My great-grandfather Alexander Ivanovich Bochkarev was born on March 23, 1921 in the village of Abramovo, Arzamas district of the Nizhny Novgorod region. He graduated from high school in the neighbouring village of Kamenka. He dreamt of becoming a doctor and he studied at the Gorky paramedic and midwifery school in 1937-1940. He became the head of a medical centre in the village of Sumarokovo after the perfect results of studies. My great-grandfather was drafted into the army in December 1940, to the 24th Reserve Regiment, which was located in the city of Kotelnich. He was eager to go to the front line, like many others did, he wanted to help the Motherland and contribute to the Victory. My family doesn't like talking about the war. I knew that my great-grandfather had fought, he was a doctor. Once he carried 28 wounded from the battlefield. Great-grandfather also disliked conversations on this topic, if my mother insisted, he always told stories with a happy ending. Recently, once again, I asked my parents about my great-grandfather. They told me the same stories that I already knew. What was there during the war? I knew that in October 1941 my great-grandfather was sent to the Volkhov front as a medical instructor and a senior military assistant in the 7th Tank brigade. I tried to go through the combat path of my great-grandfather. This front was located near Leningrad, the life of the whole city depended on the result of the battle. The Germans wanted to surround Leningrad with a double blockade and join forces with the Finnish front. At the end of 1941, during the war, Soviet soldiers carried out an operation to unblock Leningrad. It was in that place, near the village of Myasnoy Bor, that the Red Army broke through the fascist defences. The resulting "gap" was used by the soldiers of the 2nd Shock Army. But the enemy's forces were much stronger, the Nazis threw more and more divisions. Our army had to retreat and take up defensive positions. They were totally surrounded by the enemy. In May-June 1942, the 7th Tank Brigade and my great-grandfather were sent to break through the corridor and participate in the operation to withdraw the 2nd Shock Army from the encirclement. From February 16 to March 10, 1942, the brigade was reorganized from the 46th Tank Brigade. On February 16, 1942, being in the reserve of the 4th Army of the Volkhov Front (Marya-Steremno area), the brigade was engaged in combat training. By February 23, it concentrated in the area of Bolshaya Vishera. On March 10, it was operatively subordinated to the 2nd Shock Army. From March 11 to April 7, 1942, it advanced from the Ozerka area in the direction of Krasnaya Gorka. Subsequently, it fought being surrounded together with the 2nd Shock Army. It was redeployed to the Novaya Kerest region, from where on March 25-26 it advanced in the direction of Myasnoy Bor in order to break through the encirclement ring. From April 8 to April 13, 1942 in the reserve of the 2nd Shock Army, it was located in the area of New Kerest. On April 10 it made a march to the Kostylevo area, joining the 59th Army. From April 14 to May 15, 1942, it conducted offensive battles in the forest area of the Mostki village. From May 16 to May 29, 1942 the reserve of the Volkhov front, it concentrated in the area of Bolshiye Vyazhischi as the reserve of the Volkhov front. From May 30 to June 4, 1942 started offensive battles in the area of the village of Myasnoy Bor. This area was in forests and swamps. Today this place where the bloodiest battles took place is called the "Valley of Death". About 100 thousand of our soldiers died in these battles. Great-grandfather's brigade first-aid post was located in the forest, just south of the village of Berezovik. Several tents were scattered throughout the forest and hidden under the trees. The wounded were everywhere. Operations and dressings went on day and night. The medical staff donated their blood when there was not enough blood for the wounded. But that was not the worst thing. The most terrible thing was to carry out wounded soldiers from the battlefield: "When a battle is going on, both on the ground and in the sky, it is very difficult to carry a boat-drag with the wounded, it was necessary to run low or to crawl on our bellies" My great-grandfather also talked about his meeting with the General, and this story was included in the book "Time has no power" by N.S. Semenova (this is a great-grandfather's brother-soldier). The fight went well. Tankers, interacting with a battalion of riflemen, defeated the Nazis near the village of Novo-Pogorelets. Brigade Commander V. Koptsov with his adjutant Ursov went to the battlefield o understand the situation better, and in the deep snow they saw people: - What are you doing? - We take people out, for the third time shrapnel and bullets cut the strap of the drag, - answered my great-grandfather Alexander Bochkarev. Together with medical instructor Ivan Kurganov, from the very beginning of the battle, they are here, under incessant fire. - How many people were evacuated? - asked the Brigade Commander. - Twenty-eight since morning - sweat was rolling down Bochkarev's face. Later, Koptsov reported that they were suffering heavy losses, there were a lot of wounded in the first-aid post. Remembering the meeting with the military assistant Bochkarev, he sighed heavily. When they arrived at post, they saw groups of the wounded were sitting around. Some were eating from the pot, some were smoking, and others just warmed themselves. “This is their order,” the commissar said indignantly. Suddenly a song was heard muffled either by the distance or by the banner of the tent: "The heart feels easy from a cheerful song, it never gives sadness" - What it is? - The brigade commander drew back the thin canvas curtain, and he was immediately poured over with a heavy smell of drugs, carbolic acid and something rotting. He saw that the doctors had blood on their elbows ... Girls in white coats, sprinkling snow on the operating tables, swept it to the floor with spruce branches, and snow covered the middle of the tent with red-brown red lead. The brigade commander felt sick from what he saw, he looked at the doctors and at the gramophone, from which the song was still pouring. The chief physician hastened to explain: “To detect a shock with seriously wounded, we adopted this method - playing a musical disc. It is possible to determine the reaction. If the wounded has such a condition, we urgently send him to the anti-shock department. If there is no shock, he goes to the surgery. Up to 150 people could be admitted per day. The seriously wounded had to be urgently taken to the rear, but in war conditions this is not always possible. My great-grandfather organized the removal of the seriously wounded. For his work, my great-grandfather was awarded the Order of the Red Star. These are the words of fellow soldiers about the work of doctors (from the book "In the forests and swamps of the North-Western Front" Book 3 Part 12): "I want to say a kind word about the front-line doctors: orderlies, sanitary instructors, paramedics, doctors. How many wounded they have saved ! And how the chemical heating pads provided by the medical service warmed the soldiers and commanders. You put a piece of snow in a heating pad, shake it, put it in your bosom - you will feel warm and your heart will feel better. It saved many soldiers from frostbite. Later, on other fronts, I did not meet these heating pads. On our front, tarpaulin and wooden boats were widely used, as well as teams of sanitary dogs to remove the seriously wounded from the front line. " On March 30, there was a battle near Myasnoy Bor, where my great-grandfather was seriously wounded. Senior surgeon Nikolai Nazarov was taking bullet fragments out his shredded thigh for almost 2 hours. And not only fragments. “Take it, Sasha, as a memory,” he said and gave my great-grandfather a piece of his cotton trousers and a tobacco pouch. - This small ”gift” saved your legs. The wound was very serious, my great-grandfather had to be taken to the rear, to normal conditions. The Germans stepped up the offensive, there was no road. Great-grandfather was delirious with a very high fever. When he came to his senses Nazarov offered to cut off his leg, but he did not agree. And then they found such a way out. An Il-2 plane flew to them with food and medicine, my great-grandfather and another seriously wounded man were tied to the wings of this plane, and they flew to the hospital. Several times the great-grandfather lost consciousness, but he was able to survive. My great-grandfather was only 20 years old when he got to “Death Valley”. Fate gave him life, and he lived it with honour and dignity. For my great-grandfather, this place is “Death Valley”, because there he lost many of his friends, and almost died himself. For me, it is the Valley of Memory and the Valley of Heroes. Our generation must enter a new war, the war of memory. In this war, everyone was a hero and a brave man. We must always remember this! Victory in the Great Patriotic War came at a very high price. The fate of thousands of people has remained unclear. The search of their graves is still going on. If you, too, still do not know the fate of your relative, here is a list of sites that can help you with this: Immortal Regiment of Russia. Generalized data bank "Memorial". "Soldat.ru" - a database of those killed in the Second World War. https://pamyat-naroda.ru/ On the map of the Novgorod region today there are no villages like Lyubino Pole, Koptsy, Krutik, Zemtitsy, Teremets-Kurlyandsky, Krechno, Novaya Kerest ... They were burned down in the fire of war and never revived. 100 thousand soldiers and commanders of the 2nd shock, 52nd and 59th Armies of the Volkhov front remained in the forest tracts. The failure of the Luban operation is not their fault. They did everything they could. Their courage increased the glory of the Fatherland. Every meter of Meat Bor is watered with their blood, marked by their death. They lie in swamps and mosses, in clearings and in thickets, in streams and rivers. They have become this land, this forest, this water. Myasnoy Bor turned into one huge cemetery in 1942. Now there is a memorial "Myasnoy Bor" in memory of the victims.