Bonkin Anatoly Nikolayevich
The material is taken from Letopisi.Ru – it’s time to go home
The story about her grand grandfather, Bonkin Anatoly Nikolayevich, is told by Zakharova Anastasia.
Bonkin Anatoly Nikolayevich is my grand grandfather. Не was born in1925 on the 25th of September in the village of Krasnaya Gorka. Не was the youngest of the four children in the family: Nicolay, Claudia, Galina and Anatoly. In June, 1926 there was made a random photo of Claudia, Nicolay, the grandmother and him. Later on the family moved to Povolzhye, managed to survive Starving greatly (the father died in 1935; there were only the grandmother and mother). The grandfather got sick with tuberculosis and had been on medication for a long time. In 1940 he was hospitalized in Gorbatovo for full recuperation.
In 1939 he entered a college to get a profession of machine conductor. That was there he got acquainted with his future wife, who had an unusual name of Iya Tarasova. Anatoly had hardly turned sixteen when the war broke out. He was way too young and did not fully recuperate to be taken upfront as a volunteer. All craftsmen went to the plant of the name of Kalinin to help the front but they did not give up studying. There were made bottles filled with explosive substance since there was a lack of grenades upfront. The grand grandfather kept on visiting the military offices to be sent to war. At the age of 17 his dream was fulfilled and he was sent to a military college in Vladimir where he recommended himself as witty and decisive. Despite his age he seemed to be born an officer and later was sent to lieutenants’ courses. Exactly during this period there appeared new weapons as “Katusha”. So 1.5 years later Bonkin was promoted to a lieutenant to command a battalion of Katushas. In the fall of 1944 he sent a picture of him his division home. The grand grandfather does not remember his first fight, but that one by the town of Burg when they protected it with the loss of 2 Katushas out of 4. He miraculously survived there. The troops advanced up to Berlin and he stopped there in Germany in the city of Magdeburg as a lieutenant and continued his military service there. It was then when he met Tarasova for the second time – she happened to be sent on a long – term business trip by her employer to the emancipated land. They got married in 1946. In December of 1946 Bonkin was sent to Sakhalin to where he traveled for half a year. In 1949 Bonkin’s first son was born and their family was given a room from behalf of his division. It was not until 1952 that his family left Sakhalin for Belarus – to his new place of delivering the service – the city of Borisov. In February of 1954 there was born daughter Tanya and in September the head of the family was sent to some secret courses till November . It turned out there was carried on an experiment with the first atom bomb and their division happened to be in the risk zone. There were two experiments anв so there werу two explosions of atom bombs. In 1955 Khrushchev took a decision about overall demobilization and everybody who had been in the risk zone was sent home. A year was left for the grand grandfather to get military pension.
On the 25 of September he is going to be 83. he has now 2 children, two grand children and two grand grandchildren. He’s always unwilling to recollect his military past. Even during the post – war period diseases irritated him.
- Перед возвращением в Дзержинск1955 год.jpg
Before coming back to Dzerzhinsk.jpg - Санаторий в Горбатове 1940 год.jpg
Hospital in Gorbatovo 1940 год - Бонкин в военном училище во Владимире 1942 год.jpg
Bonkin in the Military college 1942 - Katyusha.jpg
katyusha
- Весна 1942 года взвод Катюши.jpg
The spring of 1942.the division of Katushas - Бонкин А.Н в 1946 году.jpg
Bonkin in1946 - Ия Тарасова 1945 год.jpg
Iya Tarasova in 1945 - Бонкины в 1952 году.jpg
Bonkins in 1952
The link to the russian text: Бонкин, Анатолий Николаевич
