124

p Not later than March 3, 1943  [124•* 

p Dear comrades at the front, my dearest friend Nina,

p If I die in this battle, please let my mother know that I, her daughter, honourably carried out my duty to my country.

p What a terrible pity my life has to end so early, but there are others to avenge me.

p Nina, I was a nurse. That really is wonderful-to save the life of someone fighting for us, defending our homeland from the treacherous foe, struggling for our future.

p That’s about all, please let my mother know.

p Valya Kolesnikova 

Address: Lenin Collective Farm, Blagoveshchensky District, Altai Territory.

p Like many other Soviet girls, Valentina Kolesnikova wanted to get to the front as quickly as possible. After finishing a nursing course, Valya was posted to the front. She received her combat baptism in the August skirmishes of 1942

p Scorning death which lurked everywhere she selflessly did her duty bringing aid to the wounded under the roar of guns, the whistling of shells and the blast of enemy mortars. She was always in the very thick of the danger.

On March 3, 1943, her young life was cut short by an enemy bullet during the fighting for Smolensk.