The Loss Of Life, Weapons, And Tanks Is Heavy. The Entire Undertaking Was Unsuccessful.

The Loss Of Life, Weapons, And Tanks Is Heavy. The Entire Undertaking Was Unsuccessful.

This is the part 7 of the memoirs of a German Tank Destroyer(Panzerjäger)
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Disclaimer:The content of this video is based on the diaries of World War 2 soldiers, and the personal expressions of the author, and has no intent to incite or promote content that violates YouTube policies or any other rule or law.

Before me is a vast Russian plane massive Gorges cut treacherously deep into the black earth like cracks in a window pane forever humid and swampy they are a threatening breeding ground for malaria and other feverish epidemics which are yet to be named the hkl helped campinia main line of battle extends

Here along a thin strip of woods and sparse Huts the ground has been scarred and the grass scorched by thousands of impacts from the months of dugin fighting a tropical heat hovers over the badly torn up trenches on the other side in this flickering heat can be found the

Russian bunkers it’s very difficult to keep your eyes open for the heat is heavy and our limbs are like lead the half hour before noon with its tempting calmness is the most critical moment of the entire day we wait for the meal service as we doze off only a breath

Away from falling asleep then all of a sudden a hissing comes across from the other side crashing with a thunder beyond our cover the same thing occurs every day at noon regardless we’re still startled from our dreams every time the images of home and all our longing thoughts are abruptly torn apart the

Hissing rolling and thundering last for one to two hours here and on the other side the Relentless wind mixes the stinking plumes of smoke from the explosions these waves of fumes in all colors with the blinding white shrapnel clouds into a dirty Gray Mass the firewall begins to die down slowly the

Nights are damp and cold and full of restlessness after the artillery fireworks every evening to honor the departing day the action increases on the front the heavy artillery has been put to rest and now it’s time for the small guns for the pay MGS and carbines on the front line late arriving troops

Fumble through the darkness glaring white flares hiss in the night sky like startled hens maxims automatic machine guns are firing off somewhere in the distance we respond by adding more machine guns and within a few minutes the whole chicken Coupe is in a great flurry a hellish racket throughout the

Sector it often takes hours before friend and enemy calm down most of the time the night is over by then and once again you have to forget about getting any sleep the Air Raids during these starry nights in the Looney sector are Unforgettable an overwhelming calm after the evening’s infernal noise of dueling

Artilleries a few quiet minutes when you can write a letter in the trench then all of a sudden a fine singing in the air the Ivans German slang for Russian soldiers are coming the light singing transforms into a rattling howl which now fills the air for hours each night

Is the same or inspiring picture hundreds of lightning flashes burst into the air shades of white green and red SPL flatter the sky long yellow orange streaks shoot into the air and are accompanied by the hard knocking of 2 cm anti-aircraft artillery glaring white magnesium flashes then fall from above red Flames

From a fire sizzling on the ground jump out 50 to 60 M and then appear as yellow white ornaments on a burning Christmas tree which is what we call the American Tracer shells only there are no gifts under it but rather infantrymen we try to conceal our

Movements in order not to reveal any more to the Russians than they can already see for Dawn is encroaching over our sap trenches and ditches next a slurping and gurgling come from above which turns into a booming hissing then a huge bang the earth trembles a shower of shiny glowing splinters cut through

The air once twice and once more ples then hurtle by over our heads in the neighboring trenches Flames now shoot into the sky until there are no more bombs flashes of light come from above he is shooting at us with his onboard weapons from below we attack the multicolored bursts with our machine

Guns and 2 cm artillery there is a crashing and thundering all around us what a tremendous spectacle just like Judgment Day whoever is calm enough to take this wild frenetic picture in will keep these kns in Looney in spite of everything in good memory what difficult days the Russians knowing full well the

Importance of the kunesh sector throw reinforcements into the trenches day after day along with pulling out more heavy guns and their damn Stalin’s organs which they position across the front there is a fine drizzle of rain in the oppressive Heat this feverish air is as warm as piss a considerable number of

Men stumble about sick with malaria the roads are Bottomless Pits of Mud The Trenches One Big Swamp damn this trench warfare my hole is about to drown there’s not a dry Speck anywhere the sun is again shining and the Reds who probably just like us have been suffering like dogs during these periods

Of rain are becoming utterly and ferociously aggressive by night with the support of their tanks they break through to our most forward trenches by day we strike back this is how it goes for 3 days when we full of righteous wroth finally bring a small section of forest where they commence their attack

Into our possession through a bitter close- range attack at dawn when the whole Affair starts to look more precarious than ever the excellent do gate otherwise known as nebble verer a multiple rocket launcher comes to our Aid we sit on the other side with this terribly rutted Forest thoroughly in our

Hands no force in the world would be able to expel us from here we have been sitting here for a week now a burned out Russian tank is used to construct our B position and the forest is is packed with our most modern weapons the Reds

Approach a few times a day but only to get their heads blooded the position is ideal and almost impossible to capture the Russians also seem to understand this and over the next few days and nights hardly bother us this however doesn’t seem right either for personally I’m suspicious of this calm our

Leadership doesn’t appear to be too trusting of this quietness either for our sound locating devices and surveillance posts are doubled after two more days everybody up here knows that the reds are planning something devilish for us on day three this becomes clear and on day four the entire combat

Position including our important B position explodes under Russian tanks I want to tell the story of how this all played out in detail and how it was reported to the core a Russian officer is visible in front of our positions apparently scrutinizing our tanks and taking photographs conspicuous expansion of

Berms along the entire length of the enemy trench facing us a deserter divulges that a mine tunnel is being built at this position which lacks only 20 M before completion 15 M from our own barbed wire barrier a metal post sticking out of the ground is observed

At the same time Russians are sizing up our tanks from their trenches based on these initial observations it is assumed that the Russians could be advancing with their tunnel toward our tanks therefore a screening trench 3 m deep is dug and manned with a sound locator based on the deserter testimony from

July 10th a Counterattack with nine heavy t- mines tm35 is attempted which despite being executed along 10 M does not bring any results an examination of the craters does not provide any evidence of a tunnel three more counter blasts don’t bring any results and a fourth one is

Being prepared for the evening of July 14 our artillery and heavy Weaponry are conspicuously organized along the front line Spanish Riders and S rolls are laid out as a precaution it is a terrible feeling to sit here and wait for the Havoc to commence which could rage upon

Us at any moment abandoning the position is out of the question therefore it’s time to write your will and wait with your frazzled nerves for the volcano to erupt what a terrible situation hours turn into minutes and minutes into hours time is now Crawling by it’s making us

Crazy I could scream fume and howl out of Rage dirty jokes and cursing do not help in this case the men just stare into nothingness numb and catatonic while they wait for the catastrophy 19:00 hours there is a sudden explosion about 25 to 30 steps to the right ahead

Of our tank line a few moments later a second even bigger detonation in the same spot occurs followed by by two more about 80 steps from our panzas the Battalion leader on the spot and a few men are thrown over from the force of the explosion the troops in the

Frontline trenches are buried alive the support trenches however did not cave in the main pressure from the explosion passes without doing much damage up front except for a few scratches it did nothing to me or my men with the sudden onset of artillery fire an assault unit attempts to break through our position

Everything is turned upside down with hand grenades and carbines our small and large machine guns that were buried under the collapsed BMS are not functional and are useless in the close- range combat we are even able to take in a few prisoners while all of this is occurring they will tell interesting

Things later on when they are interrogated besides a dozen wounded and three dead we escaped with nothing more than a black eye this time fixed position combat to mine combat now we’re there the only thing I’m missing now is fuel from the attack we also discover the following the origin of the tunnel

Was located in the very first trench across from our position large numbers of storm units were deployed for the construction of the tunnel which on the 14th was 170 m long in the tunnel 20 men worked at a time and the work itself was accomplished with an earth cutter the

Shape of a horseradish cutter because of the soft clay they were able to accomplish the work in almost complete silence at the end of the tunnel in the actual explosive chamber there was according to the prisoner’s account a 1,000 kilo bomb which was detonated on the 14th this incident can be counted as

One of the most devious forms of combat on the part of the Reds hardly a day passes during this singularly brutal campaign that the Reds do not bring us losses through one devilish plan or another the following is just a small sampling of this wired balloons and phosphorus grenades are not new anymore

As we already made their acquaintance last winter along with about 50 different kinds of mines on the other hand however are the M traps the especially cunning Bolsheviks cross German lines at night and at different points put up signs with the following written in German attention mine trucks

Must drive to the right the right side of the road is of course mined and the truck meets its Destiny other examples the sign this is a mindfree passage is placed in the middle of a Minefield or in a mine infested crater you will see a cardboard sign reading collection

Station for grenade shells remember comrade the home front needs raw materials to be able to provide you with new grenades many conscientious infantrymen fell victim to this malicious trick before being warned from above that nothing is sacred to the reder can be demonstrated by the following in the

Back and forth of positional Warfare dead comrades have to very often be left behind in enemy territory it is expected that a Counterattack on the following day will bring the Lost sections back into our hands the Reds know that this is the minimal duty of The Honorable

German Soldier to at least bury his Fallen comrades they know that we do this with the peace and devotion that Frontline soldiers owe to their fallen comrades precisely because of this they do something that is unimaginably devilish and cruel they connect the stiff arms or the shattered limbs of the

Fallen with a mine which blasts our comrades who want to put them to rest into Smither again and again I stand a gast before the villainy of such thugs a few days ago a new Russian mine in the shape of a first aid kit displaying a Red

Cross was used by partisans to booby Trapper Supply Road it detonated when the kit was picked up which killed the truck driver besides the already familiar drop of mechanical pencils and fountain pens loaded with sensitive explosives the Russian Air Force now also drops small first aid kits resembling German kits when the bandages

Are unwrapped a highly sensitive Detonator cap explodes causing extensive abdominal and facial wounds according to the statement of a deserter an officer the Russian Air Force has the following at its disposal cigarette cases when opened will detonate pocket watches when one attempts to wind them they explode grayc colored frogs detonation

Occurs when pressure is applied to the natural looking body at malow arang gelk along the supply Road 100 G field post packages with German addresses and senders were picked up when touched they exploded and caused serious Burns in the same area small oval tin cans were found

With the German label oil treatment for mosquitoes and lice along with a very dangerous explosive effect and so forth and so forth yet another wonderful thing which has caused Great great confusion during the difficult nights near dcoo listen up the following has been confirmed by official sources Russian sound

Grenades the grenade explodes a few meters above ground after the detonation a sound is Audible for 10 seconds which is very similar to sound of the impact what causes this sound cannot be explained despite a thorough investigation of the impact sites nothing can be found that would explain

What causes such noises I could list a good dozen similar examples they are always the same Bolsheviks are far superior to us when it comes to Waging War in this manner it is a pitiful superiority and a dangerous one deserters and PWS state that on the other side comprehensive preparations

For underground combat are taking place the Reds want to capture our advantageous cave position this way corresponding orders from Stalin have been submitted Subterranean combat the vge a small mountain range in Southeastern France and argon the sight of heavy battles between German and France during World War I combatants of

The Great War know all too well that this form of combat takes its toll on the nerves of every man day and night we now lie listening in the deepest parts of our bunkers four weeks ago we were lying exactly like this in our holes and

Sap trenches our ears pressed to the wet ground listening for the muffled pounding of the pickaxes and shovels with which they were digging to calm our pounding hearts and frazzled nerves we tell ourselves again and again as long as there is pounding there is no danger what pitiful Comfort during these hours

But then we heard shuffling and buzzing when the cases of explosives were installed at the head of the completed tunnel we knew that danger was growing and growing if it becomes quiet down there then it is time the chamber is fully loaded and any any second now an enormous destructive blast could erupt

For hours and days we were literally lying on 1,000 kg of dynamite until the evening of July 14th when its detonation blasted our positional structures to bits and combat around the still smoking craters began even today we don’t know where or if the reds are digging their tunnels it is exactly this uncertainty

That is worse than everything else again and again we place our heads on the ground to listen we are driving each other crazy each person claims to have heard a suspicious noise on the ground it is like the Looney Bin here as it is very difficult

To bring our men to their senses I know however that even the smallest preparation on the other side will be quickly detected by our leadership and it is this trust that relaxes me and therefore my men for nothing is more contagious in the trenches than perseverance and Cold Blood and then

Something else stirs our spirits and and turns even the staunchest of pessimists into happily smiling optimists the new leave regulations I’m hoping to see my wife and kid in the beginning of August with all the joy of knowing this though suddenly a great fear comes down over me

We who God knows have battled with death and the devil are dreading that before then we will be hit by a piece of metal which would rip this whole saintly picture to shreds all of a sudden we are now cautious in combat gone is the stubbornness during heavy

Bombardments we are no longer the callous frunch Vine we are civilians in uniform God knows I’m just like all the others leave how long will it be will we be able to cope internally and externally at home thousands of thoughts and considerations are running through my poor head damn it if the vacation

Would just get here prisoners are taken during my nightly reconnaissance mission it is of utmost interest for us to find out about about the enemy’s mine preparations according to statements made by captured Bolsheviks the Gophers over there are working night and day where the tunnels are being driven

Forward they can’t or won’t say despite our drastic measures there is one statement that all four of them have made this is supposed to be their first substantial undertaking and the explosion isn’t expected to occur for 2 months these guys were right on October

5th a section 200 M north of us is blown up for days trouble has been in the air nobody is thinking about going on leave or nice things like this anymore we just don’t have the time for it early today at dawn this week’s 14th Soviet tank

Assault rolled in now in the late afternoon it has finally been pushed back we closed in on them with tanks and flaks and broke through their lines all the way to a small section of forest it was very difficult this time we did it

Though and a deep drag on a pipe is our reward on the front line the Infantry is waging a stubbornly hard fight on a hill across the way where the rubble of a large tank is where the ground has been turned over a dozen times by shells where burned

Tree stumps stand strangely sad against the sunny Sky all hell seems to have broken loose our mortars send blasts that ignite fireworks of red lightning bolts onto the ridge which creates a thick wall of smoke and since their tanks were snubbed the reds are now sending bombers and low-flying anti-tank

Bombers which mess with the ground combat our machine guns are barking and our grenades hiss as they fly across to the enemy the droning of airplane engines and the rattling of onboard weapons mixed together into an infernal noise which fills Heaven and Earth there is suddenly a strange tone to the Uproar

A tone that sharpens our ears and heightens our senses enemy artillery the rounds are crashing about while tired fragments the late cers which fall out of the sky with a final mean snarl Splash onto the wooden planks of the trench covers they are shooting poorly today the Reds they must know it

As well for after the fourth round there is silence the front line is growing quiet as well I am familiar with this for one hour there will be peace and quiet only to start up again with full force when night falls and early tomorrow morning when the shrine come

Out again with their tanks just as a side note I want to go on leave it brings tears to my eyes that I can’t tear myself away from here tonight to go on vacation especially now seems so incredibly remote I’m on the train home which moves along bumply as slow as a

Snail it is almost unbelievable but nonetheless I sitting on board a solidly built German passenger train each passing Telegraph poll brings me closer to seeing my dear Roselle and my little girl again luckily the trip is long because it is difficult for me to leave behind the experiences of the last hours

On the front line it was hard to leave two of my men fell the gun Carriage burned out all my stuff has gone to the dogs it’s best to sleep in sleep lies Oblivion perhaps it will also bring Nice Dreams an advance on the happy days

Ahead of me what a lucky dog I am getting teary eyed now that’s unbelievable who could understand what is going on inside of me a lucky dog isn’t supposed to be sad I am back with my unit the 17 days of sun and happiness lie behind me like a distant dream it

Was an entirely great experience this leave full of gratitude I think of my love whom I have to thank for the countless Hours of untroubled Happiness Unforgettable will also be my hours with little Erica everything really everything was full of Harmony and sunshine I have many beautiful comforting thoughts and memories stored

Up for the approaching difficult winter days I received so much new energy and optimism from my time at home everything makes sense again to cherish something like this and to fight for it is worth it yes indeed it is worth it Sacra Dam one of our bavarians spouts out behind

Me that’s all he says there is a deadly silence now oh how it’s blowing outside chalk and mortar dust rain down on us like droplets of flower from from the ongoing fire from above Good Old Stone ceiling please hold up and don’t let us down orders are supposed to be picked up

At regiment HQ this afternoon I volunteer for this because I can’t stand anymore the stifling air that has been depleted of oxygen nor the torture of stiff bones and numb limbs how wonderful the fresh air is it has stopped raining and a humid Haze fills the streets

Through which the ghostly gray and sad ruins stick out the fire has died down only a occasionally does a volley pass over the high buildings The Whining 122s explode with a dull sound the street is nothing but a mud hole and thick mud splatters with every step since the gutters are buried under

Mountains of rubble the sun is coming out but I have no time to enjoy it because at this very moment the bombing is starting up again with full force artillery fire rages over the ruins like rain showers this damn muck won’t allow me to run I have to cross some back yard

Where it is worse I’m hoping I don’t trip dear God don’t let me fall in this manure the stench from dead bodies is penetrating my nose and I can’t breathe enough fresh air this sloshing and sliding through the sticky muck seems endless overhead there are sounds of

Plains and all around the crashing of bombs there are many blind shells that sink into the mud off to the side is the glistening body of AATA with gray green Wings which show off the carefully painted red Soviet star ver damped damn I should already be there there is the

Main street which isn’t a street anymore devastated by constant bombing my map still shows the rows of houses which have long since been ground to a pulp by shells further ahead where Molotov plats Molotov Square must be there is apparently mortifier one can hear its barking like a pack of Mad Dogs single

Shots whiz by at close range with a dull swash it’s no use I’m sweating like a monkey iitz V ala my knees are weak and I need a cigarette break volleys of heavy shells are sweeping over my head in the direction of rot fabric red Factory their impacts are not too far

Away though not far enough to be protected from their noise and close enough to observe them a torn up patch of oak trees is cloaked in Smoke right now a giant tree trunk is being blown to pieces with splinters flying all over the place there is a blind shell from which I

Crouch down close to a wall and across the way more craters are being formed smoke plumes Trail into the air and clouds of dirt are being tossed everywhere right now a piece of shrapnel explodes with a loud bang white gray clouds of smoke and glaring lightning flashes fill the entire Street I stare

At this horrific scene Spellbound then all of a sudden those hunda dogs start to aim more closely a burned up projectile hisses as it drowns in the mud I didn’t notice that I had placed my hand over my mouth there is a loud howling my God they are huge just

Barely do I reach a partly collapsed basement before the storm begins a rumbling vibration penetrates the ground all the way to where I am located what started as a cigarette break has now turned into a long hour of fear and Terror it’s Sunday and also a sunny day

After the cold and rainy days it has finally started to feel like May since yesterday the sky above the ruins of the big city of warres is blue and peaceful I climbed all the way to the top of the vast ruins of the gunpowder Factory and I’m now crouching among the molten and

Bent iron beams of the ceiling it is a great view from up here you can see about a third of the entire city over there flows the Wares that good old River with its wide muddy streambed which has been a good front for us for weeks and also a good barrier to the

Advancing Reds one has been able to let his guards down during these August days even the command our trust in the muddy flow of the good old warres has turned into an inexcusable recklessness night after night we noticed that the Russians have started piling up huge amounts of

Stones message after message was sent to the division air reconnaissance reported that tanks have been assembled in Mona St shenko except for a few shells nothing absolutely nothing has been done to guard against this encroaching Disaster One Fine Day the stone Dam across the warres was actually finished

Multiple messages were sent to command their answer was as follows let the tanks come close that way they will be easier to shoot down excuse me for not recounting the details of how well we did in shooting down their tanks the Russians have gained control of the

Eastern Slope of the southern part of Wares along with it we lose the important defense bastions of casino and Brickyard which provide the enemy with a view of the entire Hinterland they are even able to see as far as the dawn with its Hills and Supply roads I have

Already been told how unsuccessful and bloody the Counterattack has been and how the week-long bombing from hundreds of weapons had no effect ever since then the Reds have been sitting in the casino an enormous pile of rubble where the basements are deep and safe they have

Also been sitting in the oven of the Brick Yard which could not be easily destroyed by our stokers all this looks like a yellow brown burned out patch lying there harmlessly in the sunlight to the North and the West as far as you can see is an

Ocean of bombed out houses nothing but a gigantic field of ruins smoke is rising from it in all Shades of Gray there are also the white and yellow clouds from the new fires which mix with the Violet and gray fog of the smoldering and dying fires towering threatening over them are

The Monumental Stone and concrete fortresses of the party the Soviet castles they had been fortified and every single one of these buildings has seen bitter fighting each one has its own bloody history whoever fought in Wares will forever remember one particular bloody battle for a block of houses the operation Hospital there is

Red square with the ostentatious Soviet government building on its facade you could could still see a row of small torn up red flags then there is the prison a huge building with walls more than a meter thick which even our heaviest guns could only slightly scratch one side of the building was

Blown up at the last minute by the Bolsheviks prior to their Retreat judging by the smell there must be buried under the ruins a whole mountain of corpses to the north and Northwest is the industrial sector of the town all the way to the Horizon one sees Factory

After Factory blast furnaces and steel mills the engineering Works commin turn which used to have 10,000 workers is now nothing but a pile of iron and Bricks then there is the electr signal Factory which employed 15,000 workers and the D shinsky Factory where each month 100 to 120 locomotives were built further to

The West stand the sad black skeletons of the huge burned out airplane hangers next to them are the airplane factories which as you can imagine were gigantic particularly when you read that 40,000 people used to work there I could go on and on to the South are the straight

Square blocks of Barracks which can’t be seen at the moment because the smoke from the drumfire is hanging over these cement quarters again there is the red Tower partially covered by the dirty yellow plumes of smoke from the gunpowder everywhere for as far as the

Eye can see are ruins and more ruins the once booming City with it 450,000 inhabitants is now a dead City reigned by Terror and death and yet it was still worth taking this city despite the great sacrifices and to defend it despite the even higher number of casualties this was the Cardinal Point

And pillar of the front which had to cover the deployment and attack of the Southern armies here in particular lies the prerequisite for the success of the operations against Stalingrad and the Caucasus Stalin who is well aware of this is deploying rifle division after rifle Division and tank Brigade after

Tank Brigade his goal is to break down this diversionary front up until now we have been able to withstand his enormous pressure and will continue to do so no matter what happens mangled cables are hanging from the telegraph posts swarms of flies Buzz over the cadavers of dead

Horses which are lying everywhere one could write volumes about this plague of flies these shimmering blue green pests the penetrating stench of the cadavers attacks one’s senses relentlessly but our nose and eyes are already used to this Symphony coming from the ghostly City the one thing that we are unable to

Get used to though is the nasty flies they are drawn to all the dying corpses under the rubble and have multiplied to form large swarms too countless to grasp birds are also circling over the battlefield thousands of crows Screech above the ruins and fields of death again and again they dive into the

Depths of the rubble when they see the horrific Harvest of death are tired and sweating unit stumbles along the pockmarked asphalt of Revolution Prospect Boulevard one of the most Splendid in Wares here stand the palacial buildings from the time of the Zars alongside the concrete buildings of the judeo

Bolshevik period or perhaps better said used to stand through the burned out windows escapes the terror of Senseless destruction on the inside we are burned out on the outside beaten there used to be a time when hours of fighting were followed by hours of quiet that time is

Over Sun Moon and blazing fire all share in Illuminating this work of Destruction and the slaughtering of people at times you eat whatever you have carry your ammunition or rest for a moment on the ground in the cover of a crater our faces have become black and Haggard

These days they are never plump and round allowing the drudgery of the 24-hour days to be seen in them our eyes are red from the smoke and the nightly watches but our teeth are white from the hard bread I can’t imagine that you could earn your daily bread in a way any

More difficult than this we are again in position at the southern settlement the solid part of the bridge head the sky is gray and heavy with rainclouds the Earth has been so churned up that she is bleeding from thousands of circular wounds chaotic positional systems Trail up the hill Rifleman holes bomb craters

And barbed wire tear the landscape into an ugly Grimace our bloody settlement is bolted up against the Breakthrough point for a month it has been lying beneath the gigantic Hammer Of Destruction suffering countless numbers of casualties the Soviets have worked their way into shouting distance of us many

Elite battalions were allowed to bleed to death just to gain a few meters whole Bolshevik tanks squadrons are burned out in the short time from July 10th to August 24th alone 978 enemy tanks were destroyed the soviet’s goal to take the last 50 MERS to reach the cover of the

Ruins of the settlement’s higher elevation has been left unattainable I met up with the troops in sosua since winter I have been continually traveling between cha and rash show always right where it’s the worst meanwhile our Gypsy unit has been deployed near Wares intrepidly holding

Its own and is now awaiting new orders a few are missing but overall everything is still holding together what an incredible Miracle orders came today stating that we should settle here in sosua the pitiful quarters are supposed to be made suitable for spending winter here it is unbelievable shouldn’t us

Poor relentlessly chased dogs at least get some peace and quiet once in a while but who has mentioned anything about an umbrella Theory Reagan Sherm Theory I.E conspiracy with a lot of diligence and patience we went to work on our Quarters here and there there are few things that

Could still be improved but overall we are finished with our winter Burrows now is of course when we will get our marching orders and indeed as usual they arrive timely as ever one beautiful afternoon an excited messenger comes running everybody get ready in 2 hours the division will be marching Ado jais

And maloka it would have been so nice but it wasn’t meant to be on time and as ordered the engines hum their Goodbye song and off we go in the direction of Wares we are rolling sweltering heat is upon us like molten lead our forced March has been ordered right when it

Seems to be foul again in Wares though when has it ever been different there we are prepared to ignore all the problems along the way all the Heat and dust a few hundred kilometers lie before us and we are needed near Wares urgently needed we are surrounded by a sad Barren

Landscape a flat singularly desolate and unchanging plane from Horizon to Horizon there is also dust hot dust the hottest dust and as we March alongside the road we become covered in The Neverending White yellow clouds which at times make it impossible to see for hundreds of

Meters so much so that one just stumbles the Infantry marches blindly forward tenaciously and courageously as usual with the sun glowing over a shadowless landscape while temperatures climb to 110° every day the closer we get to Wares the more desolate the land becomes it hasn’t been long since a bitter

Bloody battle was fought here the barren fields and plains extend for as far as the eye can reach the roads are nothing more than wide Paths of dust on a treeless Wasteland they have an Eastern feel to them the Caravan roads of Mongolia must be similar they Meander any which way just

Like Rivers these are dust streams which flow wide split into many tributaries and run wide apart split again into more tributaries While others rejoin the main flow just like a stream then all of a sudden the road Narrows a bridge some swampy water covered in Grass which we

Had to drive through which compresses all the tributaries to a narrow one lane road as soon as we pass through this obstacle the Road flows wide again and with ease into its many tributaries its surface has been compacted by countless trucks its bumps and holes and its

Grayish white with a bit of dark gray color resembles the skin of an elephant another 30 km to Wares it must be from over there where the enormous black smoke plumes are rising during a short rest we hear the rumble of gunfire which the wind has carried toward us an

Accompaniment to the bitterest combat the Eastern Front has se seen so far endless Munitions columns pass by us from the front comes ambulance after ambulance on the hood a big white flag with a red cross whips in the air they are packed to the Limit our faces are

Serious we know that the following days will be the Fulfillment of our destiny for some of us 20 kilm left to Wares we are now met by long trains of destitution the last evacuees of the city women children elderly the sick and disabled drag along on both sides of the

Sandy road to the South all of them are loaded down with their remaining possessions which have been saved from the rubble we drive past these sorrowful images for kilometers suddenly there is a singing in the air small clouds from anti-aircraft fire are floating in the sky quick as Lightning we are take cover

Under the pine trees with stoic Serenity Columns of wretched refugees continue to pass by tired and exhausted they plod through through the hot sand and then all of a sudden a sharp whistle a terrible howling six or seven low-flying Russian bombers pass over their heads release their bombs and fire their

Weapons into the helpless crowds there are no words to describe the horrific bloodbath these dogs have inflicted on their own people we can only administer first aid to a few because we have to move on have to move on to the front where the black as ink

Smoke plumes are and we can already see the flickering Flames we are sitting in the rubble of an enormous four-story Barracks through the shattered Windows across bent and molten iron beams across the Moon crater landscape of the yard we have a view of the front all the way up to the red

Tower only weeks ago before the big Casino offensive this was our favorite observation post today its ruins are unoccupied nobody dares the dangerous climb of the last eight people who did each one of them brought down their fallen or wounded comrades who had previously attempted it until the moment

When nobody returned all of them finding their grave up high to the right of the tower at the end of the barracks lies the casino an expression that anyone who has fought at Wares knows here and a couple hundred meters to the Northeast in the Brickyard sit the Russians these

Two points govern the whole sector they are defending them tenaciously thousands must have already bled to death here for six long days one bombing followed the next on a scale never before seen for hours there was smoke and fire nothing they don’t waver after another week of artillery and bombing preparations we

Commence the Counterattack with our panzas and storg shutzer assault guns we tell ourselves that after this incredible neverbe seen preparation of all the heavy weapons not even a mouse will survive in the ruins there is not much to say by the evening of the attack with the exception of a few Who Remain

Our division is destroyed the loss of life weapons and tanks is heavy the entire undertaking was unsuccessful by the following day it is a wonder that we are able to hold up against the enormous pressure from the Reds nevertheless they are able to push us back to our October

20th position and diminish our numbers by many their units are fully supported by Stalin’s organs this night is the beginning of the most critical battle for the bloody City the expected allout attack by the Russians lasted for five long days and nights until last night we held on to

Every meter of the smoking Rubble field with desperate tenacity the losses were great but again we were able to withstand the Mad assault if only by using our last inner and outer reserves now it is quiet friends and enemies are lying low in the Stony ruins

Through a gaping hole in the torn up wall I have a view of the depot area that had been battered by hand grenades this has been the focal point of the assault just yesterday the last 40 Soviet tanks were attacking here and just yesterday in the early morning glow

Five heavy tanks which had assembled in and emerged from a ravine were suddenly standing on our own lines rolling over our holes and trenches with their gun muzzles on the ground like burrowing trunks they would stick their guns into our covers until we got them right in

Front of our anti-tank guns and were able to shoot them down my heart is full of grief when I talk about these morning hours because one of our best men along with his entire gun crew had to give their lives Carl wiendorf you will live on in all our hearts giving your life

And those of your men saved all of us from being destroyed we will never forget this the wide field of the terrible combat lies eerily quiet and sad with its herd of destroyed and broken up tanks their burned out hulls lie in the the scorching Sun like tossed

Dice in a lost game their gun muzzles are turned up in the air arrested in the moment of their destruction and their torn chains and wheels lying there like the limbs of the Dead one of them has been thrown on its side by the blast of

A bomb like a helpless lump above this scene which is filled with the scent of smoke and dead bodies the air glistens in silver waves until it becomes as thick as a yellow veil by dust blown in by the wind I am tired very tired even

In my heart what a bad day it is pouring and a strong cold wind is blowing through the dead streets and in through the gaping windows we have taken shelter in a half buried basement there is at least a stove that has been left behind here which will give some warmth once

It’s burning but it is not burning yet instead it’s smoking and stinking in a way that just about tears your lungs apart the space is way too small for us all but you couldn’t ask anybody to go out in the pouring rain and the heavy fire which is rumbling across the ruins

And that’s why we are squatting between the dirty legs of the man behind us pressed together like a tin of sardines but it doesn’t matter now at least we are somewhat safe in this dank hole of a basement for a few long hours until we are relieved in the evening on top of

Everything water is starting to drip into the basement from above it’s damn filthy weather today the right weather for the Reds to attack judging by the heavy fire the schweiner are up to something every other second a tremble goes through the thick walls from the heavy impacts close by now a shell must

Have torn into the ruins right above how the rubble resonates the wooden beams are cracking dirt and stones are falling from the ceiling but it’s holding up that good old Russian ceiling ever since that unlucky incursion in the casino sector we are now in a dogged fight for

Every single ruined city block or Street section an ongoing back and forth of close combat from basement to basement and Rubble pile to Rubble pile there is no use to name the streets which will forever remain a symbol of Unforgettable courage and deep suffering you may not

Have Maps but if you ask those who might come home they will have a lot to talk about about the minutes of horror among burned out Factory complexes among torn up railroad tracks and the shredded metal ladders of burned out gas tanks during these dark nights the Reds pounce

On our posts to silently bring them down I say pounce but this word is not strong enough to describe the reality they know they can’t take us over therefore their actions are desperate everybody knows what human beings are capable of in such a situation especially if they have weapons they shout their battlecries

Like animals but that does not scare us they did the same last year it just sounds more atrocious in the ruins of the city these days we are shooting with mortars anti-tank shells and multiple barrel guns the trajectory of the mortar sometimes becomes near nothing from one

House into the yard of another we take the ruins of five houses and then we give back two just to fight only to then retake five again often enough the numbers are different I guess you could say there is some variety night time is the only time that has remained the same

With its fireworks burning houses sparks flying and the Beautiful Starry Sky but it is already very cold and one tries to be close to a burning building though one is always aware of the possibility that the walls could come crashing down over his night quarters then there are the voices of

The night the chirping of the ricochets the grumbling of heavy mines the shattering hits of the fire assaults and the minute long hellish music of Stalin’s organs over all of this stands the shimmering twinkle of a star Sky the most beautiful I have ever seen but its

Gentle calm is abruptly torn apart by all the flares from the Soviet bombers from now on the sky is not for a single second without these artificial Stars these stars are glaring and glistening like cold silver flickering and unsettled their magnesium light is unlike the warm red from the smoldering

Ruins in which we look for warmth bombs strike with a dull shattering noise and glowing fragments rain down upon us pressed close to the ground we lie behind Rocky Rubble or in bomb craters some never stand up again the stiffness in their bodies can’t be undone by the

Glowing wood Embers these are the disturbing images which will forever be part of the memories from the ruins of Wares the faces of the men have become old and gray like heavy Shadows from extreme exertion sleepless nights and NeverEnding Terror along with tense anticipation and always reigniting

Combat are drawn on their features we have been spared Nothing by this land the summer fighting commenced in pouring rain which filled all our holes with Muddy Water making the muck greedily hold on to every step and covering our uniforms with a crusty armor of dirt then came July with its scorching Heat

And the fine flowerlike dust now the dampness of the Rainy fall days is sweeping over the trenches and the crater Landscapes only to be soon again replaced soon by the ice and snow of the merciless Russian winter we are not facing this second year of the Russian

Campaign as fresh and naive as we once were these formerly idealistic Daredevils have turned into morose relentlessly tired soldiers of trench warfare tough people without a sense of humor easily embittered we view our surroundings with the sharpest criticism the length of the war has brought with it many changes to which my comrades

React with CTIC sarcasm and I with a slight sadness I am no Ren ludvig Ren German novelist and Nazi opponent or remark therefore no more of it but there is always one thing that keeps us going the knowledge of the love that people at home have for us Frontline bums the eyes

Of the entire country are on us all of Germany is proud of us really all of Germany well with exception of the Duds who don’t deserve to be called Germans all soldiers at the front have very different Fates there is the lucky one his unit is deployed in the big

Offensive operations and as hard as the fighting might be his engagement is rewarded with changing events and new experiences he is also rewarded by the knowledge that the whole world at home is excitedly following the course of the action on their maps and through the radio reports of the

Okw much more difficult and draining is our kind of war the kind that the franchine experience whose fate is currently leading them into heavy defensive battles naturally defensive combat is mentioned only briefly in the Army reports the accomplishments on our front don’t provide a great variety of stories for the war correspondents the

Going is tough and days and nights of heavy fighting follow each other here you don’t have the Great Moments which compensate for even the worst hardships of the offensive embittered we fight for every meter of space Lieutenant non-commissioned officer and Soldier are lying in dirty foxholes or if they are

Lucky in bunk ERS and for days sometimes for weeks we have to endure the enemy’s artillery fire each attack is followed by yet another attack time and again we have to fall in for Counterattack when the word heroism is used it should be for the achievement of the thousands of

Anonymous trench fighters who have successfully fought the defensive battles of the last few months a Senior Chief told me the other day you should know that the AC complishments of your soldiers will be written in capital letters on the the first page of the immortal book of great Deeds of the

German soldiers in the year 1942 even when the newspapers report less about them than about the obvious successes of the other fronts we are thankful for the kind words it’s snowing slightly and a sharp wind slaps ice cold water onto our faces all eyes are staring ahead where all

Hell could break loose any moment since first light we have been expecting the Russians to attack thousands are waiting and waiting Restless nervous hands check the hooks on the canister of the gas mask put the hand grenades from the right side of the Foxhole to the left

And back again to prepare for the defense they are doing a thousand things that carry no meaning or purpose our comrades of the artillery are standing at their guns waiting and waiting impatient hands turn the greased screws of the libel LOM 57 libeled reconnaissance glider damn far ahead stand the heavy howitz

And here again the shells lie ready everywhere the rocket artillery is checking their fuses again and again because their Destroyer Salvo is supposed to break the Russian attack everything has to work right in order not to let the superior force of the Bolsheviks overrun us and take

Possession of more parts of the death City we crouch in our fox holes shivering and freezing though it’s not just the cold which makes our teeth shatter a thousand gray men have their faces turned forward the success of the defense depends on the good eyes of a handful of men these Advanced position

Observers who have to stare through the snow curtain and recognize the danger in time the snow drifts are getting thicker through meter wide mud puddles a messenger approaches orders from the division the moment the enemy attacks our own infantry will strike back with an immediate Counterattack anti-tank

Gunners will support the attack and will take over the assault of enemy tank forces that’s how the message was written on the dirty paper which means we will have to dodge the enemy fire in order to move into the blind spot of the heavy artillery as quickly as possible we are

Freezing as we stare into the drifting snow with tearing eyes waiting then all of a sudden an enormous impact makes the earth explode and the Soviet annihilating fire begins their artillery sends their Hail of shells our way packs shoot from inside the houses across the street tanks are shooting from the sides

Flight squadrons are showering us with bombs and intermittently explode the hard impacts of the mortar storm storm through hell it is Hell the noise and the Uproar the constant detonation of shells of all calibers the hissing whistle of the bullets in the air the spray of splinters the flying dirt from

The bursting Earth the constantly quaking ground the biting and stinking smoke of gunpowder and amongst all this the hard and fast thuds from the discharges of our own mortar we have to get through this Inferno the Infantry is storming in front of us they always have to be diligent they have to stay

Courageous and hard stubborn and coldblooded and they are not allowed to think for a second that they could die or lie wounded the next minute the noise of infantry fighting the clacking of machine gun fire the discharges of the carbines the dry popping of the light infantry guns all of this sounds like

The Twitter of small Piccolo flutes in this thundering War concert but nevertheless these light weapons and the men who guide them will decide the battle after an hour of bloody close combat the attack is beaten back the Red Storm Troopers are finished at the limits of their strength prisoners are

Stumbling towards us with terrified faces but with undiminished Force the heavy weapons Thunder on enemy artillery is trying to tear holes for a second or third attack