—— Red Army Sniper ——168the front. On occasion crews composed of the factory’s workers
would man the repaired tanks and set off directly for the front
line and straight into battle with the Nazis. Specially organised
repair teams would set off for the front line and carry out repairs
to tanks and ordnance on the spot during battle. And, if necessary,
members of the team would load and carry the shells, or even
drive the tanks. Many Kirov staff had joined the militia and had
long been fighting at the front. The women and children took their
places at the lathes, replacing the husbands and fathers who had
gone to the front. Addressing those gathered, the speaker called
for maximum efforts to bring about a complete rout of the Nazis.
The speech was followed by the presentation of awards to
leaders in productivity. A directive read out from the works
director noted veterans of labour and the factory’s top workers. As
one who had attended many similar ceremonial occasions before
the war, I was surprised that neither on the presidium table nor
in its vicinity were there any of the items customary in such cases
- gramophones, guitars, pieces of cloth, cameras and other gifts,
which were generally prepared beforehand for presentation. Ivan
had similar thoughts.
‘What are they going to reward them with? Where are the
prizes?’ he whispered.
‘We’ll find out right now.’
‘For excellent results in his work, for training young qualified
staff, for personal courage, and for fulfilment of a special order
ahead of schedule, our renowned decorated master, Bushtyrkov,
Sergei Mikhailovich, is awarded.. .’
And how surprised Ivan and I were when, to a storm of
applause from those sitting in the hall, the distinguished master
went up to the table and was presented with two chits for supplies
from the factory stores... half a kilo of olive oil and a kilogram
of joiner’s glue. In response to my bewildered look, a neighbour at
the table said:
‘Don’t be surprised! For us at the moment it’s the most precious
prize. With the bucket of carpenter’s glue, you can make a bucketful