1942 I. P. Ogurechnikov, Soviet 327th Rifle Division

The 1100th Regiment on the attack
I. P. Ogurechnikov
Captain (ret.), former platoon commander, machine-gun company, 1100th Rifle Regiment, 327th Rifle Division.

At dawn, January 13th, following a short artillery barrage, our regiment rushed forward to the attack. Having surmounted the ice-covered Volkhov, we reached the western bank of the river, where the Germans had established their positions. Artillery, located in the forward positions, destroyed the German bunkers and smashed their machine-gun platforms with direct fire. By 1400 hours, the division had broken through the German defenses on the Bor-Krasniy settlement sector and by nightfall had occupied the villages of Bor, Kostylevo, Arefino and Krasniy settlement.

On the morning of January 14th, the division began fighting for the village of Kolomno, the capture of which was not completed until January 19th, and then only with the assistance of neighbouring units. For several days, the division also fought an all-out battle for the town of Spasskaya Polist', but was unable to overcome enemy resistance.

I remember the fighting for the village of Kolyazhka, located 3 kilometers north Spasskaya Polist' on the Leningrad-Novgorod motor road, along the western bank of the Polist' river. On January 30th, our division approached the town and took possession of the cemetery, which was enclosed by an earthen rampart and a deep ditch, instead of the usual fence. The cemetery occupied an area 100 by 200 meters. We established a deep trench in the ditch, having easily emptied it of snow. In previous battles, we had constructed parapets made of snow or hid in shell holes, as it was not possible to dig into the frozen earth.

During the fighting for the cemetery, the enemy knocked out two of our T-60 tanks, which blazed like a bonfire. With the approach of darkness, the fighting quieted down. Some 17 to 20 men remained in the rifle companies of our battalion, but the machine gun company was constantly being reinforced with troops from other companies, since men were required for moving the Maxim machine guns on skis.
The battalion commander gave the order to climb out from the trenches at the cemetery for dinner at the field kitchen, which was located with the regiment at the edge of the forest, 800 meters away.

Here, we were well-provided with hot food. Indeed, during the previous days they had received chunks of ice in our mess-tins, as the food had had time to freeze solid during time it was being delivered. After a substantial meal, we took up positions in individual foxholes dug out of the snow, not having returned to the cemetery. Since the company commander, Lieutenant Nosovskiy, was absent, I - as commander of the 1st Machine Gun Platoon - took over command of the company. The regimental commander, Captain Trotsko, having discovered that we had vacated our positions at the cemetery, summoned me and ordered that the abandoned positions be re-occupied immediately.

We started heading back to the cemetery once more. Halfway there, we caught sight of a 45-mm gun and a telephonist with his equipment at the firing position, neither of whom had been there during the evening.

The Germans regularly lit up the terrain in front of the trees with flares, and we had to to constantly lay down in the snow. As a result, we failed to reach the cemetery and with daybreak on January 31st, we entrenched ourselves in the deep snow of a field in front of the cemetery. At the same time, the Germans opened up with strong mortar fire along the edge of woods, which continued for 40 minutes. This was followed by a raid by three German aircraft, which heavily bombed the forest where our regiment was deployed.

A German tank emerged from the village and took up a position behind our burnt-out tanks. The gun of the German tank was positioned above the level of our knocked-out tanks, which provided it cover, and it opened well-aimed fire against the positions of our regiment on the edge of the woods.

I sent a soldier to the 45-mm gun in order to point out the target, but he did not return and was apparently killed.

A line of Germany infantry advanced under the covering fire of the the tank. Our machine guns got down to work and the German infantry hit the ground and began advancing towards the positions of the 1st and 2nd Rifle Companies in short bursts. Hand grenades made their appearance.

The telephone operator, whom we had passed by during the night, yelled into the phone: “Get the commander!”. I crawled up to the telephone and heard the voice of the regimental commander, Captain Trotsko, who demanded we stay put and not withdraw. I informed him about the German tank and advance of their infantry and requested artillery support.

The Germans stepped up the attack, while our machine guns fired continuously. The communications officer called me to the telephone once again. I made clear to the regimental commander the German forces involved and the direction of their attack. I indicated the location of the German tank and infantry and reported that the infantry was attacking the remnants of our battalion in company strength. I could hear Trotsko in the receiver yelling in another phone: “Division! Division!”. He was apparently calling for the artillery gunners.

The remnants of the 1st and 2nd Companies withdrew. The German tank opened up with machine gun fire against our gun crews, which were located between 100 and 200 meters away and had not been detected earlier. Our artillery opened fire against the German tank and infantrymen, but overshot the target.

The regimental commander called me to the phone once more and asked about the results of the barrage. I reported that they had overshot the mark and requested that the artillery fire be switched to my location. Several minutes later, fiery explosions fanned out with a crash in front of our positions. After the volley of katyushas, the German infantry lost their enthusiasm. The tank, however, continued conducting fire against our machine gun crews. Crawling along the snow, the crews made their escape and fled the deadly fire of the German tank.

The 45-mm gun was positioned between 200 and 300 meters further back, and I crawled my way towards it, hoping to use it to knock out the German tank. The gunners, however, had no more shells, and all around in the melting snow were piled up nothing but rifle cartridges. Over to the right, in a snowy trench, I caught sight of Sergeant Ushakov with a damaged machine gun and broken skis.

The fighting subsided with the onset of darkness. On the edge of the woods, the surviving troops gathered in the cellar of a hut belonging to the forest reserve. The battalion's senior adjutant, Lieutenant Ivan Pavlovich Byvalov, compiled a list of the battalion losses, which included the battalion commander and our company commander.

By dawn, Captain Trotsko had assembled the surving troops and organized a combat group to capture the village of Kolyazhka. I was appointed commander of the group, while Sergeant Ushakov became my assistant. By means of quick spurts, the assault group advanced upon the village, but the Germans opened up with continuous mortar fire. I gave the command to surmount the barrage zone in one quick rush. I hadn't advanced more than two steps when I collapsed from a blow to the leg: I had been wounded by a mortar shell fragment.

Sergeant Ushakov then took over the attack of the assault group, while I found myself in the hospital for a long period of time