On the Eastern Front at Seventeen: The Memoirs of a Red Army Soldier, 1942-1944

 

Sergey Drobyazko's 'On the Eastern Front at Seventeen' is a memoir that does well in presenting its title literally. The original memoirs were simply entitled "A Soldier's Path: In Battle from the Kuban to the Dnepr." Having read and listened through hundreds of oral histories and memoirs from the Eastern Front, Drobyazko's account covers a lot of territory that readers will rarely encounter in accounts about the Eastern Front. Specifically, this is someone who survived German captivity and was able to escape and fight again until 1944. He was taken prisoner in 1942, so the horrendous German treatment experienced by soldiers in the initial months of the war seems to have been somewhat reduced but his insights and experiences still paint a rather tragic picture and his survival was in no small part thanks to friends he makes in the camp and those who surprisingly he runs into from his pre-war days, who eventually help him escape. 

This initial part of the memoir is followed by his time on the frontlines as both a mortarman and a rifleman, depending on the situation at the front he was forced to play both roles. The action(s) described are not always easy to follow and this is in part a reflection of the fact that the author did not utilize archival information or divisional/army histories and relied on his memories, so readers are presented with various memorable events and experiences that have remained a part of the author's recollections of the war period. The actions he describes are often ad hoc as his division seems to be the tip of the spear and encounters German rearguard forces during their retreats. This regularly results in significant losses for Soviet forces even though at this point in the war they utilize flanking maneuvers and reconnaissance forces. In some ways the chaos of the front and the inability for a frontline soldier to know what is going on beyond his field of vision is what much of this memoir resembles, readers will only experience what the author sees, hears, and feels. Finally, Drobyazko is wounded, more than once, and also reflects on his time in various medical facilities and wards. For all of the above reasons, and more, this is definitely a worthwhile read and addition to any library on the Eastern Front or WWII.