—— Red Army Sniper ——146‘Zhenya, get down! They’ll shoot you any minute!’ they shouted
at her from our trenches. ‘Duck into a shell hole! We’ll help you!’
Just ten metres from our trenches, Zhenya carefully laid down
her burden on the ground. And it was only at this point that the
Nazis came to. Like men possessed they opened a hurricane of fire
from their machine guns, but it was too late. Our troops managed
to jump out, seize the lieutenant’s now limp body and lower it into
a trench. With a forceful sweep someone also got Zhenya into the
trench. She could hardly move on her own...
Our Zhenya only came to herself when the mortar bombs
with which the Germans showered us had stopped whining.
‘You might offer me a smoke!’ she said, and immediately several
hands held out tightly packed pouches and rolled cigarettes ready
to smoke. Breathing heavily from what she had been through,
Zhenya greedily inhaled the shag tobacco. She sat semirecumbent
with her back against the trench wall and smiled, somehow not
believing that she had survived.
But just a week later our Zhenya, embarrassed by the
unaccustomed attention, was presented with the Order of the Red
Banner by the divisional commander in front of the regiment’s
assembled officers and men. It was her first decoration – for selfless
courage and saving the life of a Soviet officer.
Where is our little heroine now? Did she manage to evade
the Nazi bullets? Did she live to see Victory Day? And is her
feat known to people in her part of the country? That remains
to be found out. However, I know one thing: the scout platoon
commander, Lieutenant Pilipchuk did survive. After enduring
several subsequent operations, Ivan continued to serve in the
Tambov Region – in the military, as before.
Many years have passed since we celebrated victory over Nazi
Germany. I have had the opportunity to visit many cities over this
period. I have seen numerous memorials set up in honour of our
fallen soldiers, airmen, tank crews, gunners and sailors. But not
once have I seen a memorial erected in honour of our medical
staff, who saved the lives of thousands of men from all the services.