Soviet 152-mm D-1 howitzers of the 110th Howitzer Regiment shell German positions during Operation Bagration. In the foreground: Lt. Vyacheslav S. Tsarapkin, commander of a firing platoon.
Belarus, USSR, July 1944. Soviet 152-mm D-1 howitzers of the 110th Howitzer Artillery Regiment fire on German positions during Operation Bagration, the large-scale Soviet offensive that destroyed much of the German Army Group Centre and liberated Belarus.
Standing in the foreground is Lieutenant Vyacheslav Sergeyevich Tsarapkin, commander of the firing platoon of 1st Battery. Born in 1924, Tsarapkin was responsible for directing artillery fire during one of the Red Army's most successful offensives of the Second World War.
The 152-mm D-1 howitzer, introduced into service in 1943, combined the powerful M-10 152-mm barrel with the carriage of the lighter M-30 field howitzer. The result was a weapon capable of delivering heavy high-explosive shells while remaining considerably more mobile than earlier Soviet heavy artillery.
During Operation Bagration, the regiment supported formations of the 49th Army as they advanced toward Mogilev. Artillery preparation and continuous fire support played a decisive role in breaking German defensive positions, suppressing enemy batteries, and enabling Soviet infantry and armored units to maintain the offensive.
The photograph was taken by renowned Soviet war photographer Emmanuil Yevzerikhin, whose work documented many of the Red Army's major campaigns on the Eastern Front.
🖼️ Technical photo data:
- 📸 Photographer: Emmanuil Yevzerikhin
- 🌐 Sources: goskatalog.ru; pamyat-naroda.ru; V.S. Tsarapkin, The Lieutenant Keeps Fighting, Sergiev Posad, 1998
- 📅 Date: July 1944
- 📍 Location: Belarus, USSR
- "Soviet D-1 howitzers WWII photos"
- "Battle for Belarus artillery photos"
- "Operation Bagration Soviet artillery"