A thank-you letter which Vladimir Tseitlin received for a successful military actions

A thank-you letter which Vladimir Tseitlin received for a successful military actions

A thank-you letter, which I received for the successful military actions during liberation of the city of Kiev.

Death to German occupants!

To the participant in the battles for liberation of the city of Kiev from German invaders
To the comrade Tseitlin Vladimir Ellisivich
As per Order of the Supreme Commander - Marshal of the Soviet Union, Comrade Stalin as of the 6th of November 1943 our regiment and you as a participant of the battles is thanked for distinctive military actions in the struggle against German Fascist occupants.
The military council congratulates you on the success and expresses the assuredness that you will even stronger crush and exterminate sworn enemies of our motherland until their complete defeat .
Death to German invaders!
Military Council of the Army

In 1942, after finishing the Tomsk artillery school I was sent to the front. I was the senior officer of the battery. Our regiment was called SCR - supreme commandment reserve. The regiment was armed with 122-mm howitzer. It was heavy artillery. In 2 weeks our squad was sent to the north-western front. We appeared in the region Staraya Russa, in the vicinity of Demyansk. In Demyansk our troops besieged Germans but did not manage to do away with them as Germans broke through the siege. Our task was to exterminate German groups. I happened in the period of January-February 1943. We had fought in that area by spring and forced the river Glavat and took a defense position.

War is a daily hard labor. The artillery did not attack, but it did not mean that we were safe. We were frequently bombed by aviation and fired by the artillery of the adversary. German reconnaissance planes must have noticed our firing points. There were times when our positions were fired by the entire division over open sights. Of course, during the firing we hid in the shelter, but there were wounded. When we were taking positions, our life was getting calmer and more gradual. We lived in the dugs-out or in the huts. If the land was dry, we made the dugs-out. If it was not possible, we made log huts. Then logs were laid with stones for them not to be hit with fragments and shallow shells. Sometimes we settled in the houses of the local citizens, sometimes we had to live in the trenches. There were all kinds of things. We were well fed in the front.

Our battery consisted of about 100 people and 4 howitzers. The howitzer squad consisted of 8 soldiers and one commander. Battery commander was on the observation point and we fired from the closed firing positions as per his order. The observation point was prepared beforehand. The trench was dug, stereotelescope communication lines were installed. When the target was noticed the data was provided to make artillery calculations. As a senior officer I took the orders of the battery commander and gave instructions on the spot regarding aiming at the target and the timing of the firing.

I came to #41 artillery regiment of rifle division. Germans were vastly retreating and our troops were to persecute them until reaching Dnepr. I was on the major bridgehead to the north from Kiev: it was the attack point. In October 1943 there were fierce battles. We started artillery preparation. Kiev was attacked on the 3rd of November 1943 and on the 6th of November it was captured. It took us hard to take Kiev. Germans were counterattacking trying to undermine our assault. There were a lot of casualties, but nonetheless we captured Kiev on the 6th of November. Our division was conferred the title Kievskaya.

We liberated Zhytomir, right-bank Ukraine and moved forward. I had stayed in that regiment by the end of war. I was promoted in rank - now I was senior lieutenant. I joined the party during the war. It was mandatory for the officers, besides the procedure of entering the party was simplified.

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