small parts

[b]Small parts of a big victory[/b]

The war with fascist forces was fought not only at the front, but in the rear. Millions of people of many professions tha thave never held a rifle grabbed the levers of a tank or an airplane, pulled victory closer and closer with their labours. Many did not end there, and spent their own savings on the needs of the front. Over the four years of the Great Patriotic War, Soviet citizen donated money for several thousand tanks, about 2500 airplanes, 8 submarines, many guns, mortars, hundreds of thousands of shells and bombs.

The money was collected in factories, farms, various government offices. For example, in 1943, a T-60 named "Malyutka" (child) fought at Stalingrad. The tank was built using money donated by kindergartens. The tank was driven by a woman named Ekaterina Petlyuk.

Many individuals bought entire vehicles. Mariya Oktyabrskaya, who bought a T-34 tank, fought in it as a part of the 26th Guards Brigade of the 2nd Tatsin Tank Corps. A peasant named Ferapont Golovatiy sent two fighters to the front, a Yak-1 and a Yak-3. A performer named Vladimir Yakhontov purchased an IS-2, and named it after his favourite poet: Vladimir Mayakovskiy. There are a great deal of these examples. We would like to remember some lesser known people that made their contribution to a great deed.

Vehicles were frequently purchased for specific soldiers, about which people read in newspapers. In February of 1944, a railroad worker named G.M. Kozyrev bought a Yak fighter for A. Bulgakov, using money he was saving for a house. Bulgakov made 136 sorties with that fighter, shooting down 14 enemy airplanes.

The story of one T-34-85 of the 36th Guards Tank Brigade is interesting. The head of a farm, Y. Shulga, sent it as a gift to his adopted son, Lieutenant I. Kisenko. The inscription on the tank read "From father Shulga to son Kisenko". The tank participated in liberation of Shulga's home village, and then fought in Yugoslavia and Hungary.

Another T-34, titled "Gift to my son", was given to A. Shirmanov by his parents, Ilya Andreevich and Maria Fillipovna on the day of the 25th anniversary of the Red Army. This tank fought starting on June 1943. A. Shirmanov died during battles for the Zhitomir region.

In many cases, tankers and pilots bought vehicles that they themselves fought in. The T-34 named "Amur Avenger" was paid for by N. Agapov, L. Rudnichenko, and I. Binyukov. The vehicle was used by the 12th Guards Tank Bridage. Agapov and Rudnichenko fought as a part of its crew, but Binyukov could not, due to an injury. Pilot L. Chaiko, gunner K. Shishkin, and mechanic P. Bobrov purchased an Il-10 airplane, and then fought in it as a part of the 2nd Baltic Front. Shishkin's father helped with the purchase of this expensive vehicle.

It is impossible to list all such cases in a short article, but every person that sacrificed their earnings for the front contributed to the victory over the most menacing enemy humanity has ever known.