"To the Commander of the 370th Order of the Red Banner Order of Kutuzov 2nd Class Rifle Division
I report that:
At [illegible] the enemy used 210 mm guns in the artillery barrage of [illegible], which resulted in a direct hit to the turret of IS tank #113 (serial number 41046), as a result of which internal equipment and the engine compartment burned up, and the turret was thrown to the side by the shockwave.
Out of the 6 men inside the tank at the time, the following casualties were taken:
Out of the 6 men inside the tank at the time, the following casualties were taken:
- Mechanic-driver Sergeant Romanov: killed
- Gunner Starshina Golakhov and loader Private Panov: wounded
Company commander Guards Lieutenant Minulov, technical deputy commander Junior Lieutenant La[illegible] and tank commander Guards Lieutenant Bilanov were not injured.
The majority of the damage was caused by 3 near misses. As a result of fragments and shockwave, 4 men were killed, 4 wounded, and 2 contused.
Regiment commander, Lieutenant-Colonel [signature]
Chief of Staff, Major [signature]
February 26th, 1945"
The handwritten text over the top of the report is hard to read, it but orders that all IS tanks must be carefully dug in and concealed to prevent this from happening again.