The author of these fascinating memoirs, written on the basis of brief diary entries and letters from his mother from the front, is Andrei Vladimirovich Nikolaev (1922-2013) - an outstanding Soviet and Russian illustrator. Over his long creative life, he created a series of illustrations for about two hundred books from domestic and foreign classics and modern authors. A wide circle of readers is known as the author of illustrations for “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy, “The Queen of Spades” by A.S. Pushkin, “The White Guard” and “The Master and Margarita” by M.A. Bulgakov. And A.V. started. Nikolaev his life path, like many guys of his generation: a graduation party at the end of ten years, and on the morning of June 22, 1941, the announcement of the beginning of war. Mortar department of the Veliky Ustyug Infantry School, service in the mortar regiment on the Volkhov and Karelian fronts, at the end of the war - the liberation of Hungary and Austria. The book is illustrated with drawings and diagrams made by the author. The publishing layout of the book is saved in PDF A4 format.