|
|
Interview with Rumyantsev Nikolai Andreevich by Oleg Korytov
and Konstantin Chirkin
Redactor: Igor Zhidov
Special thanks to Svetlana Spiridonova and Eugene Rudman
Photo: Rumyantsev, 1945
Rumyantsev Nikolai Andreevich: I was born on 28 May, 1925, in
a Semovo village, where I spent my childhood until the age of 17. It used
to be the Chegodishenskiy district of Leningradskaya Oblast. In 1939, just
before the war, it was given to Vologodskaya Oblast. (Oblast = county).
My grandfather, Artemii Karpov, lived for 101 years. After the revolution
he left Petrograd, and lived in his old dacha. (Dacha – it’s something
like village house). When he died our family moved there. My dad served
in the Tsars army for seven years, and was demobilized because of poor
health condition. During GPW, he was an engineering battalion commander
in Lodeynoe Pole. Their main task was to dig trenches and build dugouts.
My second sister was also in the army, and she was commander of a tractor
brigade.
Not all women were enlisted, only those who had some specific specialities,
like tractor drivers. My younger sister Maria Andreevna died during the
blockade, from hunger in Mechnikov’s hospital. Older sister was crippled,
and also died in Leningrad.
Our family was very big – there were five boys and three girls. The
girls were oldest, then my older brother was born, but he died at the age
of 5. Then I was born. Two of my brothers are still alive. My mom worked
at Kolhoz, and was even awarded by Kalinin for great work.
— You lived in the village until the age of 17? Did you finish the
school there?
I finished seven years of school, and was about to apply for mechanization
college, which was at 70 kilometers from our school. But war broke out,
and my life changed drastically.
— Did you have the feeling that war was coming?
There was something in the air... but I was somewhat prepared. There
was a voenruk in our school, Pavel Alexandrovich Adrianov, and he always
told us:
— Gun powder should always be dry!
And that is what I want to tell you:
— Peace is good thing, but guns should be ready to fire at any moment!
On 22 July, we met at the river bank. There was me, my neighbour Vasilii
Gavrilovich and Pavel Merkushev, who came from a nearby village. Very early
(I did not have a watch at the time) a horseman came. We understood by
the expression on his face that something important had happened. We ran
towards him, and he gave us orders:
— Boys, I need your help.
He sent us after the most important people in our village. Selsovet
chief came dressed more suited for a sauna… (Selsovet – an administration
of the village). He got dressed in a hurry, opened the selsovet and gave
out mobilization orders. At 11 or 12 o’clock, we listened to Molotov’s
speech. Those who got an order to go to the army were by this time sitting
in the beds of the trucks. As we listened to Molotov’s speech, they set
off.
Starting on 24 June, 1941, my working life begun. Kolhoz chief, Uncle
Misha, gathered the youngsters together and assigned us to different jobs.
I thought that, since I was very small, there would be no work for me,
but he called my name and told me:
— Here are the keys from the mill, you will be the miller.
I asked:
— How can I be the miller? I’m too small and weak…
— You will be the chief miller, and you will take notes and stuff,
and I will give you a subordinate miller, who will do all the dirty jobs.
From 24 June, 1941 until 25 December, 1942, I was a miller. On 25 December,
I was enlisted into the army. At medical commission we all were standing
naked at one side of the room, and on the other side was a table, where
a commission was seated. Among commission members was a Gypsy guy, and
when I said that I want to go to flight school, he told me:
— You will be in my company.
That’s how I ended up in «Lepelskoye voennoe uchilishe Krasnyh
komandyrov», it was located in Cherepovec. (Lepelskoe red army officers
school). It was evacuated from somewhere in Latvia or Estonia.
On 23 February 1943, we were given new uniforms with shoulder straps.
Photo: Rumyantsev on 23.02.1943. Cherepovec.
— When did you finish your education?
We were taught for four months. January, February, March and April,
and we were considered to be ready for practice at the frontline. We were
dressed, received all that we needed, but at the last moment an order came
that we will have extended training for another four months. So, my training
lasted until August 1943. I remember my teachers – they were great! I will
never forget how they said:
— Your best friends are stones and bushes! Do not forget to keep low.
And they would drop into the mud to show us how to keep low.
— Did you get an officers rank when you left school?
No. We had to go to the front line for practice. Three battalions, three
companies each were sent to Kharkov. After that we marched to Valuiki railway
station. Housing around it was completely burned down. The station still
exists today, but the village was not rebuilt.
My front line experience started from there in the 734th rifle regiment.
When we were lined up at Kharkov, a man with glasses came before us:
— I’m Konev. Drop all heavy stuff on the ground and run to Valuiki.
That’s seventy kilometers away! We started running at 11 or 12 o’clock
at night, and by 7 or 8 in the morning we already were at the defined location.
— Did you have weapons with you?
No. When we arrived to Valuiki we were given PPSh’s and PPD’s, but
I got only a Nagant revolver.
— Was it a good weapon?
Decent enough. It was quite good on long range, and it fit in the hand
quite well… Very stable gun!
— What post did you get at the regiment?
Rifle detachment commander. I had seven men in my detachment. But my
commanding time was short. In the first attack I was wounded, and I was
wounded a second time in my second fight.
— How long did artillery preparation take place before attack?
It started from both sides, almost simultaneously. It began at 4 o’clock
in the morning, and lasted until 8. It was quite effective too. I saw how
German pillboxes and bunkers blew up…
— What about aviation?
Quite a lot of Sturmoviks flew…
— As an infantry man, what did you think of the Sturmovik?
Oh… It was such a pleasant view. They would drop hundreds of small
bombs… Or sometimes they would drop 250 kilo bombs, and then even our trenches
would shake…
— Aviation was represented by Il’s only?
Just before the artillery shelling, U-2’s would come. They would come
in close, and we heard how wind whistled in their wiring… Then we would
hear an explosion, and then an engine would roar, and they would hurry
back. In an hour or two before actual attack time, Il’s and bombers would
come…
— Was there fighter cover by our air force?
Yes.
— Were you bombed?
Several times… Once a week, maybe…
— Who bombed you?
Junkers-87.
— In your opinion, how effective was their bombing?
At the front line – completely ineffective. Quite commonly bombs fell
in the “no man’s land”… They were way too afraid to get into our airspace.
It was 1943. Our air force had complete supremacy.
— When you were wounded the first time, how long you were in a hospital?
You know, I did not even notice when I was wounded. I was not in the
first rank already, and suddenly it felt like someone hit me in the head
with a stick… In the evening I went to the kitchen, and someone told me:
— Sergeant, why is your back covered in blood?
Our medic checked my head, and told me:
— You have to go to the hospital!
But I decided that I was still capable of fighting. So he bandaged
my head, and I returned to the company. I am still alive due to the fact
that I wore a helmet. Otherwise, I should have died…
— As I understand, your detachment was multinational. Was there some
racial discrimination?
If you were in my detachment, and fought well – who cared, if you were
Jewish, black, yellow or blue… Same if you got frightened and ran away
– who cared what your nationality was? These problems can arise only in
peace time, when there is no way out for aggression.
— How did you get your second wound?
The second wound was by bullet, which hit me right under my knee. I
managed to cut it out with my pocket knife.
— Was it quite painful?
The pain came the next day…
— What about your second wound?
It happened near Kremenchug, at night of 13-14th october. That’s when
I was sent to the hospital. We were supposed to cross Dnepr, to the south
of Kremenchug. For starters we stood in ice-cold water for four or five
hours – we couldn’t get out of the water. After we crossed Dnepr in the
morning, a mortar shell exploded behind me, fragment damaged my right elbow.
A paramedic, a girl, ran to me, bandaged my hand, and fixated it:
— Well, Nikolay, you had it! Wait until night, all of the shore line
is under fire.
So I waited until dark…
— Did the Germans shoot paramedics?
They shot all, and did not care who the target was… So in the evening
I found a log, and swam across the river.
— How wide was Dnepr at that place?
About 800 meters.
— And how long did you take to cross the river?
About an hour. When I finally came to our shore, I could hardly move.
After some rest, I marched for ten kilometers to the field hospital. There
was a nightmare – hundreds of wounded were lying there. Since I was able
to move, I was sent to Kobylyaki, and then I was loaded onto the medical
train. At Kharkov, I was sent to the local hospital – my wounds were itching,
and when I moved the bandage to the side, I saw white maggots. It’s quite
an unpleasant feeling, when you are being eaten alive… So my wounds were
cleaned and I was sent further, to Bobry, near Voronez… There, the hospital
was in the former school. Me and my ward mate, Pavel Chernov were in some
small room. I remember that he had his whole throat torn to pieces. A doctor
checked me, and said:
— We will operate on you tomorrow.
All in all I was operated for seven times… There was an inflammation,
and no antibiotics...
— What happened after hospital?
Then I moved to Otrozhki railway station. There was an accumulating
point for all of the wounded soldiers who were about to return to active
duty. It was in April, 1944. A day passed, another passed, then:
— Artillery men!
Artillery men left our barracks… By this time I had spoken with aviators,
and decided to fulfill my dream. Besides, I decided that if death would
get me, it would be a lot nicer to simply burn to death, than to rot on
the battlefield. So, when an aviation representative came and called aviators
out, I stepped out front. He saw my infantry marks, and asked:
— Why have you stepped out?
I answered:
— I want to be in aviation! If my time comes, I want to die “with music”!
— How is your hand?
My hand was not in the best condition yet, but my handwriting was good.
— Well, start writing the candidates. I need 60 men!
He got his sixty men, and we went to Kuybyshev. We were told that we
were sent to aviation school, but it turned out to be gunner school. I
had to pass medical commission, but there was some colonel from my village,
who recognized me, and arranged a passage for me.
The airfield was located about seven kilometers from city, and we were
living in dugouts. There also were about a dozen planes. At first we made
3-4 sorties each, under supervision by doctors. Some of my mates were signed
out after this test. Training lasted for two months.
— What did your training consist of?
Radio for two hours, machine gun UBT, aiming.
— Were you told about it’s deficiencies?
Quite commonly belts would tear apart. But that happened due to the
fact that we were not looking at the ammo and machine guns, and used what
we were given. That’s good enough in peace time, but not in war time. You
have to check the weapon by yourself, and then there will be no “hiccups”.
A belt had 180 bullets in it, and if you checked every single one –
then you could be sure that there would be no problems. I even used to
carry a second belt with me, and if the first one was expended, I could
reload my gun. After two months we were raised by alarm:
— Comrades! We are leaving immediately to Kharkov…
Again I had to go to that town. From there we were sent to Chuguev.
There was a huge airfield, and on the right half there were our planes,
and on the left half there were American bombers with escort fighters.
— By the way, what was your opinion about opening a second front?
At first we had no opinion. It was opened when we did not need it.
After all, we decided that it would be better if our allies stayed at the
British Isles. They had no idea how to fight modern war, and as the Germans
would kick their butts, we would be sent to a new offensive to relieve
the pressure on them, without any preparations. American and British success
was mostly paid for with Russian soldier lives…
— What were the Americans doing in Chernigov?
They landed at this base after bombing Germans, and then bombed them
again on their way back.
So, the time came for us to be spread out to our new crews:
— Five men for 232 ShAP!
So we stepped out... We were introduced to our new commander Tkachev,
who directed me to 2nd squad, which was commanded by HSU Piskunov Vasilii.
He said:
— Who’s Rumyantsev?
— Me!
— Do you have combat experience?
— Yes.
— This is your pilot – lieutenant Vorontsov.
He died two years ago… That’s how I got to 2nd squadron of 232nd ShAP,
289th ShAD of 7th ShAK.
As usual in aviation, we “walked through the flights” first, and then
we started flying. We made several familiarization flights before we started
combat missions. I got lucky again. Vorontsov was squad commander’s wingmen,
so we did not fly in the rear of the formation.
— What kind of Il’s did you have? Plain or swept winged?
We had plain wing versions only…
— Did you have a canopy?
Gunner’s canopy? Yes, but we used to remove it in order to increase
view… And we had a special rope to tie ourselves to the aircraft. Sometimes
gunners would be thrown out of the plane even if they were tied…
— What kind of seat did you have?
On a piece of fabric, about 15 cm wide…
— What kind of armament did you have?
Two cannons, two machine guns in the wings… «Il-2» and
«Il-10» the same. UBT as a protection for us.
— Do you remember your tactical number?
Yes, "twenty four". Squad commander loved number “thirteen”. Numbers
were black in color... Planes came in a single green color finish. There
were stars on the lower wing, fuselage and keel, underside was blue.
— Did your planes carry FRE?
No.
— What about insignias and pictures?
It was forbidden in our regiment.
— What about kill marks?
Yes, we used to draw those.
— Did you have a kill mark yourself?
Only an unconfirmed one.
— Could you tell us about that episode?
Four planes were gaining on us. Blunt-nosed - «Focke-Wulfs».
I called my pilot while aiming:
— Yurii – I have four enemy planes in my sight…
And I shot at them… I knew that they were way too far, but I had to
warn other gunners about incoming threat, and to show enemy pilots that
there will be no surprise here for them. So I made four short bursts.
— How many bullets you could fire in one burst?
It depended on many factors. From one to fifteen usually, but the longer
the burst, the more bullets you wasted. Only the first one or two bullets
hit the target, all the rest would go elsewhere… One enemy fighter got
below us, and I shouted to my pilot:
— Yurii, raise the nose!
That is, I asked to lower our tail in order to be able to shoot at
the enemy. So he did, and we with Fokker pilot were shooting at each other.
And we both hit. He was faster than we were, so he passed us. I could even
see his face, but had no chance to add some more to him – the turret had
its limitations…
— Was there a gunsight on your UB?
I can’t remember it’s name now – collimator sight?
— By the way, were there single-seat planes in your regiment?
Not a single one. Starting from 1943 – none. I even knew gunners, who
flew as gunners in single-seat planes. For example, Piskunov’s gunner Nikolai
Turchin made 240 combat sorties. Our engineers cut a hole in the fuselage
behind the pilot’s cabin, and made a turret with ShKAS machine guns…
— Did you have armor for yourself?
Yes, there was a 10mm armored door to the fuselage…
— Any armor on the sides?
No, and there also was no armor below me.
— Some gunners state that they used frying pans to protect themselves
from small-arms fire?
No. I do not remember anything like that…
— How long could the Il-2 last?
From April 1944, until 9 May, 1945, we hadn’t changed our airplane.
— How many missions have you flown?
I made 70 sorties. There are quite a few gunners that lasted that long
in combat.
— Were you shot down?
We were severely damaged and had to belly-land near the front line…
— Who suffered bigger losses, gunners or pilots?
Most commonly, the whole crew would be lost, but there were some occasions
when a pilot came back with the gunner killed. In the 3rd squad, a pilot
came back with a killed gunner – he got a direct hit by an explosive shell
in the head. This guy was a good artist, and he used to draw a regiment
stamp for us, and we even received vodka with these false documents. He
was such a cheerful boy… And now he was dead… If I remember correctly,
he used to fly with senior lieutenant Trusevich, who should still be living
in Moscow.
— By the way; there was a color coded lamp communication system
in the Il?
Yes: Red, green, and white in the middle. Before taking off we would
agree on the meaning of each lamp.
— Sorry, I interrupted you story about that Fokker…
Oh, yes… That son of a bitch… I even saw his face! Frontline observation
post announced that gunner of Il tactical number “24” shot down enemy plane.
When we came back to the regiment, we were seriously shot up, and when
we made our approach, the landing gear did not lower, so we made a belly-landing,
even though there was an order from the ground to bail out. When the propeller
started to catch ground it threw some of the mud into my cabin. I always
flew without a canopy…
— All your sorties?
From the first one. I was an experienced man, had fought on the ground
in the infantry, and everybody accepted my decisions without any discussion.
…So we landed. An ambulance came, the regiment commander… As I was
covered with mud, I was sent to the hospital for check-up, but I was unharmed
and needed a bath only… But I did not get a credit for shooting down that
Fokker, even though there was a confirmation from ground forces.
Photo: -,Rumyantsev,Voroncov, Zelenin
— You made 70 sorties, was it one flight per day, or 3-4 flights?
It all depended on weather conditions. Yes, some times we flew three
times a day, at the Baltic for example, near Neman. By the way – we were
escorted by French Normandie-Neman regiment there.
— So, how did you like French pilots? They are commonly accused
of being too hungry for kills…
I don’t know… They seemed to be good at covering, at least us…
— By the end of war, had you seen enemy fighters?
At the end – I can’t recall any…
— What caused the most losses – fighters, or AAA?
From small caliber AAA - Oerlikon…
— Were you able to see where they shoot from?
Of course. You see the flashes. And I always wanted to shoot at them.
My commander always yelled at me:
— I did not allow you to shoot!
I answered:
—I’m shooting at the target that I see, or where your bombs blew.
I always wanted to shoot at the enemy…
— Why did he shout at you?
We had to keep ammo for aerial fighting.
— You said that you had a 180-round belt, and you had a second with
you.
Yes, the second was lying under my feet, and I held it by stepping
on it. But it is not so easy to rearm in flight…
— Did you have any problems with you UB?
No, I always prepared my gun myself, and thus I never had any conflict
with it.
— I heard over radio that one gunner made a hatch in the Il’s belly
and fired a DP machine gun from it at the ground targets…
I had a pistol and PPSh, and even took it with me to the plane… But
to make a hole in the fuselage? That’s lies! For scratching the plane you
might get court martialed! We only could kiss our planes! Making holes
was left for the enemy.
— How many runs you could make in an attack?
When our regiment fought in Krimea, at Perekop, they made up to thirteen
runs. From my memory, we would make four or five, and I remember how the
squadron commander used to say:
— Gunners, do not shoot at ground, leave ammo for return flight.
Enemy fighters caught returning planes without any ammunition left.
That was specifically common in Baltic area. They would not even attack
groups that had not strafed enemy yet.
— Did you hear anything about German aces during the war?
No.
— Did you know who you fought against?
No. Germans, and that was enough.
— How far you could fly into enemy held territory?
Hunters could fly up to two hundred kilometers.
— When a hunter flew out, did he choose the area of operations by
himself, or he was given one by staff?
He had an area defined by staff, but had free choice of targets within
it. I remember our pilot Dyubanov, with his gunner, flew a hunter mission,
their plane was damaged, and he rammed some train. And he fought from the
first day of the war, and was killed a few months before war ended… It
was February or March, 1945…
— Could you tell us, what was the least desirable mission for you?
The worst mission was hunter mission… It was quite common to become
lost in one of those. Bevelo Dmitrii Ivanovich was one of the lucky ones.
AAA round hit the pilot’s cabin, the pilot was killed and the plane entered
steep dive. Dmitrii was thrown out of the plane, even the cord was torn.
After that he wandered for a few days , and finally he made it through
the front line.
— Who was his pilot?
Malofeev. It happened in the beginning of May 1945. Bevelo also came
from the infantry ranks…
— And what was the best mission?
To sit in the canteen after a flight day. To be honest, there were
no missions that we would fly eagerly – death was way too close to us.
But we would fly all missions that we were assigned.
— How you were fed?
Fifth norm, plus NZ – canned milk, cookies… (NZ – untouchable supply.
It was stored inside of the plane, so that downed crew could have some
food. It was forbidden to eat this supply unless the crew got in an emergency
situation)
Photo: 1st row: Stepanenko, -, -, -, Dr Novozhilova, Dolgov, -
3rd row -, Lysenko, Lanko, Shapiro, -, Beskresnov, -, -, -, Petrnko,
-, -,Turchin, Berilo, -, Rumyantsev.
— Was the canned milk Russian made or American?
Ours. I saw imported canned products only in the infantry, either German
or American. We used to call it “second front”.
— Why?
Because we were completely fed up with promises of “second front”.
There was even a widespread joke:
Churchill came to Russian front line and asks Soviet soldier:
- If you would be lucky and captured Hitler, what would you do?
- I would take a metal rod, heat it up to red hot condition and stick
it up his ass by the cold side.
- Why by cold?
- So that you, Mr. Churchill, won’t take it out!
Back to supplies… We had cigarettes “Kazbek” and “Belomor” in aviation,
while in infantry we would get “Mahra” – chopped tobacco leaves.
— What did you do in your free time?
Different things. I made a set of instruments with colored handles,
for example…
— What was the locals attitude towards you?
We lived in their homes, but I saw no locals at all – they either left
with the Germans, or were killed during war. Later they started to return…
Photo: Grishenko, Turchin, Rumyantsev, Bartos
— Were you attacked by bandits?
Heard about it only.
— Have you heard about someone being used as gunner for penalization?
No. We had one pilot, a junior lieutenant, who flew so badly that he
was transitioned to fly as gunner, but that was it.
— Where were you when the war ended?
The village of Kolomozye, in the Baltic.
— How did you find out about it?
It was a great day. Pilot Mazin came to us… By the way, he got killed
in a flight accident, in peace time. He made a forced landing on water,
hit the dam, his gunner Petrenko Ivan survived, but Mazin died.
Photo: Dubno, Mazins funeral.
Vorontsov, Istomin, Ivlev, Sinelnikov, Zotov, Akulov, Mazinov, -,
-, Rekkonen, Kerilyuk, Rumyantsev, Shevelev, -.
— Let’s return to the Victory day.
Mazin came to our house, firing his pistol:
— Guys! War ended!
We jumped out of the window, in our underwear only, and started firing.
Photo:9th May, 1945. Official announcement of war end to 232 ShAP.
— After capitulation was signed, did you make any sorties?
Four more flights, we bombed somewhere near Klaipeda and Shaulai. Leader
was Zinin, and his gunner was Grigoryev. They were shot down, the pilot
was killed, while the gunner was captured by the enemy. It happened on
10th May, 1945. All planes were severely damaged that day.
— Who was the enemy?
ROA. (Russian Liberation Army, which was assembled from traitors,
White immigrants, and anybody who was willing to fight Red Army alongside
with Wermacht). They fought to the last man, because they knew – our
soldiers may forgive a German, but not a Russian fighting against Russians…
They used to shout:
— We are not Germans, we will not run away!
That was acceptable, and they were simply wiped out by artillery and
aviation. In the end there were two or three flyable planes left in our
regiment, so we were moved to the rear and received the Il-10
Photo: Miroshnichenko, Voroncov.
— When did you leave active duty?
In 1949, at Mlynovo. I think that’s about all I could tell you.
Photo: Mlynovo, Rumyantsev, 1949