Captain of Medical Service Alexey Maximovich Tsinkin
When people think of war and warriors many things come to mind. Something many do not think of is medicine, though I suspect that’s changed in past few, post M.A.S.H., decades. An acquaintance taught history to undergraduate nursing students a couple of years ago and used an episode of Band of Brothers as part of the curriculum. (The episode at Bastogne, from the point of view of the medic from Louisiana.) He said conversation was intense; the art of healing in time of war brings up a lot of emotions.
While it may take a movie to bring thoughts of doctors to the fore in those not in the fight, that’s not the case for people more directly involved. Medicine is thought of by those on the front lines, a lot. The morale of a unit is greatly affected by the perceived quality of care a wounded soldier will receive. If the soldiers believe they will be well taken care of the unit performs better.
The “medic” of the movies populates the lower echelon units, the squad or platoon. At a higher levels (regiment, division) there was a medical company or battalion. These offered higher level medical services than available on the line, yet were close enough to the fighting that they would be considered at the front. By 1945 the Red Army was well acquainted with the cost of offensives so when fighting extended onto Reich soil in East Prussia those services were ready.
Captain Tsinkin was awarded the Order of the Red Star for his work in one of those units; the 153rd Detached Medical and Sanitary Battalion, serving with the 192nd “Red Banner” Rifle Division. Captain Tsinkin was at the time a Medical Company Commander, basically a doctor managing other doctors during the offensive into East Prussia. His citation reads:
“When the division was in the offensive to break through the enemy defense to the West of the town of Villunen and to take the town of Tilsit, Captain of Medical Service Tsinkin proved himself a courageous officer and a skillful specialist. In the course of the entire operation, Captain Tsinkin, engaged as a Medical Company Commander, directed all medical work of the battalion in rendering surgical care to the wounded and their evacuation to rear hospitals.
During that period, together with the leading surgeon, Captain Tsinkin performed 68 complex surgeries, and all the wounded were evacuated to rear hospitals after the surgeries. During the above-mentioned combat operation the medical and sanitary battalion admitted 988 wounded, of which 128 men were returned to the ranks due to prompt and skillful treatment.
Captain of Medical Service Tsinkin deserves the government award, order of the Red Star.”
This Red Star is the only award of Doctor Tsinkin that I own, and its serial number was all I submitted for research. This was a success story – returned was the doctor’s Award Card, Citation, and Biography.
His award card was filled out in 1947, and references order book number 901761. This Red Star was his second award; he would get six decorations in total for his service during the war. Two Red Stars, an OPW II, and medals for the Capture of Koenigsberg, for Victory Over Germany, and for Victory Over Japan. He also received a CSM in 1946; given his time in the Red Army began in 1935 we can assume that this was long service medal. He was born in 1913 in the Moscow region, was a member of the CPSU since 1942, and made his home after the war in the Uzbek SSR. He ended the war as the Senior Doctor of the Regiment, 490th Rifle Regiment, 192nd Rifle Division, 39th Army.
His biography reveals more. He was born on Christmas day in 1913, of “peasant origin.” So he was of elementary school age during the revolution and civil war. His early education is not listed, but he graduated from the Zootechnical School in Luban, near Leningrad, in 1931, and listed his occupation as Zootechnician. This changed when he entered the Red Army and attended the Soviet Army Military Medical school from which he “graduated with an excellent mark” in 1939. He also graduated later, in 1944, from the “Kirov Military-Medical Academy.” His biography also contradicts other documents: he is listed as a “non-party man,” and under number “14. Participation in campaigns (where and against whom)” the entry is “Not Applicable.”
The second contradiction is interesting. His citation shows:
7. Participation in the civil war and other military actions in the defense of the USSR (where and when)
1939 – liberation of Western Byelorussia
1940 – the war against the White Finns
Since March, 1944 – the 3rd Byelorussian Front
It would appear that Doctor Tsinkin had a long history in army medicine before war with Germany. The wording is fascinating. The “liberation of Western Byelorussia” refers to the invasion, in concert with Germany, of Poland in September, 1939. The beginning of WWII in Europe. The “war against the White Finns” refers to the Soviet invasion of Finland in the winter of 39/40.
His medal for Victory Over Japan indicates that he participated in the campaign against the Japanese in 1945. Indeed, a cursory glance at the order of battle reveals that the 39th Army was in the Trans-Baikal Front, and entered Manchuria from Mongolia.
This is what I love about getting the full Monty from research. The doctor’s travels can be determined:
1935: Joined RKKA
1937-39: Attends army medical school
1939: In the war against Poland
1940: In the war against Finland
1940-44: Attends army medical academy
1944-45: In the war against Germany
1945: In the war against Japan
Quite a journey.
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