Though he was trained only as a cook, Ivan Pavlovich Sereda successfully blinded a Nazi tank and disabled its weapons before tricking the crew into surrendering.

The date was July 2, 1941. Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany’s colossal invasion of the Soviet Union, was only 10 days old, and the Red Army—mobilized and launched en masse against the invading Germans—was reeling from one catastrophic defeat to the next.

After four days of combat, the Soviet 91st Tank Regiment, 46th Tank Division, 21st Mechanized Corps was all but spent. Pulled back from the front, the regiment was trying to pick up the pieces by resting its men and repairing what tanks and vehicles it could. It was a common scene in what would eventually become the most horrific land campaign in human history. 

But the front was always fluid during the war’s early months. The Germans launched huge armored pincer movements that sometimes netted entire Soviet army groups, forcing them to fight their way out or be decimated by the closing ring. One such attack, the Battle of Kiev, took place from August to September 1941, resulting in the capture of more than 600,000 Soviet troops in the largest military encirclement in history—by most accounts the single largest military disaster in all of Soviet history.

How a Soviet Cook Took On a Nazi Tank

But that battle was still two months away when the 91st Tank Regiment was called away to defend against another, smaller pincer movement on July 2—whether they had the tanks or not.  

Men in the unit picked up their weapons, mounted the few remaining vehicles, and moved out. Ivan Pavlovich Sereda, a Red Army cook who had turned 22 years old the day before, prepared to do the same, but was ordered by his commander to stay in the platoon’s camp. Sereda’s commander wanted hot food ready when his men returned. The cook was ordered to defend the camp with his life if the Germans broke through.

So, left all alone, Sereda laid his rifle aside and went back to peeling potatoes.

Sometime later, Sereda heard the sound of approaching vehicles. The telltale squeaking suspensions told him they were tanks. Moving to observe what he thought were his returning comrades, Sereda was shocked to see three German Panzer 38(t) light tanks entering his platoon’s camp.

The Soviet cook ducked out of sight, watching the first two tanks pass through and continue on their way. But the third tank stopped, and the commander got out to look around. Sereda did the same. His Mosin-Nagant rifle—the standard service rifle for the Red Army, made famous by its use in the hands of Soviet snipers like Vasily Zaitsev—was still leaning against a sack of potatoes, out of reach. His eyes lit on an axe standing near the woodpile that served as cooking fuel.

It was better than nothing, and Sereda had his orders.

Sereda Won with a Little Help from His (Imaginary) Friends

Taking up the axe, Sereda charged around the tent, screaming at the tank commander. The surprised German soldier turned and ran to his vehicle, dropping inside and locking the hatch. The tank’s coaxial machine gun started ripping off long bursts in every direction—but by this time, Sereda was beside the vehicle and out of the line of fire.  

Thinking quickly, Sereda grabbed a nearby tarp, flinging it over the tank’s turret and securing it to block the side view ports. One can only wonder why the tank commander didn’t simply order his driver to drive away from the screaming cook, but he didn’t, and the machine gun kept firing at nothing. Sereda then climbed onto the tank and covered the driver’s viewport with his cook’s apron.

The tank was now blind, and Sereda went on the offensive.  

The machine gun was clearly the most immediate threat, so Sereda began pounding the barrel with his steel axe. The gunner kept firing and the barrel heated up, beginning to glow orange. Sereda pressed his attack, eventually bending the hot barrel so the gun could no longer fire. 

That done, the resourceful cook began calling to imaginary comrades to bring grenades with which to assault the tank. He even answered himself in different voices to further the ruse.

We don’t know whether the German tank crew understood Russian, but they would have been well aware of how vulnerable a stationary tank is to assaulting infantry. And one once again wonders why the Germans didn’t just try to drive away, but they apparently did not. 

Eventually, fearing the danger of the imaginary grenades, the tank commander opened his hatch, surrendering to what he thought was a swarm of Soviet soldiers outside. By this time, Sereda had recovered his rifle, and presented the German with a 7.62x54R-caliber muzzle to the face as he emerged from under the tarp, which had prevented him from seeing the encounter’s true nature in time to change his mind. The Germans climbed down one by one, after which Sereda “convinced” them to tie each other up. Sereda stood guard until his platoon returned—at which time he reported the capture of an intact German tank and its entire crew to his astonished commander.

Sereda’s Heroism Came at Exactly the Right Time for the Soviet Union

Sereda’s heroic actions were quickly recognized by the Kremlin. This was especially important in the summer of 1941, as the Red Army suffered catastrophic defeat after catastrophic defeat and retreated on all fronts. The Soviets badly needed success stories to bolster morale in the field and at home.

“With his brave actions, [Sereda] set an outstanding example of heroism,” Sereda’s corps commander wrote in his description of the day’s events.

The 21st Mechanized Corps supposedly kept the axe as a war memento, but no record of it actually exists and it does not appear to reside in a museum or collection. It was most likely lost in the chaos of the war.

The Soviets decided that Sereda’s courage and resourcefulness could not be wasted on cooking for his platoon, even though he had attended culinary school before the war. He was reassigned as a scout and eventually became a platoon commander, rising to the rank of Senior Lieutenant. The Red Army awarded Sereda its highest honor, Hero of the Soviet Union, on August 31, 1941. He was also awarded the Order of Lenin, the USSR’s highest civilian honor, which was automatically conferred on Heroes of the Soviet Union. 

Sereda went on to serve in the 1941 Battle of Moscow, where the Soviets finally stopped the Germans, and the years-long Siege of Leningrad. He survived the war but was wounded several times. He eventually died of complications from those wounds in his home village of Alexandrovka, Ukraine on November 18, 1950, at the age of 31. 

About the Author: William Lawson

William Lawson is a military historian focusing on World War II and 20^th century conflicts and the American Civil War. His specialty is operational level warfare, especially American amphibious doctrine. He writes on history, politics, and firearms for multiple publications and historical journals. He serves on the editorial advisory board for the Saber & Scroll Journal and Military History Chronicles and is a member of the Society for Military History and the American Historical Association. Lawson is based in Virginia.

The post In 1941, a Soviet Soldier Took Out a Nazi Tank—Using Only an Axe! appeared first on The National Interest.