Spirin Alexey Petrovich
Spirin Alexey Petrovich
Born in 1925 in Abakan. He went to the front in 1942. After the first wound (he started the war as a driver of "polutorki"), he was assigned to the infantry, on the submachine gun "Maxim" and his partner was Volodya Kaplan. He remembered this story because my father had never met a man so incompatible with the war and so eager to fight the fascists. The fact is that Volodya, despite his young age, was already a champion in 100-cell checkers and chess, the Nazis shot his relatives, so by hook or by crook he got to the front. In one battle, their firing point was on a sloping field, and when the flanks retreated they could not be warned in time and were caught in the crossfire from the flanks. Then they noticed that they were being waved away from the forest. But it was not easy for Volodya to crawl like a Plastun on the hard stubble. His tender skin bled immediately, and he tried to move on all fours. He was shot in the back by submachine-gun fire. And my father took turns dragging the submachine gun and Volodya across the field. Volodya was sent to the hospital, and his father, after the reformation of the unit, was transferred as a driver to the Katyusha. And my father, sometimes remembering this episode, said it would be interesting to know news about Volodya. Once his son in Crimea in the mid-80's going on a hike, went to the kiosk to buy some newspapers for the fire. He was offered the “Komsomolskoye znamya” and he took about 10 newspapers. On the bus, he decided to look through it and, to his surprise, he found a large article on the page-memoirs of Vladimir Kaplan. There, he recalls the war and regrets that he can't find traces of his Savior Alyosha Spirin, mentioning that battle. The son sent his father several copies of the newspaper and advised him to write to the editorial office. So they were found after 40 years. Vladimir Kaplan lived in New York, in Brooklyn he had a chess school, a lot of books, he invited Alexey Petrovich to visit, but communication remained by correspondence, so both were already under 70 and both were injured.
Spirin Alexey Petrovich
Spirin Alexey Petrovich
Born in 1925 in Abakan. He went to the front in 1942. After the first wound (he started the war as a driver of "polutorki"), he was assigned to the infantry, on the submachine gun "Maxim" and his partner was Volodya Kaplan. He remembered this story because my father had never met a man so incompatible with the war and so eager to fight the fascists. The fact is that Volodya, despite his young age, was already a champion in 100-cell checkers and chess, the Nazis shot his relatives, so by hook or by crook he got to the front. In one battle, their firing point was on a sloping field, and when the flanks retreated they could not be warned in time and were caught in the crossfire from the flanks. Then they noticed that they were being waved away from the forest. But it was not easy for Volodya to crawl like a Plastun on the hard stubble. His tender skin bled immediately, and he tried to move on all fours. He was shot in the back by submachine-gun fire. And my father took turns dragging the submachine gun and Volodya across the field. Volodya was sent to the hospital, and his father, after the reformation of the unit, was transferred as a driver to the Katyusha. And my father, sometimes remembering this episode, said it would be interesting to know news about Volodya. Once his son in Crimea in the mid-80's going on a hike, went to the kiosk to buy some newspapers for the fire. He was offered the “Komsomolskoye znamya” and he took about 10 newspapers. On the bus, he decided to look through it and, to his surprise, he found a large article on the page-memoirs of Vladimir Kaplan. There, he recalls the war and regrets that he can't find traces of his Savior Alyosha Spirin, mentioning that battle. The son sent his father several copies of the newspaper and advised him to write to the editorial office. So they were found after 40 years. Vladimir Kaplan lived in New York, in Brooklyn he had a chess school, a lot of books, he invited Alexey Petrovich to visit, but communication remained by correspondence, so both were already under 70 and both were injured.
0 comment
2026 © Russian Military Historical Society Developed by Jetmix