—— Red Army Sniper ——18Aircraft and Chemical Defence), and the ‘Voroshilov Arrow’.
‘You’ll be in charge of the group’ the lieutenant told me as he
handed over the ‘List of personnel in the sniper’s school within
the 14th, Red Banner, Regiment of the NKVD forces’. Apart from
those already named, the list included Valentin Loktyev, deputy
political instructor Yuri Smirnov, Sergo Kazarian and others. Vlad
Dudin, officially company political instructor and acting sergeant
major, was temporarily appointed as sergeantmajor of the sniper
school.
Our ‘academy’ commenced regular classes from morning
till night. The cadets strove to acquire as quickly as possible all
the tricks of the sniper’s art, which Lieutenant Butorin willingly
shared with us. On the first night, with an upturned round mess
tin pressed between my knees and by the light of a wick made from
a shell casing, I wrote a letter. As briefly and discreetly as possible
I informed Mum of the change in my life at the front. Taught
from childhood not to hide anything from my mother, I was now
compelled to write neither the whole story nor the whole truth;
I didn’t want to upset her again for nothing.
Letter from the front to a mother in Tambov:
Dear Mum,
There’s no need to worry about me. Yesterday,
unfortunately, I parted company with my work in
reconnaissance and my friends there. A pity; the fellows
there were all the right sort. Now I am engaged in study- deep behind the lines – there’s not even a whiff of
war here! I’m getting used to a new team. But I’m still
choosing my friends according to the principle: ‘Would
I go on a reconnaissance mission with you?’
True, the lads here are also sensible, friendly, cheerful
and brave.
Vlad Dudin and I are together as always. You know
him. Also here are both the Ivans – Dobrik and Karpov - who I’ve told you about.