"A Merry Christmas”

Observation Post, Volume 1, Issue 31, 18 December 1942, Page 2

"A Merry Christmas”

by tanks, planes and artillery lighting initiative must be displayed in everything, always and everywhere. • Tne invaders must be made to . feel that death and the fierce hatred of our people pursue them at every step. Fighting initiative means that each man knows not only his own task but understands the task of his section, platoon and company. The great Russian general, Suvorov, pointed out that every soldier should understand the manoeuvre of his unit. There have been hundreds of instances in which a rank and file soldier has taken the place of a commander who has been put out of action and sue* cessfully completed an operation, lhe

(By ‘‘The Gadfly.”) I Within a few days we shall be wishing each other ‘‘A Merry Christmas.” By ‘ ‘ Merry, ’ ’ of course, we shall mean a merry as any Christmas, which is being celebrated under the awful shadow, of war, can be. But it is well to re-,, mind ourselves that this Christmas, even though it be far removed from the real merriment of a peacetime Christ- : mas, would be even farther removed, j were it not for the wonderful stand that the Russians have made against the Nazi hordes. ; Without their stubborn resistance, just what sort of ,a Christmass would we be ‘.‘enjoying”? It is too terrible to contemplate. Therefore, as a tribute to the gallant Russians, I offer a couple of extracts from the -Soviet War News, which is published by the Press Department of the Soviet Embassy in London. They reveal, in some measure, the spirit of the Russian Army. Here they are: INDIVIDUAL INITIATIVE- , DUTY OF EVERY SOLDIER . Pravda writes: . To-day every division, regiment, battalion and every squadron, every detachment, every individual soldier of the Red Army must be imbued with the realisation that the enemy must not be allowed to adance any further. That is why it is the duty of every sbldier to improve immeasurably his fighting initiative. Each must think incessant; ly how to strike a more powerful blow at the enemy to-day, how to exterminate a greater number of invaders today. An example of such military skill and unshakable fortitude was recently set by Lieutenant Shuklin’s gun crew. In one engagement in the Don steppes this gun crew put 14 German tanks out of action. All artillerymen must fight the enemy-as Lieutenant Shuklin and his comrades fought. Soviet Cossacks too are showing the way to fight. The Don Cossack unit commanded by Tatarinov was instructed at all costs to hold an important position. The forces were most unequal. Facing the Cossacks were units of a mountain rifle corps, two tank and two infantry divisions. Fierce fighting developed. The Germans incessantlv launched attack after attack. One village changed i hands three times. The Cossacks not only skilfully repulsed the enemy pressure but themselves sought out the weak spots in the enemy’s defence, inflicting on him severe blows.- , --4 Together with other detachments they exterminated two enemy regiments, killed more than 3000 Nazis, put dozens of tanks and earns o”t of action anc captured 80 German officers and 200 men. This is the manner in which every unit, everv d°cn-hment, every Soviet soldier must fight. Everv soldier must always trv to support his comrades with five, with bayonets or hand grenades, always giv- ’ ing mutual aid without waiting foi special orders. When Red Army man Aleyev saw that « noarbv group of Rec Army men wer° defending themselves against attacking Nazis, he did not stop to wait for orders hut immediate!’ opened fire. . Bv. shooting- 14 German he eased the situation for hi« comrades and helped them carrv out their task, Every soldier must act in this man ner, in" whatever situation he mav flm himself: whether, in attack, on recon naissance or in defence. At the sanu time he must guard the ranks of hr unit from needless losses, strengthei their positions, emnlov better camou flage and deceive the enemy. The war front is thousands of mile: long. On. whatever sector of thi front the Soviet soldier finds himself in the south or in the north, befor Leinarad o rin .the Don steppes, h< should have object; not to give th enemy a moment’s respite. In sniping in mortar fire, iri shelling fortified pos. tions, in attacks by small groups m enemv fortifications or in massed blow

? CUNNING IN BATTLE (By Colonel S. Gurov, Red Army) In. modern war the individual soldier ’s inventiveness, initiative and cunning are just as important as courage and steadfastness. These qualities are systematically fostered in the Red Army. The great Russian general j Suvorov used to tell his soldiers to fight not with courage only, but with ■ understanding. ’ ’ In the past thirteen 'months Soviet soldiers have become ' both more experienced and more cuni ning. They have learned to guess the ■ enemy ’» intentions and to trick him. j Two scouts of a Red Army unit, Kuzmin and Dubrin, set themselves to discover how the Germans directed their I bombers to their objectives. They soon observed that when the Nazi planes appeared on the hoziron enemy signallers sent up flares from the neighbourhood of the Soviet positions. The German pilots relied on these flares as indications where they should drop their bombs. . , . , _ * Not long afterwards Dubrin and Kuzmin captured a large number of German flares. Before attempting anything . they carefully studied the methods of the German signallers. Soon it was apparent that white flares indicated Soviet infantry positions, while green flares were used to direct the bombers to our batteries. NAZIS TRICKED INTO i BOMBING OWN FORCES I The following day the Nazi planes . made their usual appearance. Simultaneously from right and left, in the direction of the German batteries, Dubrin i and Kuzmin sent up green flares. The planes dipped their wings in acknowledgment of the signal, circled over . the point from which the flares had | appeared, and dropped their whole load ■ on the German artillery. At the same j‘' time a white flare went up, and the s Germans started wiping out their own i infantry as well. . - . Red Army man Nikolai Yegorov, a signaller, recently had the following I experience. He was suddenly attack- , ed bv three German automatic riflemen. Yegorov flung himself into the snow e and started firing his rifle, but was j wounded. The Germans drew closer e and closer. Yegorov had. only one grenade. He realised that if he threw - it in the ordinary way it would kill no i more than one of them. a He flung one of his mittens. The

activity and shrewdness of the Soviet soldiers facilitate the success of operations planned by the Command. i In a recent engagement a Red Armyunit was attacking an enemy position. A well-camouflaged enemy machinegun rained a' hail of lead, barring the road to our infantry. Mortar-gunner Bondarenko saw this. Making his way to .-a hillock dominating the battlefield he sot up his mortar there and opened accurate fire, The enemy machine-gun was destroyed and the road was opened for our infantry. • Red Army regulations demand determination and activity from every soldier. • Every Red Army man must be prepared to go over to the attack on the instructions of his commander or on his own initiative when he sees a suitable opportunity — is laid down in the fighting regulations of the infantry.