Vasily Afanasyev was born on June 19, 1923 in the village of Zatobolsk, Kostanay region in a peasant family. After graduating from the eighth grade, he worked as an electrician in the Kostanay automobile detachment. In March 1943, Afanasyev was called up to serve in the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army by the Kostanay City Military Commissariat. Initially, he served in the 1840th fighter-anti-tank artillery Regiment of the Reserve of the Main Command, received the specialties of artillery reconnaissance and gunner.

Sergey Georgievich Amelichkin was born on November 26, 1919 in the village of Ilyinka in the Yurgamyshsky district of the Kurgan region in a peasant family. By nationality Russian. Incomplete secondary education. In 1935, his parents moved to Kazakhstan, the village of Fedorovka, Kostanay region. Since 1935, he has been a permanent resident of the collective farm. Vatutina of the Kustanaysky (former Ubagan) district. After five grades of the peasant youth school, he graduated from tractor driver courses and worked on a tractor at the Chervona Zirka collective farm. On June 25, 1941, he was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army by the Ubagan District Military Commissariat. After graduating from tank school, he is sent to the active army as a tank driver.