REGISTRATION CHECK LIST :
1. Have you filled in all the required fields? 2. Have you entered a valid e-mail address? 3. Have you confirmed your email address by activating the link send to you?
If you've done all of these, and still can't see your profile on the site, do not hesitate contact us.
  • ×
    Email login
    Restore Password
    Enter your email address or phone number provided during registration. Then click "Restore".
    cancel
    Confirm your Phone
    We sent to your phone SMS with a verification code . Please enter the code in the box below and click «Submit»
    Restore Password
    In your e-mail we have sent a verification code, enter the code in the box below , enter the new password , confirm it, and then click «Set Password» Confirmation code is valid for 10 minutes.
    On your phone number we will send an SMS with a confirmation code , enter the code in the box below , enter the new password, confirm it, and then click «Set Password» Confirmation code is valid for 10 minutes.
    cancel
    Registration successful!

    This page will be
    refresh through 1 sec.

    refresh the page

    Login successful!

    This page will be
    refresh through 1 sec.

    refresh the page

    Password changed successfully!

    This page will be
    refresh through 1 sec.

    refresh the page

    Unknown error!11

    An unknown error occurred.
    Reload the page and try again!22

    refresh the page

    Log in
  • Register

PRICES New!

Practise and Publish

The  THE INTERNATIONAL SUMMER WRITING CONTEST is closed.
But ICAN Club will continue its encouragement program.

Young Learners will be awarded a Winner Sticker for each post which scores +500 points 
Five Winner Stickers = a prize
Read more here

Adults will be offered a 5 per cent discount to attend a session in ICAN Club for each post + 1500 points.  
Read more here

But do not write for prizes. Prizes are just a game to keep you interested and feel appreciated. 

Writing for publication will dramatically improve your essays and will get you to the next level of real-life communication. Staying in top three longest will be randomly awarded by ICAN Club's prizes.

Five reasons to develop writing skills:

1. Writing is a powerful tool to develop your career.
2. You can voice your opinion and make a change.
3. Writing helps reflect on your life and make the best of it. 
4. We are living in amazing times. Record, document, share!
5. Writing is fun and boosts creativity.

Tags

Photostream

A Tragic Death a Day Before Victory. A True Story from a WWII Veteran

A Tragic Death a Day Before Victory. A True Story from a WWII Veteran

  • By Val
  • Posted May 8, 2017
Add to favorites

The soldier in the photo is my father, Stepan Fiodorovich Sidorov. The photo was taken in 1945. He was 23 years old then.
My father joined the Red Army on July 12, 1941, a month after leaving secondary school, and finished the war at the Elbe in 1945.

He served in cavalry, in a forty-five-caliber gun squadron. During defense operations those light guns were often used in the front line to destroy tanks. The soldiers were literally looking death in the face during each battle. 

In 1997 my father published a book of memoirs, where  well-known historic events of WWII, such as battle of Stalingrad, liberation of Belarus, meeting the Americans on the Elbe are described as they were experienced by a rank and file soldier. 

Here is an episode from his book that describes events of May 1945, right before the Victory. 


... On May 02, the ‘Berlin operation’ was successfully completed. The capital of Germany was taken. Upon hearing this news, we were inspired. Talk amongst us was incessant: 

"Can you believe it? The war is nearly over!"

"Yes! We are heading to the Elbe - there are Americans on the other bank! No enemy to fight! I am sure we will hear about the Nazi's capitulation any minute now!"

However, it was too early to become carefree. 

We were not aware that casualties still lay ahead.

Albert Bogush was the youngest soldier in our artillery squadron. Still under 18, it was only very recently that he had been called up to service.  Albert was our wireman. He didn't have a horse; and instead moved around using a bike.

By the time Albert came to the front, everyone in our unit had already received war related accolades, orders and medals, of which many of us had several. Albert was an exclusion in this regard. He didn't have a single medal. The reason was plain: having joined the front when he did, there had been no opportunity to earn such accolades. Albert was deeply burdened by the fact that he was ‘empty’ in this regard. The thought of returning home empty handed ate at him, and he was avidly seeking an opportunity to join the ranks of the ‘worthy’. Someone advised Albert that if he captured a German soldier, who were still hiding in the forests, he would receive a medal. As a result, young Albert was acutely alert to his surroundings, and was on the look out for a chance to ‘earn’ his medal.

On that day the squadron was riding fast through a forest trying to get to the Elbe as soon as possible. There were no enemies, no fighting. Suddenly Albert noticed someone crossing a fire break, and without saying a word to anyone he took chase. His platoon commander noticed what happened, and quickly instructed a soldier, named Dunin, to stop Albert. Dunin turned his horse and galloped after him. But right at that moment German soldiers, who were hiding in the forest, attacked us! We fought back, and our collective attention was drawn away from the young wireman. It was only after the battle, once the enemy had withdrawn back into the forest, that our commander Captain Gorobchuk turned to Dunin and said:

"You had an order to return Bogush. Why didn't you carry it out?"

"I could not catch up to him. My horse got shot. The fighting began. I was obliged to return."

Captain Gorobchuk ordered a search of the forest. The platoon rushed in, surrounded the area where Bogush had made a turn into the fire break and started raking through the area.  The Germans, who were hiding in the forest, understood that there was no escape; they surrendered. When we reached the fire break, we made a tragic discovery. We found the dead body of young Albert, with Dunin's horse always lying motionless at a distance.

What a tragic, stupid death! We were terribly upset by the loss of Albert; especially given that he was so young, and in light of the fact that his death could have been avoided.

We all understood that Albert could not imagine himself coming back home from war without having earned any accolade. We understood his fear of being mistaken for a coward or the like… 

But: war is not a game. 

***************************
Translated by Valiantsina Holubeva
Edited by Omran Matar (The Australian in Belarus):
https://vk.com/id415914287?w=wall415914287_6/all

The war photos credit: http://army.lv/ru/53-k/foto/1109/516/

Additional photos

Author
About Author

Valiantsina (Val) is the founder and leader of ICAN Club, the owner and the admin of this site. She is the person to approach whenever you need help or advice. Val is an experienced teacher of English, who has worked in a variety of contexts and capacities and also as an interpreter/translator for international organizations, such as the World Bank, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, etc. She is an ideal candidate for cross-border creative educational projects.

Comments (0)

To leave a comment, please, register and log in