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SRI LANKA AIR FORCE LOGISTIC ASSOCIATION – MEETING
The Sri Lanka Air Force Logistic Services Association Committee
Meeting will be held on February 23 at 2.30 pm at the SLESA Secretariat.
FINANCE & BUDGETING COMMITTEE MEETING – SLESA
Finance, Planning & Budgeting Committee of Sri Lanka Ex-Servicemen’s
Association will be held on February 23 at 10 am at the SLESA
Secretariat.
EX-CO MEETING
The Executive Committee Meeting of Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment
Association will be held on February 24 at 8.30 am at the SLESA
Secretariat.
EX-CO MEETING – SLESA
The Executive Committee Meeting of Sri Lanka Ex-Servicemen’s
Association will be held on February 28 at 4 pm at the SLESI
“Vijithapura Hall”, 29, Bristol Street, Colombo 01.
MEDICAL OFFICER PASSES AWAY
Brigadier (Dr) D R P Sooriyapperuma, Ex-Commanding Officer of the Sri
Lanka Military Hospital and Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps and Ex-Director
of the Army Medical Services expired and the funeral was held on
February 17.
Memoirs of a War Veteran
STREET FIGHTING
The Guards Bogun Regiment had been engaged in street fighting for
more than five days. This kind of fighting was very different from the
lessons at school. There was no clear-cut front line, nor was there a
rear or any carefully worked out combat missions.
Initially, those who were on the first floor was on the front line
and those on the ground floor was than rear. But later everything seem
to be in utter confusion. For some reason the Germans appeared on the
ground floor, the second floor was a sea of fire.
Where was the front, where was the near from the stand point of the
Infantry Field Manual?
When street fighting had just begun, they (Abyzov and friends) tried
to observe the requirements of camouflage, to fall to the ground when
necessary and even to dig foxholes with entrenching shovels.
But then, they had no time for digging in. Forge ahead! forge ahead!
Once though they did remember their entrenching shovels.
That was when they were fighting for the Temple of Airfield. They
were on one side of the runway and the German tanks were dug into the
ground on the other.
The Nazi tanks were firing armour-piercing shells. They would flop
down in front of and behind them, with a hollow sound, like fat quails
in Autumn falling on mown grass. They used knives and their hands to dig
into the ground why on earth had they thrown away their entrenching
shovels?
Bursting into a five storey building, they threw hand grenades into
the doorway as a preventive measure. They then ‘swept’ through the
rooms. They had taken the first, second and third floors.
Half the house were in their hands and the other half in the hands of
the Germans. It was divided by a very thick wall. They thought of
climbing into the roof, but the top floor on their side was demolished.
There were only the walls..... Not walls but cliffs.
Try climbing them! They rushed down. On the second floor they ran
into Medvedev. He had a Faust-patron (tank bursting charge) Junior
Lieutenant Sorokin, hero of the Soviet Union, Commander of the 2nd
platoon (who had received the award for street fighting in Lodz) called
out to Medvedev “Burst the wall with your Faust-patron!” Standing in the
doorway Medvedev leveled his weapon at the wall a flame accompanied by a
blast produced a lot of dust and smoke.
They could see nothing. They felt their way to the wall where they
expected to see a big hole. But there was no hole, only a small dent.
Running into the street they shouted to Sorokin.
“What are the orders?”
“Take the next house the one further away!”
“and what about this one?”
“we’ll sort it out afterwards, follow me!’
They started to run again throwing hand grenades and jumping over
high window-sills. Forward, faster!
Late in the night they took part of a factory. There were rows of
machine tools and crates with finished components.
The windows were closed with blackout screens. Senior Lieutenant
Ionov the Company Commander, appeared before them with a tight belt
around his waist. “The company shall rest!’ he said.
To be continued .....................
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