Grozny November 12, 1942
Men hurried back under cover. They had lit the smoke pots which were spitting out a thick, dense, noxious diesel smoke. Other men were running to their anti-aircraft positions. Steel barrels poked out of the sandbagged positions near the marshalling yard. Sharp eyed look-outs were cued to look to the northeast by one of the few radars that the anti-aircraft regiment possessed. Soon, one man with good binoculars saw the black spots in the sky. The gunners shifted their barrels up and slightly to the left even as ammunition was being passed forward and the ready rounds entered the breech.
Soon a regiment of fresh Migs slashed into the German fighter escorts. Several raw Russian pilots died, but they were accompanied by a trio of German pilots even as another regiment of Lend Lease AeroCobras slashed into the twin engine bombers. The heavy, centrally mounted cannon was able to rip into engines and cockpits, ripping wing tips from spars and throwing tail fins to the ground. Anti-aircraft guns began to fire as the German air raid crossed over the still incomplete defensive positions to the east of the city. The heavy guns around the marshalling yard made final corrections before they started to throw shells skyward too.
The Junkers and Heinkels were buffeted by the metal storm around them. Bomb bay doors opened up and soon buildings were being destroyed and bodies were being torn open. Most of the bombs ended wide of the actual target. An American built engine was lacerated by a very near miss, a fuel tanker full of 100 Octane aviation gasoline was burning ferociously and a trio of Valentine tanks were scarred by shrapnel that scoured their optical sights and drivers’ glass blocks.
Soon, fire crews were busy at work, spraying water and throwing sand on the fires in the marshalling yard. They allowed the residential blocks to burn as the priority was bringing the weapons the Red Army needed to the front. Hours later, a few houses were saved as the rest of the apartment blocks were burned out.