During the retreat of the Soviet troops, the sailors took the 10-year-old kid under their wing. So, Boris Alekseevich became a deck boy on one of the warships and served on it until 1943.
He participated in the defense of Sevastopol, then he was sent to the rear. Before the end of the war, Boris Alekseevich "wandered" around the country from one military school to another. He met the victory in Rostov Artillery School, where he was studying.