During the summer of 1941, Sereda’s unit, at the time stationed in a Latvian forest, was sent to preform[sic] maneuvers. The cook was the only one to stay back, tasked with preparing food for their return. Eventually, he heard several tanks rolling up. His first instinct was to wave, but he soon realized they weren’t Soviet vehicles – they were German-manned Panzerkampfwagen 38(t) tanks.
Sereda hustled behind a tent to gain cover, as two of the Panzer tanks rolled right past the camp. The third, however, stopped, and its commander jumped out to look at the camp. Taking a deep breath, Sereda realized he’d have to make a move – and soon. His rifle, a Mosin-Nagant, was out of reach, resting on a sack of potatoes, so he grabbed a nearby axe.
Sereda jumped out from his hiding spot and ran at the commander, screaming. Shocked, the German quickly ran from the axe-wielding man, back into the Panzer 38(t). Its machine gun then started to fire indiscriminately.
Sereda was behind the gun and remained unharmed. He then found a tarp, which he threw over the tank’s turret. After using a piece of cloth to cover the co-driver’s vision port and his chef’s apron to block the driver’s viewing port, Sereda began hacking away at the machine gun with his axe. At the same time, he yelled out for his comrades to provide him with tank grenades.
Of course, no one was there to hear him, but the Germans were unaware of that.
The Germans didn’t stop firing their machine gun as Sereda hacked away. As a result, it became incredibly hot and, eventually, bent backward and was rendered inoperable. Amazingly, Sereda had taken out a feared German Panzer tank with nothing but an axe, some fury and a whole lot of moxie.
At this point, the cook retrieved his gun. As the Germans opened the tank hatch to surrender, they expected to see a number of soldiers, but came upon Sereda with his gun. He forced them to tie each other up and they became his captives.
The soldiers from the base camp soon returned to find what Sereda had managed to accomplish. This led him to become a legend within his own country, with his commander, Maj. Gen. Dmitry Lelyushenko, saying, “With his brave actions, he set an outstanding example of heroism.”