Our story is just about one of these people - the guard of private Sergei Alyoshkov. However, for his colleagues, he was just a private Seryozhenka and he was only 6 years old when he received his first award.
Orphan
Seryozha was born in the village of Gryn, Kaluga region. War entered his life when the boy was only 5 years old. His two older brothers went to the front, and he stayed with his mother and 10-year-old brother Petya. The inhabitants of the village lost in the woods did not want to put up with the invaders who came to their land, and went to the partisans.
The Germans, suspecting that he had links with the resistance, hanged Sergei's brother Petya, and his mother, when she, mad with grief, tried to prevent this, was shot. Sergei was rescued by a neighbor who literally pushed him out the window and ordered him to run into the forest, while the Germans were already going to search and burn the Aleshkovs' house. Together with other fellow villagers, he went to the partisan base. But soon it was discovered and defeated by German punitive battalions. The boy managed to escape.
Son of the regiment
It was the fall of 1942. Sergei wandered through the forest for a week. He ate pasture, drank from puddles, froze at night and weakened, weakened, weakened … One day, when he no longer had the strength not to walk, but even to stand, scouts of the 142nd Guards Rifle Regiment stumbled upon him … When he was taken to the unit, even experienced front-line soldiers had tears in their eyes, so starving, dirty and unhappy was Seryozha.
Promotional video:
The regiment commander, Major Mikhail Danilovich Vorobyov, decided to leave the little boy in the unit. Who knows what prompted him to do this. Maybe he thought that a child with adults would be better, and in the rear, a 6-year-old orphan might just get lost. Be that as it may, the child became the son of the regiment. Seryozha got his real uniform and breeches.
Although he was not allowed to the front line, he helped the regiment. He was a messenger, brought the soldiers various necessary things that he could lift due to his age: water, cartridges, grenades. In the intervals between battles, he amused the soldiers with songs and ditties. Instead of a machine gun, Sergey was given binoculars, and it was not in vain - the big-eyed boy noticed the enemy several times at the moment when the experienced scouts lost sight of him.
Medal
The regiment, in which Seryozha was, took part in the Battle of Stalingrad. The boy, as usual, was behind the front edge, always next to the regiment commander Mikhail Vorobyov, who by this time had become like a father to him. One day he set out from the dugout, where the regimental headquarters was located, on instructions.
As soon as Seryozha moved away from the dugout, an air raid began. All the fighters hid and did not notice that one of the bombs hit right into the shelter. Only Seryozha noticed this. Despite the explosions, he ran to the destroyed dugout and began calling for Mikhail. Realizing that he could not move the collapsed logs, the boy, right under the bombardment, ran for help and brought in the sappers, who dismantled the logs and saved everyone who was under the rubble.
Mikhail Danilovich escaped with a light concussion and was not injured. But while they were pulling him out, according to the recollections of eyewitnesses of those events, 6-year-old guard private Sergei Aleshkov stood nearby and roared in three streams, and when the commander was pulled out, he rushed to hug him shouting “Folder-folder!” and could say nothing more.
After that, the boy was solemnly awarded a medal "For Military Merit". They made a mistake in the award list, writing the wrong ending in his last name:
“To award a graduate of the regiment, Aleshkin, Sergei Andreevich, for the fact that during his stay in the regiment from September 8, 1942, together with the regiment, he passed a responsible combat path. On November 18, 1942 he was wounded. As a child, always cheerful, he fell in love with the regiment, the command and all those around him. With his cheerfulness, love for the unit and those around him in extremely difficult moments, he instilled courage and confidence in victory. Comrade Alyoshkin is the regiment's favorite."
Commander and father
The regiment commander, Major Mikhail Vorobyov, was single and lonely. And he also became attached to Seryozha, loved him with all my heart. He decided to formally adopt him. Regimental nurse Nina Andreevna Bedova helped him look after the child. Taking care of him, they themselves did not notice how they fell in love with each other, and soon got married. The child stole with the regiment until 1944, after which he was sent to study at the Tula Suvorov Military School.
After the war
Sergei Aleshkov graduated from the Suvorov School, after which he moved to Kharkov, where he received his legal education. He spent the rest of his life in Chelyabinsk: Mikhail and Nina Vorobyov, who replaced his parents, lived there.
The war did not pass without a trace for him and undermined his health. In 1990, Commander of the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, winner of the medals "For Military Merit", "For Victory over Germany", Guard Private Sergei Aleshkov died.