For part of the war, I did get to live in a
house for a short time. We still had to
set up a guard every night but at least it was warm. I had to watch my gun as well as my ammunition
night and day. Our sergeant had us dig a
hole to bury the ammunition just in case the house took a hit.
It was very dangerous staying indoors; anyone
could be snooping around with hand grenades, especially at night. In addition, the house made an easy target
for bombers. It isn’t, only an explosion
that is dangerous when indoors but the resulting change in air pressure can
kill you too.
I was always tired,
there was never anywhere safe for me to sleep or to get comfortable. No
one slept properly. No one ever had any real rest. It would have
been heaven to have a dry, warm bed but with a guard stationed outside keeping
watch, I made the most of the relative safety provided. Knowing there
were walls surrounding me as well as a guard helped me to rest a little
easier. At night, if on guard duty, I had to stand upright all
night. The gunfire went on all night too. I could hear and see it
but no one took wild shots. Men attacked specific targets if ordered to
but that was it. I guess the Russians were just as tired as my mates and
me. There were no tanks near to us, thank goodness. Russian tanks
are terrifying to watch coming towards you
There was a plane
spotter in the area; it was an old Russian plane that sounded like a tractor as
it flew around. All night it flew around very slowly. Its pilot was
looking for sites to attack the next day. It was a very slow and noisy
plane. The sound went on and on without a break. Because it was at
night, no man rushed to get his gun to fire unless he had to. The men
knew they would most likely miss anyway. No one fired up at the plane,
their shot would have given away our location
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