17. Mai 1943
Now it’s happened! The Russians have picked up one of our posts! The bad luck happened to the other platoon, and the lieutenant tells me what happened during the relieving: It was pitch black night. Suddenly a rattle and a crash shatters the nightly silence. Machine gun bursts hiss and hand grenades explode with a muffled bang. Despite the total darkness, the bursts lie hair-perfectly on three adjoining foxholes. They sweep so close over the holes that the men cannot raise their heads and take full cover. Suddenly a loud cry for help echoes through the night. The Russians had crawled up to the middle foxhole under cover of the continuous machine gun fire that covered the two outer foxholes and had pulled the sentry out of his hole. You could tell from his cries for help that they were dragging him away by force. As suddenly as the attack came, it was also over. When the area was searched the next morning, only the cap of the deported man was found.[1]
This Soviet raid was a coup de main that deserves the greatest recognition. It was only possible through prior, most precise reconnaissance of the terrain, the sneak path and the location of our positions. Furthermore, the exact positions of the attackers and the positioning and firing direction of the weapons had to be determined so precisely that they hit their target even in pitch darkness. Last but not least, men of courage were also required. It was a masterstroke.
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- ↑ The XXXX. Pz.K. reported this incident as part of its “Zwischenmeldung” on 17 May 1943 at 1515: “257.I.D.: During the repulse of a reconnaissance party advancing in the morning hours north of Sagorodnoje, 1 Obergefreiter fell wounded or dead in Russian captivity.” (KTB 1.PzA, NARA T-313 Roll 58 Frame 7294010) A similar incident on 27 Apr 1943 (KTB 1.PzA, NARA T-313 Roll 48 Frame 7282638) does not fit into the sequence of events.