bridge? Who was responsible for that?

Well, who determined that? A specialist determined that in the engineer troops, how much the vehicle had to weigh, was it possible to drive it through, but in the frontline conditions all that was primitive, everything was simply estimated.

Can it be said that you were lucky to fight in a T-34?

Yes, you can say that.

What can you tell us about KV?

There were very small quantities of KV tanks. They were heavy, all bridges collapsed under them. They were very unsuccessful tanks.

In '42, could the 76mm gun of a T-34 successfully deal with all existing targets?

During that period, yes.

You write that you didn't have headlights after the very first combat. They were simply destroyed by bullets?

Of course, they were swept off by shell fragments.

You had a relatively high education. After all, you studied at an institute when the war began. Why did you become a driver and not a tank commander?

I didn't have an officer's rank.

How did you fire, on the move or after short stops?

After short stops.

Who watches the tank's ammo? What is the procedure for its replenishment? Was there some kind of a fixed rate for its expenditure?

What rate? No, you would simply shoot as you needed. I don't know who watches that, probably the tank commander. And what would you watch? The ammo was simply replenished as it was spent. That's all. There weren't any rates of expenditure.

What was your task most often: infantry support, anti-tank actions, suppression of enemy artillery?

Judging by the fact that infantry constantly rode with us, apparently it was infantry support infantry rode on top of our tanks. There was no unbroken front line in the Northern Caucasus, and the fighting was conducted in raids. But in general, such questions should be addressed to the officers. Soldiers weren't really let into all these tactical matters. Soldiers had a purely technical function.

You tank was never destroyed, thank God?

Not mine.

What was your speed during combat?

We drove at substantial speed during combat, always 45-50 kilometers per hour.

Did you ever fire indirectly?

No.

Did you ever dig a trench for your tank?

Yes.

Did they give you soldiers for that?

We dug ourselves. We could manage it in maybe three hours because, as a rule, we didn't dig on flat ground, we tried to dig some sort of an earth wall which would partially reduce the effort required. "Katiushas" were also driven into trenches in initial positions, but not in firing positions.

"Katiushas" always had an initial position, then they drove into the firing position. Was that so?

Yes. One salvo and back.

Were you ever attacked by the enemy air force?

Not while we were in the Northern Caucasus. Then I had encounters with aviation when I fought in a "Katiusha" unit. I got the full range of services from my encounters with their aviation. But there, in the Northern Caucasus, Germans didn't have any significant numbers of aircraft.

What do you mean by the full range of services?

Well, I was hit by the mass bombing and by strafing raids. I saw attacks by German planes, those probably weren't "Messers" but rather "Heinkels", which flew over our formations near towns, almost hitting chimneys.

Were they shot at, like they show in the movies?

Well, if it flew low, you didn't have time to shoot -- it would rush past you at huge speed. But we fired.
I didn't serve for long in the tank forces -- from October '42 through February, or maybe January '43. After that I was court-martialed for an accident with my tank, and I didn't return to that branch of service again. After the penal company, I found myself in a "Katiusha" unit, where I served the rest of the war as a spotter for an artillery battalion.

After you joined the Guards mortar unit, did you become a spotter immediately?

I was a motorcycle driver for some time, a messenger with the regimental HQ. Basically, they chose to overlook my unauthorized appearance because they had a motorcycle, but no driver for it. That's why they made me the driver of the motorcycle, but after two-three months the motorcycle perished -- it was shot up on the move, but it wasn't me driving it. After that I was transferred as a spotter to the battalion.

What were the functions of an artillery battalion spotter?

We chose hills, built an observation post, installed a stereoscopic telescope, observed the enemy, prepared target data for the officers. We didn't go behind enemy lines.

Did you make the necessary calculations?

No, the spotter was responsible for target acquisition, measured angles, prepared data, and shouted it out to the officer, and he would sit with a mapcase and a stencil, use trigonometric calculations (there were rather complicated trigonometric calculations) to prepare data for the salvo. But I knew how to do it, and could replace him if required.

In general, were observation posts selected on our territory or on neutral ground, how was it?

On our ground, behind the line of our forces. We rarely climbed smokestacks, mills -- that was risky because those points, as a rule, were closely watched by the enemy. They tried to shoot at them just in case, and it wasn't by accident.

Did snipers bother you?

Of course, there were snipers. They used snipers and artillery, knocked down those reference points any way they could. So we usually dug ourselves into the ground on our hills.

Which units did you have?

We had M-8 and M-16, installed on Studebakers.

Did you encounter German rocket artillery?

Germans started using it only toward the very end of the war. We encountered German rocket mortars for the first time only in Hungary. Their units, so-called "Vaniushas", had barrels, they made a chilling howling sound. And units of the type that we had we only saw in Austria for the first time. They copied our "Katiushas", but did it with German soundness. The launch racks were installed on a light tank. One person sat in it who drove this vehicle to direct firing position, he didn't have any data for firing, the aiming was done with an optical sight, he aimed it himself, fired, made a U-turn, and left. But our "Katiushas" fired from far away, they were aimed like regular artillery. The data for firing was calculated with a complicated trigonometric table, corrected for terrain. So Germans were way behind us in this business.

Was dispersion of shells significant?

The dispersion was rather significant, but we learned how to fight it. A shell had a tail unit so that it would start spinning in flight. But dispersion was still greater than artillery, and that's why we fired by quadrants and not at specific targets. Or we assumed that given a large number of shells one of them would hit a point target.

Have you seen "Katiushas" fire over open sights?

Yes, but very rarely because it was risky, and Katiushas were valuable. After all, a Katiusha completely unmasks itself when firing, it raises a large pillar of smoke. That's why we tried to fire only during the dark time. If we fired during the day, the probability of enemy hitting our position increased. That's why Katiushas didn't have stationary firing positions. They had shelters where they stood, and from which they drove out to the firing position. They left immediately after each salvo, so that there wouldn't be time for the enemy to hit them. Also, as a rule, we fired right from the wheels, without using the required supports.

When you were in the Guards mortars, did you have anti-aircraft cover?

No.

And our fighter aircraft?

Well, fighters don't provide air cover for a given battery or even a regiment of Katiushas. They cover a sector of the front, cover important tactical installations, and we had a separate regiment. It was thrown this way and that. Sometimes they would just throw separate battalions. Katiusha had tremendous firepower, so they would even use separate batteries to fire a salvo.

How much time between salvos was needed to reload a Katiusha?

Not much at all. Maybe 15-20 minutes. A Katiusha crew consisted of 5 men. They managed quickly -- loaded and then, right before firing, inserted squibs into the shells.

Travel assignment 51st Guards Mortar Regiment Dec. 15 1943 Travel assignment To Guards Senior Sergeant S.L. Aria Upon the receipt of this, you are to go to Malaya Belozubka, Briansk, Veseloe, Melitopol' on a service assignment Justification: order from the unit commander Length of the trip 15 days, from 15 Dec. 1943 to 30 Dec. 1943. Report your departure Valid only when presented with identification papers /Red Army document/ 51st GKMP commander Guards Major Gribovskiy

Did you ever fire a second salvo from the same spot?

It happened, but rarely. Usually we tried to fire and leave. We preferred to drive away and load somewhere behind a hillock than fire again from the same spot.

Were your losses heavy?

In our regiment? Depends on what you compare them to. Compared to tank units or fighter aviation our losses were not large at all. But in general, we had constant personnel attrition. In two years that I spent in the regiment, its complement was renewed by about 50 percent. We had men killed, wounded all the time. We mostly suffered losses from air raids.

Did you obey the rules of maskirovka during marches?

Yes, absolutely. For example, during the dark times vehicles would drive only with blue lights. Then, without fail, the units would be camouflaged with branches and nets. We preferred to stop in orchards if there were no forests. In general, maskirovka was followed, they watched for that diligently.

Was there a special person watching that everyone obeyed the rules of maskirovka, or you did it yourselves?

No, regular commanders were responsible for that, there was no special person. Commanders watched that themselves because if the absence of maskirovka was found out they would find themselves in trouble.

Did you, as a spotter, encrypt the information transmitted?

It was primitive, like everywhere. The commanders were called by numbers instead of names, ammo -- some vegetables. But the radio communications were encrypted, of course. You won't get a lot of information out of me because I was a soldier, all this reached me very irregularly. I can tell you a funny story from the peace time. After the war I worked as a lawyer in the Krasnopolianskiy district, and they gave me, as a demobilized soldier, a plot of land to build a house. The majority of that land was given to generals for construction, and the remaining small plots were distributed to simple folks. That's why I was surrounded by generals' plots, and as a result, I acquired acquaintances among my neighbors-generals. Once I was invited to some dinner at a general's . We sat at the table, and my neighbor to the right was a very stately man, handsome, portly. And so, I was pouring him vodka, he was spooning salad onto my plate, the usual table talk, tittle-tattle. And as it often happens, we reached the topics of the war, and it turned out that both of us had fought, and moreover, we had followed approximately the same route all the time. He asks me: "What army did you fight in?" I said: "I fought in the 44th." He said: "And I was in the 44th. Who did you serve as?" I said: "Well, I was a soldier. And you?" "I was its commander." That was Lieutenant General Mel'nik, commander of the 44th Army. I told him: "Kondrat Semenych, it's a pity we didn't drink together back then!"

Did you ask him about Balaton?

No, he wasn't the commander then. He had some troubles during the fighting in Ukraine, I think he was relieved of his post. Although he did remain in the 3rd Ukrainian Front, he wasn't an army commander anymore.

What were your relations with civilians in the liberated countries?

Varied greatly. From almost brotherly relations in Bulgaria, for example, to harsh animosity in Hungary. Hungarians thought of us with deep hatred and simply shot at our backs. Well, of course, it wasn't for nothing, although at that time in the Red Army there was no such prevalence of banditism like we can observe now, but its signs could be seen easily.

And in your regiment?

Well, our regiment was more or less cultured, and even then some similar excesses occurred.

Were they Slavs or Asians?

Slavs, Slavs! Cossacks were especially savage.

What were you afraid of most of all at the front?

We were afraid of death. Death was around us every day, every hour, and on all sides. You could sit quietly, drink tea, and a stray shell would fall on you. It was impossible to get used to that. It doesn't mean that we constantly were all jittery, that everyone sat, walked expecting death any minute. Death simply came or it didn't. It was scary during the massed air raids. People lost their minds from fear. The feeling was as if every bomb was falling straight at your head. It was horrible! This armada floats in the sky, two or three hundred aircraft, and bombs fall like hail, and all of them howl. Terror! I remember, there was one Nekrasov -- he almost went mad. When the air raid was over he couldn't be found anywhere. Then we found him in some trench. And he refused to come out! And what terror was in his eyes...!

Were there any signs that people would believe in, that they would guard from death?

People wore some talismans, crosses. There were people that could feel premonitions of mortal danger. For example, there was one Kondrat Hugulava in our unit, a Georgian, with a large mug, we were partners, he saved me from death twice, and, of course, himself also. The first time they sent us to establish communications with a rifle regiment. So we were walking in a communication trench, and he said: "We won't go further." I asked: "Why?" "Won't go, we'll stay here!" We stopped, and in several seconds a shell fell right into the trench beyond a curve! We would've been killed there! The second time we were quartered during a bombing in a ruined house. He told me: "Let's get out of here and move to a different corner." We moved -- a bomb slammed into the corner where we had been. Such strange things happened. Premonition... I didn't have it.

How did you bury our killed soldiers?

Rather diligently in the second half of the war. There were burial details.

What personal firearms did you have?

I had a carbine, an SMG, a German SMG, I carried it to the very end of the war, but I didn't kill anyone with my personal firearms. Of course, I did have to use them, fired somewhere...

Right now you're holding a parachute from a German flare in your hands. Girls in Ukraine made blouses for themselves from such pieces of silk. There were no supplies of fabric back then. When a box of such rockets found its way to them, they cut off this silk, sewed it together, and it became a blouse.

Were there any women in your unit?

Not in our unit. Only some signaler girls appeared, eventually all officers married them. When later there was a reunion of the regiment's veterans in Moscow, I saw these old signalers, who came as our regiment's officers' wives of many years. Back then I had thought they were simply whores, but it turned out these relationships lasted for the rest of their lives.

What did you get your medal for?

I finished the war here. Austria.

The medal is for my participation in the fighting for Vienna. The combat there did not involve a lot of destruction, but there were heavy casualties.

And what was it for specifically? Which action?

You know, decorating for specific actions was practiced rather rarely at the front. Especially in artillery units, it was impossible to connect a specific person to a given successful strike of a shell, therefore, if a person participated in combat, displayed the necessary persistence, courage, then at some point they started making things up, wrote something specific in the award sheet, but in reality all that was fantasies. And so I was well regarded in the regiment, so at some point they added me to the decoration list. Then started making things up: "In fighting for such and such block displayed courage, disregarded mortal danger..." Such folklore.

You had been in a penal battalion? What was its structure? In what way could you "pay your debt"?

I was put into a penal company where there were about 150 of us. We were only armed with rifles. We had neither SMG's nor machine guns. All officers were regular commanders, not prisoners, but the soldiers and NCO's -- prisoners. You could get out of the penal battalion alive either due to being wounded, or if you gained commander's approval in combat, and he recommended that your conviction be removed.

How did you manage to get out? Your conviction was removed because of a recommendation?

Yes. It was at Taganrog on the Southern Front. I participated in reconnaissance-in-force. Since the situation was do-or-die, I diligently performed my combat task. It worked. Right after that it was recommended that my conviction be removed, and after several days I was called to the division HQ, to the court martial, where they removed my conviction. After that I was sent to a regular unit.

How long were you in the penal company?

Three weeks.

You talk about that time very sparingly. Why?

I told a lot about that to Yuriy Ivanovich, and he insisted many times that I describe it. But every time I tried to start it, I realized that it was beyond me, because I had to describe both being in the penal company and everything connected with that, for which you have to have a considerable literary talent. To write about it superficially -- that's not serious. At some point, many years ago, one very famous professional writer, after listening to my stories on this topic, insisted that I start writing. I wrote it, he looked it over and said that it was rubbish, intelligentsia shit (in Russian (and Soviet) society, intelligentsia is a quasi-class made up of people who earn their bread by intellectual labor and are distinguished by manners and culture - trans. ). I've never tried it after that. The thing is that lengthy wandering around Kuban' preceded my appearance in the penal company. It so happened that I was left completely without papers and the sentence. We had one set of papers for the three of us, and the other two ran away without me, and I was left alone and without any papers. Everything that followed was like a wild adventure with an extremely disturbing outlook. And the period of time before the court martial, when I was in a cell for those sentenced to death, also requires description, it cannot be avoided, but it's very hard to describe it in the literary sense. So far I can't figure out how to do it.

What was the most terrifying thing?

An attack -- that's the hardest test. You know that you might get hit, but you have to keep moving toward it -- that's horrible! It was difficult to get up, and the feeling that most probably you wouldn't come back, that was also hard. Mortar shelling was terrifying and machine gun fire. There was enough of everything. Tracer fire, when it starts from above, and you only see the luminescent line lower, lower, falling toward you, now it will reach your level and cut you in half. Well, in short, war is war, what is there to talk about.

And then you found yourself in the Guards mortars?

No, not immediately. I was sent to an infantry unit from the penal company, in the infantry unit I was transferred to the 2nd Reserve Army Regiment, located in the city of Azov, to where I walked from the front line. There they sent me to a detachment of candidates to the officers' school, where they would teach me to become a tank commander. But I had already known what it was like to be a tank commander, that's why I deserted from there. I simply ran away.

What does it mean to be a tank commander?

It's disgusting. It's the same as being a soldier, but you have to be responsible for everybody on top of that. I didn't want to be an officer at all. That's why when they came to pick out people to some artillery unit, I simply left with them. Threw my knapsack into the truck and left. I could find myself in front of a firing squad in those times for doing that, but it turned out well. And so I remained in that regiment. Then, when we arrived to the front line, it turned out to be a Katiusha regiment. That was lucky! They fed us well there, dressed us excellently, the casualties were significantly lower. I was extremely happy that I had become a part of such an excellent unit.