Yashka : $b My life as peasant, exile and soldierBochkareva, Mariia
History
Yashka : $b My life as peasant, exile and soldier
Bochkareva, Mariia
Soviet Union -- History -- Revolution, 1917-1921; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, Russian
I was there all through the spring of 1915. The nurses and physicians
took good care of all the patients in the hospital. My swollen leg
was restored to its normal condition, and it was a restful two months
that I passed in Kiev. At the end of that period I was taken before
a military medical commission, examined, pronounced in good health,
provided with a ticket, money and a certificate and sent to the front
again.
My route now lay through Molodechno, an important railway terminus.
When I arrived there in the early part of July I was sent to the Corps
Headquarters by wagon, and thence I proceeded on foot to my Regiment.
My heart throbbed with joy as I drew nearer to the front. I had been
eager to get back to my comrades. They had endeared themselves to me
so much that I loved my Company as much as my own mother. I thought
of the comrades whose lives I had saved and wondered how many of them
had returned to the fighting line. I thought of the soldiers whom I
had left alive and wondered if they were still among the living. Many
familiar scenes came up in my imagination as I marched along under the
brilliant rays of the sun.
As I approached the regimental headquarters a soldier saw me in the
distance and, turning to his comrade, he pointed towards me.
“Who can that be?” he asked, thoughtfully. The partner scratched his
neck and said:
“Why, he looks familiar.”
“Why, it’s Yashka!” exclaimed the first, as I moved nearer. “Yashka!
Yashka!” they shouted at the top of their voices, running toward me as
fast as they could.
“Yashka is back! Yashka is back!” the news was passed along to men and
officers alike. There was such spontaneous joy that I was overwhelmed.
Our regiment was then in reserve, and soon I was surrounded by hundreds
of old friends. There was kissing, embracing, handshaking. The men
capered about like children, shouting, “Look who’s here! Yashka!” They
had been under the impression that I was disabled and would never
return. They congratulated me upon my recovery. Even the officers came
out to shake hands with me, some even kissing me, and all expressing
their gratification at my recovery.
I shall never forget the welcome I received from my comrades.
They carried me on their shoulders, shouting, “Hurrah for Yashka! Three
cheers for Yashka!” Many of them wanted me to visit their dugouts
and share with them the food parcels they had received from home.
The dugouts were really in a splendid state, clean, furnished, well
protected. I was reassigned to my old company, the Thirteenth, and was
now considered a veteran.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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