Memoirs of military paramedic presented on Presidential Library's portal

A lot has been written about the heroic deeds of medical workers during the Great Patriotic War. They carried the wounded off the battlefield under heavy fire and, forgetting about their own safety, fought for the lives of everyone for days on end. Thanks to their efforts, about 17 million Red Army soldiers who were wounded or sick during the war were returned to active duty.

The Presidential Library has digitized and made available on its portal Notes of a Military Paramedic the typewritten memoirs of Mikhail Ivanovich Nikulkin, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War. Guard Medical Service Senior Lieutenant Nikulkin served in the medical company of the 279th Infantry Regiment of the 91st Guards Rifle Division. In June 1941, after graduating from the Morshansk Medical and Obstetrical School, 19-year-old Nikulkin was drafted into the army.

On his way to the Western front line, where the war had already begun, Nikulkin received his first taste of combat: "I approached the wounded soldier, Karpunichkin, to provide him with first aid. He was my first patient. He was lying on his stomach and a splinter had created a deep gash in his right shoulder. I would recognize my first patient among thousands of others even now," Nikulkin recalled years later.

In mid-October, his regiment was engaged in continuous battles with the enemy. According to Mikhail Ivanovich, during the moments of enemy counterattacks and offensive actions, the medical workers on the front lines had to take up arms to repel the enemy attacks. Despite this, their primary duty remained to rescue the wounded. The author of the memoirs wrote that insomnia caused hallucinations, and he could not explain why these visual transformations always presented beautiful landscapes, which he could only see in the evenings. He used to walk and see a beautiful palace with flowers and fountains ahead, but when he got closer, he would see only a Christmas tree with snowcaps on the branches.

After being seriously wounded in 1943 and receiving treatment in a hospital, Mikhail Ivanovich continued his military service. He was assigned to command a platoon of carriers in the medical company, transporting wounded soldiers from the battlefield and providing first aid on the battlefield. One of his accounts of a battle that lasted three days is as follows: "These three days were pure hellish labor, with the mass of wounded needing to stop bleeding, apply bandages, and fix bone fractures, without a single moment's respite."

Mikhail completed his service in 1946 after the victory over Japan, having been awarded the Order of the Red Banner, medals for military merit, victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War, victory over Japan, capture of Konigsberg, two orders of the Patriotic War Second Degree, and jubilee medals.