Daily newspaper "Red Baltic Fleet" dated September 9, 1943

Death to the German occupiers!

RED BALTIC FLEET
Daily Red Navy Newspaper of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet
No. 212 (6649) — Thursday, September 9, 1943
25th Year of Publication

The newspaper has notes made by political commissar by pencil.

ORDER OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
To Army General Malinovsky
To Colonel General Tolbukhin

The troops of the Southern and Southwestern Fronts, as a result of a skillful maneuver and rapid offensive, have won a major victory in the Donbas region over the German invaders. Breaking through the enemy’s resistance, our forces captured, over six days of fighting, the cities of:
Debaltsevo, Ilovaisk, Lisichansk, Yenakiyevo, Horlivka, Mistiakovo, Slavyansk, Artemovsk, Kramatorskaya, Konstantinovka, Makeevka, Krasnoarmeyskoye, Yasinovataya, and the regional capital of Donbas — the city of Stalino.

Thus, the troops of the Southern and Southwestern Fronts have pushed the Germans out and returned to our Motherland the DONETSK BASIN — the most important coal mining and industrial area of the country.

In the battles for Donbas, the following units distinguished themselves:
Lieutenant Generals Tsvetayev, Kreyzer, Leonchenko, Zakharov, Major Generals Zherebin, Makovchuk, Belov, Gorodnitsky, Khrushchov and especially:

• 126th Rifle Division (Colonel Kazartsev)

• 127th Rifle Division (Colonel Krymov)

• 271st Rifle Division (Colonel Levin)

• 346th Rifle Division (Major General Stankevich)

• 266th Rifle Division (Colonel Rebrikov)

• 279th Rifle Division (Major General Potapenko)

• 259th Rifle Division (Major General Vlasenko)

• 50th Guards Rifle Division (Colonel Vladinsky)

• 301st Rifle Division (Colonel Antonov)

• 230th Rifle Division (Colonel Ukrainsky)

• 54th Guards Rifle Division (Major General Taninov)

• 297th Rifle Division

• 61st Guards Rifle Division (Colonel Matveev)

• 64th Guards Rifle Division (Colonel Khazanov)

• 59th Guards Rifle Division (Major General Karamyshev)

• 34th Guards Rifle Division (Colonel Brailian)

• 40th Guards Rifle Division (Colonel Marev)

As well as:

• 96th Guards Rifle Division (Major Shvygin)

• 6th Guards Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade (Colonel Bugaev)

• 135th Tank Brigade (Lieutenant Colonel Beznoschenko)

• 179th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment (Major Savchenko)

• 243rd Separate Tank Regiment (Major Podlesny)

---

In recognition of this victory, the following units and formations are hereby awarded honorary titles:

“STALINSKAYA”:

• 50th Guards Rifle Division

• 301st Rifle Division

• 230th Rifle Division

“YENAKIYEVSKAYA”:

• 34th Guards Rifle Division

• 40th Guards Rifle Division

• 320th Rifle Division

“ILOVAISKAYA”:

• 96th Guards Rifle Division

“CHISTYAKOVSKAYA”:

• 127th Rifle Division

“GORLOVSKAYA”:

• 126th Rifle Division

• 271st Rifle Division

“DEBALTSEVSKAYA”:

• 346th Rifle Division

“ARTEMOVSKAYA”:

• 266th Rifle Division

• 259th Rifle Division

“LISICHANSKAYA”:

• 279th Rifle Division

“KONSTANTINOVSKAYA”:

• 135th Tank Brigade

• 179th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment

“MAKEEVSKAYA”:

• 54th Guards Rifle Division

“SLAVYANSKAYA”:

• 297th Rifle Division

“KRAMATORSKAYA”:

• 59th Guards Rifle Division

• 5th Guards Kramatorsk Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade

• 243rd Kramatorsk Separate Tank Regiment

---

In honor of this major victory — Donbas, September 8 —
the capital of our Motherland, Moscow, will fire a salute of twenty artillery salvos from 224 guns, in tribute to our heroic troops who liberated Donbas from the German invaders.

For their excellent combat performance, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief expresses gratitude to all commanders and troops who took part in the liberation of Donbas.

Eternal glory to the heroes who fell in battle for the freedom and independence of our Motherland!
Death to the German invaders!

September 8, 1943
Supreme Commander-in-Chief Marshal of the Soviet Union I. Stalin

FROM THE SOVIET INFORMATION BUREAU
Operational Report for September 8

(Detailed report summarizes key front-line developments: liberation of 15 localities in Donbass, destruction of 42 enemy tanks, 3 batteries, 6 aircraft, and other enemy equipment. Continued advances noted across the front.)

GUNNERS AND PILOTS STRIKE
The fleet's artillerymen fought against enemy batteries. At the same time, our assault aviation launched strikes against the enemy.
The enemy’s anti-aircraft artillery opened heavy fire on our raiders. The gunners under Lieutenant Captain Shinelev provided solid support to the pilots.
Soon, the artillerymen of Commander Tarasov joined the battle. Their salvoes suppressed four of the enemy’s anti-aircraft batteries.
In total, the fleet’s gunners suppressed and partially neutralized 16 enemy anti-aircraft batteries in a single day.

---

ONTO THE SECOND HUNDRED
Sergeant Vadzyukovsky’s gun inflicted heavy losses on the enemy during the war.
This feat was achieved by naval artillerymen, who destroyed an enemy strongpoint and its manpower.
Their powerful shells wiped out more than a hundred fascists.
Recently, the valiant artillerymen conducted their first live-fire combat operation.
Lieutenant Dolgov, commander of a coastal artillery crew, distinguished himself that day.

V. Kulikov

---

WE WILL LIBERATE OUR SISTERS FROM CAPTIVITY,
WE WILL AVENGE THEIR SUFFERING ON THE GERMANS

---

THAT WAS MY SISTER
Who is she — that frail girl in a bullet-ridden white calico dress, whom the Germans were driving to the railway station of Lyabinka?
Where are they taking her?
The Germans strike the girl with rifle butts between her shoulder blades. She falls and gets back up. They kick her with boots. Hit her in the back. A full swing of a boot to the face.
They are beating a 17-year-old Komsomol member, a tractor driver named Vera.
The whole town loved her, she was the best tractor driver in the area.
The Germans captured her, tortured her savagely, and murdered her.
Her father Pyotr went to the army, her mother stayed at home. He has already killed 12 Fritzes.
In Kuban, after the liberation of Lyabinskaya station from the fascists, Vera was buried.
Locals pleaded with a woman: “Who will bury the girl?”
A passerby answered:
— That’s Vera, our Komsomol girl…

That was my sister, comrades.
Petty Officer 1st Class, sapper Ivan Ushakov

---

THEY TOOK MY BELOVED TO SLAVERY
(A story by Red Navy man Aleksandr Nornin)

---

TO YOU, BROTHER SAILORS, MY WORD

Handwritten text under the photo:

I was wounded while working. A shell fragment — a bullet — shrapnel… hit my shoulder and damaged the humerus. I underwent two surgeries. The pain is severe. My little sister is a medic in the Red Army. My husband is Aleksandr Lubovich, a commander on the Leningrad Front. Ask how he strikes the Germans. I will recover anyway and return to the fight. We will destroy all the Hitlerites. — Nikolenko

---

THE BALTIC ANSWER
My sister left me with her last words: “Take revenge, Vasya, for the suffering of our tormented family.”
So when the company commander announced a coming battle, I stepped forward.
During the fight, I had to battle inside a German trench.
I emptied an entire magazine of my submachine gun into their warm flesh — I didn’t count how many I killed, nor was there a need. Counting means hesitating.
My revenge was too gentle.
Then the ammo ran out. What now?
Three Hitlerites were coming. One tall, in a filthy overcoat.
Another with his cap tilted almost off his head.
The third — like a poster Nazi.
Motionless. I didn’t want to die.
I pull back the bolt and throw a grenade.
With a full spring, I toss.
The first one dropped like a puppet.
The second wasn’t fast enough. The bullet flew past his head.
That first success gave me confidence and trust in my basic combat training.
Now I know — if you don’t leap into action on time, you’ll miss the moment.
The third Hitlerite charged at me with a shovel.
A jump — he didn’t make it. A forward strike — and a bullet from a dropped gun found its target.
That’s how an automatic rifleman, a rifleman, and a sapper fight when they master the skills of a Guardsman’s battle.

Guards Petty Officer 1st Class
Vasily Dorofeyev

 

 

Payment Options >>

Delivery Info >>