MEMOIRS OF A MILITARY TRANSLATOR*
Yu. I. GORBUNOV
Candidate of Historical Sciences
Crimea, Africa Keywords: national liberation movements, Soviet military translators
I became a military translator of English after graduating from the Magnitogorsk Pedagogical Institute in 1962. After studying for a month at the Military Translators ' Course at the Military Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow, in the fall of 1962 I was sent to Egypt through the so - called "tens"-the 10th Main Directorate of the General Staff of the USSR Ministry of Defense. In Egypt, he worked as a translator for a group of Soviet military specialists, and participated in the training of Egyptian rocket men, pilots, and flamethrowers. In December 1965. I returned from my first business trip to Egypt and soon received a new assignment.
In March 1966, I flew to the Crimea. From Simferopol, I took a trolleybus to the village of Perevalnoye and introduced myself to the unit commander, Colonel Boyko, at the Military Training Center.
"Are there many of our people in Egypt?" Boyko asked me.
"There are several hundred Soviet officers.
- We also train foreigners, but from the south of Africa. We don't have any Arabs yet. We have built a house for the families of officers, there are free apartments - with water and central heating. Get settled in!
Once settled, I went to a translation agency. It turned out that there was no work with the English language in the Center.
"Why did Moscow send you here?" We only employ Spanish students. Do you know Spanish?" The head of the translation agency, a tall, thin captain named Nikolai Mishchenko, asked.
- I read Spanish with a dictionary.
"Why didn't you say so?" Then you can easily switch from Spanish to Portuguese. This language is easy, and Portuguese translators are not trained. We're here with Spanish, and everyone switched to Portuguese.
- And how are the wards?
"Cadets? Africans are completely illiterate. They speak their own languages. The ones from Guinea- ...
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