THE RED ARMY INFANTRYMAN

I disagree with the first part.

 

I don't think the average Russian soldier needed an officer other than to supply him and tell him where the enemy was. Officers tended to disappear when the bullets started flying anyway.

 

Ive never heard that about Soviet officers.

 

Do you have a source you can quote?

 

I think it may be a "open mouth insert foot" moment for me. A comment made in haste.

(sounds of someone digging a foxhole)

I can only remember 2 instances of someone claiming the officers "disappeared" during battle. One was at the battle of Smolensk/Yelna where a soldier stated that he and his fellows were abandoned by their officer during a German attack. The other one was of a young soldier that was trapped in a ravine with his unit while being mortared to pieces and the officers disappeared.

Both were read on the internet. I'll see if I can find them.

(hunkers down in hole)

 

That's all right, I also have the habit of misplacing my extremities

I suppose those officers you mean (I accept those appear in all armies) would have a very short life expectancy

Now keep digging!

 

I'm still looking for the articles, it was a long time back and the siye may not be on the internet anymore. It had 4 or 5 personal accounts of soldiers from various battles.

One told of the battle close to Ponri in the northern part of the Kursk bulge. They were fighting over a small farm on a hill with several buildings. The germans were in posesion of of the main house and the front slope of the hill the Russians were in the barn and a small shed and the opposite side of the hill. It was a terrible fight with both sides attacking and counter attacking all day. The final exchange happened when a german officer saw his men were flagging during another attack and he ran from his hole and led the charge. A soviet officer saw this and did the same thing. As it turns out the germans were too beat up to continue and after their officer was wounded they retreated to front of the hill and the russian soldiers got the top of the hill.

There is a lot of good, brave officers also, on all sides.

 

Bump for old times sake LOL.

 

64th's comment made me think of a book, Stalin Organ. I think the translated English version is titled The Stalin Front, about an approximate situation where a Russian storm battalion overran the German trench lines but the offensive stalled out, and the antagonists clawed at each other to get back to their own lines. It was written by a certain Gert Ledig who was in a pioneer and then a penal unit near Leningrad. Great book.

 

Don't sweat it - your english is fine and thank you for making yourself available for questions - it's much appreciated.