Red Army face German counter-attack

17th September 1943: A Russian soldier describes using artillery pieces with fragmentation shells to fight off German infantry

Artillery section of 45-mm anti-tank gun M-42 is fighting under cover of a smokescreen. The Central Front, 1943.

A Red Army attack on a village in 1943.

On the Eastern Front the Red Army was now in pursuit of the Germans as they retreated to the Dnieper River. With them was Nikolai Litvin¹ who was serving with a light Artillery unit armed with three 45mm guns.

Litvin was travelling with a small attack force that was moving from village to village. They were accompanied by SMERSH counter-intelligence officers who were gathering information as they re-occupied each village - mainly on which of the residents had cooperated with the Germans.

The Germans came on, not firing, with submachine guns in their hands and grenades strapped to their bootlegs.