Heroes 06/03/20 Alexander Serov: the best artillery of the great Patriotic
About the heroism of Sergeant and Deputy political Commissar battery 636 artillery regiment Alexander Serov, the General public knew nothing for several post-war decades.
meanwhile, the hero, shot down 18 German tanks recovered after severe wounds and lived to be 83 years old. High awards for unique baptism of Alexander F. never received.
the Teacher taught a lesson
Serov to call in the prewar 1940 in the red army, he graduated from teachers College in Omsk in the field, taught in his homeland, in Siberia, in a rural school. Before the great Patriotic war, 22-year-old Alexander rose to the rank of senior Sergeant and as people with specialized secondary education, had the post of Deputy political Commissar of the artillery regiment battery.
On the second day of the war the artillery regiment, where he served as A. F. Serov, took up positions in the area of highway leading to the Lithuanian city of Siauliai. After artillery preparation the Germans threw to the forefront of Soviet protivotankovy over 40 medium tanks Pz.III and Pz.IV. The stories of the A. F. Serov, he got up to 76-millimeter guns in place of the dead gunner, and didn’t move from the mast of a gun, until it fell upon him severely wounded by fragments of shells exploding near.
Tanks to approach at close distance (300 metres). Serov decades later told ORT that he was sure in his every shot is direct fire. The young gunner quickly respond to maneuvers of Hitler’s tanks and destroy them one by one. Only during the second tank attack the Germans began to beat hard in gun Serov. For a long time, their shells did not reach the goal, but the splinters wounded everyone who was in the gun calculation. After the gun Serov struck the eleventh tank, in the leg and wounded the senior Sergeant.
the Third attempt of Hitlerx “Panzerkampfwagen” was even more fierce. The gunners lost power, being repeatedly wounded. After the destruction of the seventeenth tank alive at the guns, one was left bleeding Alexander Serov. The eighteenth shot of the Pz.III fell and the Sergeant, struck by fragments from the exploding shells nearby.
So how many tanks?
Various sources that the calculation of A. F. Serov destroyed 18 tanks of Hitler’s (some media, in particular ORT, talked about 11) and one assault gun in just 2 hours. According to others, in which, in particular, uses the memoirs of Alexander Fedorovich, the injury that finally “turned off”, gunner, gunner got on the second day of the battle.
the Number “18” is displayed in the memories of veterans 636 artillery regiment in the Soviet publicistic literature. Historians claim that before any gun estimation in the great Patriotic war, such a record of destruction of enemy tanks supply failed.
buried Alive on paper awarded
Serov miraculously survived and was being treated in hospital in hospital. Initially, it blamed “outright” and the hero returned home in Siberia, but 2 months before the end of the war artillery was called again. It is noteworthy that until the last call in the army Serov had time to notice his own death in battle.
By the way, in the book A. Volkov “Artillery” 1953 edition about Serov said how about “Komsomolets, who was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.” However, for participation in the great Patriotic war A. F. Serov was initially only awarded medals “For victory over Germany” and “For valiant labor in great Patriotic war”. In civilian life, the former gunner returned to his former profession as a teacher, then he was appointed Director of the school. Worked well, was awarded the order “badge of Honor” and the title of honorary citizen of the district.
About the remarkable battle of Siauliai veteran long been told, and if not Lithuanian historians, to find Siberian 20 years later after the Victory, is unlikely to be a learned about the number of destroyed tanks Serov. Petition for assignment of A. F. Serov title of hero of the Soviet Union were not successful in the postwar period the veteran was awarded only two orders of the Patriotic war, not counting commemorative medals.
Alexander F. Serov died in 2002, was buried in his homeland.
Nicholas Syromyatnikov
Source:
© Russian Seven
Featured articles Share: Comments Comments on the article “Alexander Serov: the best gunner the great Patriotic war” Please log in to leave a comment! br>
Share on Tumblr
