OPW II # 175767 IS tank company commander

[Marcel Banziger]

Thanks to Auke I now also have Afanasy's Service Record (unfortunately without photo).



Service record


Service nr. B-165878

1. Last name, first name, and patronymic: Tokman, Afanasy Ivanovich
2. Date of birth: May 7, 1914
3. Place of birth (according to the current administrative division): Village of Yuryevka, Primorsk District, Zaporozhe Province
4. Nationality: Ukrainian
5. Party affiliation
Member of the Communist Party since:
Candidate member of the Communist Party since:
Member of the Komsomol since:
Not a party member: Not a member
6. Education (provide the names of the military educational institution, the number of classes or courses he passed, and the date of graduation)
General, political, and special civilian education: 7 classes in the village of Yuryevka in 1927 and workers’ university in the city of Osipenko in 1934
Military, including military political education: Accelerated course at 1st Ulyanovsk Tank School in 1941
7. Knowledge of foreign languages and languages of the Soviet peoples: No

8. Military promotions - By whose order - Order nr. - Date
Lieutenant - Volga Military District - 0618 - Oct 12, 1941
Senior Lieutenant - Main Armored Forces Directorate - 0924 - Nov 22, 1942
Captain - Leningrad Front - 01105 - Aug 9, 1944

9. Service at the front or with partisan detachments:
10. Family situation: Married to Muiza Dmitriyevna Tokman, daughter Larisa born in 1947

11. When was he drafted into the Armed Forces and by which military commissariat:

12. Active military service in the Soviet Army, Navy, or with the MVD / KGB troops:

Position and unit, institution, formation, army, group of forces, front, district, fleet, or flotilla - By whose order - Order nr. - Order date
Cadet in Troop Unit nr. 5593, Kiev Special Military District - May 3, 1936
Senior mechanic in the 24th Light Tank Brigade, Kiev Military District - Oct 16, 1936
Tank commander in the 11th Tank Brigade, Mongolian People’s Republic - Jun 6, 1939
Training platoon leader in the 11th Reserve Tank Regiment, Leningrad Military District - Dec 15, 1939
Cadet at 1st Ulyanovsk Tank School, Volga Military District - Jul 13, 1940
Tank platoon leader in the 34th Tank Regiment, 17th Tank Division, Western Front - Jun 22, 1941
Tank company commander in the 44th Tank Brigade, Southwestern Front - Aug 18, 1941
Tank company commander in the 24th Independent Tank Training Battalion, Ural Military District - Apr 30, 1942
Tank company commander in the 91st Tank Brigade, 65th Army, Don Front - Jul 25, 1942
Tank company commander in the 27th Independent Heavy Tank Regiment, Leningrad Front - May 1, 1943
Chief of the Mobile Officer Group, Personnel Department of the Leningrad Front - Jun 1, 1944
Tank company commander in the 7th Independent Reserve Tank Regiment, 7th Training Brigade, Ural Military District - Nov 3, 1944
Tank company commander in the 79th Heavy Tank Regiment, 42nd Tank Corps, 2nd Tank Army, 1st Belorussian Front
Tank company commander in the 246th Independent Reserve Tank Battalion, 42nd V [?], Moscow Military District - May 12, 1945
April 17, 1946, Personnel Department of the Armored and Mechanized Forces of the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany
Armored and Mechanized Forces of the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany
035 - May 11, 1946
Transferred to the reserves on September 23, 1946 in accordance with Article 43A.
Armored and Mechanized Forces of the Armed Forces - 0435 - Sep 16, 1946
In wartime he can be used as commander of a heavy tank company.

Military commissar of the city of Vladimir
Colonel [signed] /Kuznetsov/

Chief of the 3rd Section of the Military Commissariat of the city of Vladimir
Lieutenant Colonel [signed] /Korobkov/

13. Last name, first name, and patronymic: Tokman, Afanasy Ivanovich
14. Intended for:
15. On file at (name of the military commissariat and province): Military Commissariat of the city of Vladimir
16. Military rank: Captain
17. Service category: Commanding officers
18. Branch of arms: Armored and Mechanized Forces
19. Military specialty nr. 39
20. Reserve of the 2nd category
21. State of health: Fit for service
22. Refresher trainings attended: Refresher training in 1951, 90 hours; refresher training in 1957, 40 hours
23. Place of employment and position: Metalworker / repairman at Vladimir Tractor Factory
24. Home address: 30 Matrosov Street, apartment 8
25. Service record booklet nr. AE-32376, issued on October 14, 1948
26. Other remarks:

Verification card


Verification card

Concerning a service record booklet issued to a reserve officer

Last name, first name and patronymic: Tokman, Afanasy Ivanovich
Service number: B-165878
Military specialty nr.: 0103
Military rank: Captain
Year and place of birth: May 17, 1914, village of Yuryevka, Primorsk District, Zaporozhe Province
Service record booklet nr.: VR-058065
Issued on: December 9, 1967
By (name of the military commissariat and province): Military Commissariat of the city of Vladimir
Home address of the reserve officer: 16 Oktyabrsky [‘October’] Avenue, apartment 21, city of Vladimir

Chief of the 3rd Section

Lieutenant Colonel [signed] /Korobkov/
December 9, 1967

[Marcel Banziger]

Two nice pics from an IS-2 heavy tank. First one is on the approaches to Vyborg and the second in the streets of Vyborg. Could very well be Afanasy....who knows

[Marcel Banziger]

As can be read in this Service Record Afanasy was a Cadet at 1st Ulyanovsk Tank School and on the first day of the start of Operation Barbarossa, 22nd of June 1941,the German invasion of the Soviet Union, he immediately became tank platoon leader in the 34th Tank Regiment, 17th Tank Division. This shows that duty called and school didn't need to be finished in times of need.