Interview with Alexei Illarionovich Shapovalov about His Service in the 5th Don Cossack Cavalry Corps
The interview with Alexey Illarionovich Shapovalov was devoted to his military biography and frontline daily life during the Great Patriotic War. A.I. Shapovalov, a member of the 5th Guards Don Cossack Cavalry Red Banner Budapest Corps, participated in the liberation of Donbass, in the fights for Volnovakha, in the battles for Left and Right Bank Ukraine, in the liberation of Moldova, Romania and Hungary. The respondent details how his call to the front was carried out, how he had to adapt to the peculiarities of military service and endure all the hardships and deprivation of military life. The author of memories also shares moments from his personal life during the war and situations when he faced the enemy in combat conditions. The memories of A.I. Shapovalov are valuable evidence of how the war formed from an ordinary man the future professional of military affairs, in particular, the experienced armour-breaker, which he became during the Great Patriotic War.