‘What should we do?’ Stessel wanted to know from me.
But as I also did not know the answer, we decided to immediately inform the brigade staff. Three quarters of an hour later came the reply: ‘According to the Front Staff’s technical department the river bed is firm enough for a depth of one metre to be sufficient. Sokolov.’
The enemy kept on firing. We had dead and wounded, but the work went on. The place of someone falling out was immediately taken by another. Stessel’s men were used to all kinds of tasks. At the slightest failure of a pile-driver Sergeant Majors Krasnoshtchek and Permiakov were there and sorted it out.
General Proschliakov had ordered that the state of construction be reported to him hourly. It was already apparent how important the construction of the bridge was to the Front Staff. The work continued even at night. As the morning dawned the last planks were inserted. This work had been led by Captain Shirov. Several times Stessel had demanded: ‘Vassia, lie down for at least an hour. You have already been the whole day on your feet!’ But Shirov remained on the bridge. Nobody would leave his post voluntarily.
Exactly twenty-four hours after the work had begun the bridge was complete. Slowly a self-propelled ISU-152 gun inched over the bridge. Would the sappers’s efforts pass the test? The bridge sank a little under the weight of the gun. The men turned ice cold at the sight. It was the same with me. The gun rolled slowly forward. It worked! Once several tanks and self-propelled guns had crossed the bridge it had sunk 60 to 70 centimetres deeper. How far would it have sunk after hundreds of heavy tanks had rolled over it? But everything went well, the bridge held!
Through the self-sacrificing engagement of the sappers there were already twenty-five bridges across the Oder by the beginning of April. Guardsmen of the 17th Mechanised Battalion had participated in building three of them. Apart from this there were forty ferries with carrying capacities ranging from 3 to 60 tons.
Our 2nd, 4th, 5th and 7th Battalions were at the Küstrin bridgehead on the 16th April and were under the command of the 3rd and 5th Shock Armies. The members of these battalions had cleared the concentration areas and the approach routes of mines during March and early April. Parallel to this was the engineering reconnaissance, as well as the structural reconnaissance by the battalions, led by the reconnaissance teams from each company. The battalion commanders Koslov, Eiber and Issaiev spent many hours in the front lines observing the enemy defences. From time to time our sappers even went behind the enemy lines with the army scouts, reconnoitring the defensive mine layout behind the front lines and the terrain in the lines of attack.
In the woods north of Küstrin on the east bank lay the 3rd and 6th Battalions allocated to the 2nd Guards Tank Army. They had their hands full with the simultaneous testing of the river banks and the de-mining of the army’s concentration area and its approach route to the bridgehead.
In reserve were the 1st Battalion, the 6th Battalion for electrical barriers and the 8th Battalion for special de-mining tasks, who were preparing themselves for mine clearance in Berlin and its suburbs.
On the night leading to the 13th April paths through their own minefields were cleared for the 3rd and 5th Shock Armies. By midnight four to six paths for every rifle battalion and two to three paths for every tank company had been cleared. Altogether 340 paths were cleared in the 1st Byelorussian Front’s area, the sappers having cleared and deactivated 72,000 mines.
The night leading to the 16th April was stressful. Time seemed to stand still. Then, exactly at 0550 hours, the earth shook. Thousands of guns and mortars showered the enemy with a hail of fire. This hurricane of fire fell on the Seelow Heights for 70 minutes while 800 long-range aircraft bombarded the enemy’s second line of defence. Then 140 mighty searchlights lit up and blinded the enemy. The artillery moved their fire deeper into the defence. Two or three minutes later the infantry and tanks thrust forward. As it became light, the air was filled with the droning of aircraft engines.
Towards 0700 hours the first line of the main line of defences was breached almost along the whole front, but the resistance increased. Every metre had to be fiercely fought for. It was only on the morning of the 18th April that the second line of defence was breached.
As the attack began, the elements of our brigade in the rifle corps battle groups cleared the main lines of advance and de-mined them. Each battalion kept back a company at the commander’s disposal for expanding the gaps in the previous front line.
Our 3rd Battalion dealt with the Guards tank units. On the morning of the 14th April Lieutenant-Colonel Gassenko had received orders from General Joffe to concentrate his battalion in the Genschmar area by the 15th April, where it would then come under the operative command of the 9th Guards Tank Corps.
The battalion moved out of the bridgehead that night. The vehicles moved with their headlights masked. All equipment not specifically required was left behind with the Rear Services. Finally a deep penetration into the enemy hinterland lay before them. Near Alt-Schaumburg the column passed over a flat water bridge that had been constructed by the engineers while under artillery and air attack. Individual planks had been destroyed several times, but could be quickly replaced. The bridge reflected this: it was awry and crooked with ups and downs between the pillars. Here and there the planks of the decking had been replaced by solid poles, whose uncut ends stuck out widely over the water. The sappers had not had it easy here.
On the approach to the bridge all the lights were switched off and the vehicles drove carefully over the bridge. In the darkness there seemed to be no end to its 400 metres.
The bridgehead bore traces everywhere of bitter fighting. On the 14th and 15th April our units had forcibly cleared it and pushed the enemy back 2 to 4 kilometres. The land won that way was regularly studded with mines.
The commander of the 9th Guards Tank Corps, General Vedeneiev, explained the task to Gassenko. ‘Above all the corps’ concentration area must be checked and cleared of mines. Here and here.’ The general pointed to the map. ‘Secondly, check the two routes from the concentration area to the enemy’s front line and clear all mines to a width of 100 metres. The corps operates in two echelons. In the first echelon a tank brigade advances on each route, in the second echelon a tank brigade on the right-hand and the motorised infantry on the left-hand route. After the corps has driven into the breach there are two routes for the brigades to advance along to be reconnoitred and de-mined.’
By the morning of the 16th April the routes were ready and carefully checked. Towards midday the first tank officers met Gassenko to make themselves familiar with the routes and by 1630 hours the tanks were rolling westwards.
For the reconnaissance and clearing of the routes a sapper company was officially allocated to each of the brigades. The third company remained in the corps commander’s reserve.
The sapper scouts worked with the battle reconnaissance troops sent forward by the tank units. Should they come across mines, the sappers would sign them and make a way through for the tanks and armoured cars. By radio the tank troops informed the leader marching with the sapper platoon in the vanguard about the obstacles. If need be the company commander could send the two remaining platoons in support. Thus it was ensured that the route would be cleared before the arrival of the brigade’s main forces. The platoon with which the vanguard dealt had to be changed every two or three days because of the losses and severe strain on the nerves.