Aleksei Nikolaevich Smirnov

Captain Aleksei Nikolaevich Smirnov was a tank commander who fought from Kursk to Berlin. At the Battle of Prokhorovka during the Battle of Kursk — the largest tank battle in history — his T-34 destroyed three German panzers. He continued fighting through the Vistula-Oder Offensive and into Berlin, where his tank battalion was among the first Soviet units to reach the Tiergarten. He was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for his actions in Berlin. After emigrating to Manchester in the 2000s, he was one of the last surviving HSU recipients in the UK.