12. Januar 1945
I’m standing in the courtyard of our homestead in front of my bunker entrance. It’s a cold, starry night. Over there, beyond the forest, lies the Baltic Sea. It’s less than two kilometres to the coast, from which only a strip of forest separates us. The sound of the sea reaches my ears across the treetops of the forest. And Carola is living on the same coast. It is the same water that sings the same song to her. So close, and yet so unattainably far away!
The Russian becomes more agitated.[1] The 1st platoon has two wounded again. The hole for the protective bunker for my company reserve has been dug. Now they’re busy covering it with beams.
Lieutenant Harms has got hold of the Wound Badge after all. The battalion doctor has entered it in his pay book.
A few days ago I had to give an expert opinion on the qualification of the officer candidates in my company. I asked for the air force sergeant to be removed from the list of candidates, which was done.
Apart from this sergeant, I have another such worthy representative in the company. He’s a lance corporal and officer candidate, does his duty very negligently and therefore has constant rows with his comrades. Yesterday I calmly reprimanded him for this as a first warning.
Recently, random checks were once again carried out on the parcels that the soldiers send home. I pulled out a few pairs of socks and a gas tarpaulin from a soldier in my company. The gas tarpaulins are in great demand back home as rubber underlays for babies, as rubber items are in short supply back home. But here the tarpaulin can protect the man from serious injuries and the socks from colds.[2]
It’s evening. Our artillery has set fire to a sauna at the edge of the forest. The log cabin is ablaze. The blazing flames cast their light flickering and twitching over the dark forest. Through my glass, I can make out a few figures running hastily around the cabin in an endeavour to put out the fire. And they manage to do so quite quickly. The cottage is small. I think they were Russians, but I couldn’t tell for sure.
The 2nd Platoon also reported movements in the swamp forest in front of their positions. The forest is low and very light. It has also been cut clear about a hundred metres in front of our positions to make it more difficult for the enemy to approach. But from now on I will send a reconnaissance patrol into the bush forest every third night to recognise any enemy approach in good time. I send another reconnaissance patrol in during the day to investigate a suspiciously large tree stump and a sauna. Our artillery has already fired several times at the small blockhouse, suspecting it to be an enemy observation post. Both turn out to be harmless, but I remain suspicious because I know about the Russians’ amazing art of camouflage. I have also sent listening posts into the forest from time to time in the evening already to stay there all day. They couldn’t notice anything suspicious either. Despite everything, I remain vigilant. After all, it is fairly certain at least that the Russian positions are more than eight hundred metres away. What we see of them here in front of our front line are probably reconnaissance scouts and forward defences. There is no sign of any intention to attack.[3]
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- ↑ KTB HGr N, January 1945: 12., S. 96 f.: “Enemy has become somewhat more restless”, but acc. to p. 99 only in the sector of the 87th I.D. 13., S. 103: “The movements in front of the right wing of the 18th Army continue.”
- ↑ The loss of remarkably large quantities of gas protection agents even became a topic in KTB HGr N of 12 Nov 1944 p. 158
- ↑
Mention of reconnaissance patrols in the reports of the 132. I.D. (KTB X.AK, January 1945):
9., S. 131: 6 reconnaissance patrols
10., S. 127: 2 own, 1 enemy reconnaissance patrol
11., S. 123: 2 enemy reconnaissance patrols in another front sector