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The story sent by Vadim Shtepenko
My Great Grandfather, Sergey Alexandrovich Shipkov, was a Guards senior
sergeant. He was called up for military service in November 1941, and graduated
with a degree in radio. He was sent to the field on March 19, 1942, served in
the 48th Guards Mortar Regiment and was dismissed from service in the end of
1945.
I keep his Red Army card, a trophy machine gun, a cotton soldier’s blouse,
greatcoat, forage cap and high boots.
Grandpa fought in the battle for Stalingrad - his regiment was deployed
near the Kotluban Station. When I met him for the last time, he recalled how a
vehicle from his regiment got stuck during the offensive. There was a German
corpse by the road and it was placed under the wheel for lack of anything else.
The vehicle got out.
He did not like to talk about such things. His account of the first bombing
had such details that even I, a big guy, got frightened. He spoke about it as if
it didn’t happen with him. He was very calm and liked juggling, which he taught
himself as a child.
He told me another story, this time about a bad tooth. It happened at the
frontlines in 1944. There was only one method of treatment. The tooth was pulled
out and that was it. It was a molar tooth, but a new one grew in its place.
Granddad also fought in Ukraine and Romania. He almost escaped injuries
during the war miraculously. He received commendation from Stalin for the
Yassy-Kishinev operation, citations from commanders and faded food vouchers for
the military contingent.
He was awarded with medals “For Courage” and for the
liberation of Belgrade.
He then fought in Budapest. His 48th Guards Mortar
Regiment was part of the 2nd Mechanized Corps of the Second Ukrainian Front, and
fought in the battle for Lake Balaton with the remaining big tank forces of the
Germans (6th Tank Army of Joseph Dietrich). Once I saw my Granddad’s vehicle on
the photo in a book about Balaton.
At that time my great grandmother, his wife, was a nurse in a camp.
Granddad finished the war in Hungary. He was the first guard at the Palace of
Miklos Horti.
I have kept his decorations. He did not outlive his wife by very long.
He died on the 3rd of February in 2003, on the following day after the 60th
anniversary of the victory in the battle for Stalingrad. Needless to say, we
didn’t get anything from the local Military Commissariat. We never have
cartridges for much deserved salutes. Grandmother got upset. But it’s OK. He
heard enough salvoes in his life.
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