Lieutenant-Colonel Koslov’s 2nd Battalion was with the 26th Rifle Corps at this time, which was leading an obstinate fight around the Alexanderplatz and the surrounding streets.
I had to go to Koslov and asked my driver: ‘How do you find your namesake?’
‘Even if I don’t find anyone, Comrade Colonel, I will take you there to the millimetre. My vehicle is always tanked full. That is how things are when Koslov comes to Koslov.’
Volodia wanted to calm his nerves with a joke. Since the 21st April he had had only two hours sleep per day.
We drove along Frankfurter Allee. The broad street was blocked with heaps of rubble. One came across wrecked vehicles at every turn. White flags hung out of the windows, but there was no sign of the inhabitants.
The nearer we got to Alexanderplatz, the more the guns thundered. The command post of the 2nd Battalion was located in the cellar of a five-storey building just 30 metres from Alexanderplatz.
Lieutenant-Colonel Assonov reported: ‘We are fighting in Alexanderplatz, the Town Hall, the S-Bahn station and the Police Presidium. The units are working with the assault groups.’
At that moment the battalion commander entered the command post, his uniform covered in dust.
‘Twice we have tried to break through this damned wall, but it is still standing and won’t shake. We have only made a few blisters,’ grumbled Koslov unhappily.
The enemy was conducting a bitter defence near the command post. Some Panzerfaust men that had occupied a shop nearby made it especially difficult for us to act. A high wall had to be breached in order to get round the enemy. Sappers from the 2nd Battalion had twice tried to blow it in vain, and were now preparing a third charge.
‘What’s the matter, are the loads too small or don’t the calculations work out?’
‘Tregub and Kuberski experimented in the village,’ said Koslov, ‘but the walls there were not as thick as these are here.’
A soldier entered the cellar and handed Koslov a message. ‘The commander of the 2nd Company, Captain Artamonov, informs me that the wall has been blown. The storm group have forced their way in behind the shop and occupied the ground floor.’
Quite close we heard a hollow explosion and dust trickled down from the ceiling.
‘Assault guns,’ said Koslov unimpressed, and unfolded a map of Berlin. ‘At the moment our troops are attacking the Police Presidium, an old building with strong walls. The doors and windows are barricaded with sandbags. Tuschev’s company is cooperating with General Fomitshenko’s 266th Rifle Division. It won’t take much longer. Then they will attack the S-Bahn station and the Town Hall.’
The words ‘Town Hall’ gave me a jolt. That was somewhat similar to our own ‘Town Executive Committee’. There must be departments of the city administration there responsible for the various branches of the city’s economy.
‘Boris Vassilievitch, as soon as the Town Hall has been taken, send in a smart officer. He should look for the plans of the drainage system and the U-Bahn and bring them here. We could well need them for the fighting in the city centre. We must also use the underground facilities to get behind the enemy. But don’t forget that the Germans could suddenly appear behind them.’
The fighting in Berlin continued undiminished. Assault battalions and groups broke the bitter resistance of the enemy and forced their way step by step into the city centre. Our sappers played an important role as our troops surrounded the strongpoints, blowing breaches in the walls for our infantry to get behind the enemy’s backs.
On the 25th April elements of the 47th Army and the 2nd Guards Tank Army of the 1st Byelorussian Front that had gone round Berlin from the north met up in the Ketzin area with the 4th Guards Tank Army attacking from the south. Berlin was surrounded!
As before, we found Lieutenant-Colonel Gassenko’s battalion with the 2nd Guards Tank Army.
The many small rivers and canals going round Berlin formed a serious obstacle for our tanks. They were from 8 to 30 metres wide and most had firm banks. Numerous bridges went across these water obstacles that the enemy either blew or mined as we approached. The correct timing for the taking of a bridge depended often on the success of a whole division. Speed and dexterity were thus especially important. The allocated sapper reconnaissance units were carefully selected and well equipped, and were led by clever and decisive commanders.
On the 24th April the leading battalion of the 47th Tank Brigade reached a wood 4 kilometres east of Nauen. The scouts reported that both railway bridges over the Havel Canal had been blown. The bridges on the highway were undamaged but were strongly guarded and prepared for demolition.
We immediately sent a platoon of four tanks, submachine-gunners and a sapper platoon of the 3rd Guards Battalion. The tanks rolled forward under cover of a smokescreen and opened fire on the soldiers guarding the bridge. The German soldiers took cover, enabling the submachine-gunners and sappers to cross over the demolished railway bridge in the canal and attack the bridge guards from the rear. Sergeant-Major Sokol and Privates Demin and Varava rushed to the demolition cables. But before they could reach them they were knocked down by bullets. Immediately the commander, Captain Schimarovski, Sergeant Netschipurenko and Privates Buschuiev and Doronin replaced them. They cut through the ignition cable and neutralised the charges there of half a ton of Trotyl and three 250 kilogram bombs as the submachine-gunners gave them firing cover.
Once the charges were neutralised, Captain Schimarovski signalled the way clear with green flares. Now the 47th Tank Brigade was able to cross the bridges and enter Nauen. The Fascists fled, leaving their weapons and equipment behind.
Next day the leading battalion of the 9th Guards Tank Corps had to stop at the Sacrow–Paretz Canal near Potsdam. The railway and road bridges over the canal had been blown, and the enemy were firing from the opposite bank with artillery and mortars. The approaches to the destroyed bridges were covered by several machine-gun nests.
The middle span of the railway bridge had been blown, but the girders still lay on both outer ones. Lieutenant-Colonel Gassenko had a good look and decided to let the tanks drive over this bridge. Piles were made out of the bridge beams lying in the water, which reinforced the planks. While the bridge was being built, the sappers removed twenty mines from the approaches. The following morning the 65th Tank Brigade crossed over the repaired bridge.
Captain Kurnossov’s company also distinguished itself, ensuring the success of the 47th Tank Brigade, the sappers sitting on the tanks of the leading unit. Near the Brandenburg Gate they smashed into an artillery regiment on the march. In the pursuit of the fleeing enemy, two tanks crossed over the Silo Canal in an enemy column and opened fire on the bridge guards. Lieutenant Guryliev and his sappers got up and rushed to the bridge rails. They cut through the ignition cable and separated the explosive charge. The bridge fell undamaged into our hands. Once they had recovered from the first shock, the enemy tried to regain the bridge but were beaten back by tank-men and the sappers.
After taking Brandenburg and Potsdam, the 9th Guards Tank Corps turned and attacked Berlin from the west.
The 9th Guards Tank Corps forced its way into Charlottenburg with some heavy fighting. On the morning of the 30th April the tanks were rolling towards the Tiergarten. Once more the sappers had to clear mines, barricades and barriers, and blow breaches in walls. They formed attack teams with members of the 33rd Motorised Rifle Brigade.
The Fascists had set up a large barricade on the Charlottenburger Bridge, all the approaches being mined. On the night leading to the 2nd May some sappers slipped through to the barricade under the cover of fire from the tanks and infantry. Although the enemy were using mortars, the sappers cleared twenty-two mines. Sergeant-Major Morgov and Sappers Muravkin and Schulenin were wounded but continued working, blowing the way clear for the tanks with several charges. Then they cut the ignition cable and disarmed the five 150 kilogram bombs under the bridge.