22. Januar 1945

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Editorial 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 Epilog Anhang

Table Of Contents

January February March April May June July August September October November December Eine Art Bilanz Gedankensplitter und Betrachtungen Personen Orte Abkürzungen Stichwort-Index Organigramme Literatur Galerie:Fotos,Karten,Dokumente

Chronik

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31.

Erfahrungen i.d.Gefangenschaft Bemerkungen z.russ.Mentalität Träume i.d.Gefangenschaft

Personen-Index Namen,Anschriften Personal I.R.477 1940–44 Übersichtskarte (Orte,Wege) Orts-Index Vormarsch-Weg Codenamen der Operationen im Sommer 1942 Mil.Rangordnung 257.Inf.Div. MG-Komp.eines Inf.Batl. Kgf.-Lagerorganisation Kriegstagebücher Allgemeines Zu einzelnen Zeitabschnitten Linkliste Rotkreuzkarte Originalmanuskript Briefe von Kompanie-Angehörigen

Deutsch
Field post letters/Red Cross cards
✉ to Carola (yesterday been shelled heavily)[1]

Today I make up for the interrupted visit to my train. After a short flying visit to the mortar company, whose mortars are right on the edge of the village, I stroll down the village street to the accommodation of my train, which is located in the village or at the other end of the village. There is a light disturbing fire on the village. A Russian cannon battery or a single gun is firing single shots at long intervals into the large village. I don’t let that stop me. The drip-drip dribble soon stops. On my way I pass the quarters of our paymaster Schneider, whom I also pay a brief visit. I make a brief inspection of the nearby train. As the Sergeant Major had been informed of my arrival, everything is perfectly organised and tidied up. I then write another letter to Carola[1], and in the late afternoon I return to the position.

It’s already late in the evening. It’s pitch dark outside. A strange officer comes down into my dugout. It’s the corps geologist, who’s supposed to examine the terrain behind our trench to see if it’s passable for tanks. I just put on a jacket and accompany him outside. We walk back a few hundred metres. The area here is marked on the map as swampy terrain. At the moment it is covered in a thick layer of ice, but in spring it could turn into a swamp. The geologist wants to take a soil sample with him. We go a little further out into the open area, make a hole in the ice cover and take out a piece of frozen soil. In my bunker, we look at the lump of earth in the light of the paraffin lamp. We are both of the opinion that it is bog soil. The lump has a peat-like consistency and shows clear traces of moss. But the soil scientist says he can only say for sure after a thorough analysis. Then he bids farewell.

We were supposed to recommend soldiers for promotion, and I made a mistake. I proposed a lance corporal for non-commissioned officer whom I hardly knew at all. I relied on the firm and explicit assurance of his squad leader, who described him as quite suitable. He was probably just his good friend. In any case, it later turned out that the promotee was a lame duck, neither worthy nor capable. Let that be a lesson to me.

The platoon leader of this platoon is a very young lieutenant who only recently joined us. An outdoorsman and daredevil, but also a bit of a droll fellow. Among other things, he shoots every cat that crosses his path and makes a roast of it. He’s only in my company for a short time. Later I hear that he has gone missing with the whole group on an unauthorised and completely unnecessary reconnaissance patrol venture.

The Bavarian, my battalion commander, calls: “We’re going to do a little side leap in the next few days!” That’s a pre-announcement of a change of position. That’s a great pity, because this was a quiet, pleasant position. The landscape is also beautiful! The countryside is very similar to the German Baltic coast, of course. After all, we were here for almost a month, from 26 Dec 44 to 21 Jan 45.

Only one thing was almost unbearable: the paper warfare. The quieter the position, the wilder the bureaucrats become, although I admit that a lot of things have to be made up for that are inevitably left undone during the fighting. But we already distinguish between 8 different company strengths, for example: Actual, nominal, combat, trench, combat, rations, daily and infantry strength. I soon can’t find my way through it any more. Our organisational talent and thoroughness are highly commendable, but the best qualities become harmful if they are exaggerated. What we need is simplification. Then we could also reduce rear services and get more soldiers to the front.[2]

There is the equipment, for example. For four years we’ve been lugging around clothes that we haven’t used once: The sidearm (except for opening cans), the gas mask (except for collecting food), the entire machine-gun laying mechanism including the heavy rangefinder. During the entire war I never once fired indirectly.

There are a thousand opportunities for improvement. The sidearm could be smaller or lighter, if it has to remain at all. The carbine is also too unwieldy and long outdated. Cartridge pouches are impractical, and many other things. In terms of food, one could switch more to concentrates, which can be nutritious and tasty and would save a lot of transport space. A whole series of Wehrmacht units could be disbanded as superfluous. It is not possible to list all the suggestions here.


— next date →

Editorial 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 Epilog Anhang

January February March April May June July August September October November December Eine Art Bilanz Gedankensplitter und Betrachtungen Personen Orte Abkürzungen Stichwort-Index Organigramme Literatur Galerie:Fotos,Karten,Dokumente

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31.

Erfahrungen i.d.Gefangenschaft Bemerkungen z.russ.Mentalität Träume i.d.Gefangenschaft

Personen-Index Namen,Anschriften Personal I.R.477 1940–44 Übersichtskarte (Orte,Wege) Orts-Index Vormarsch-Weg Codenamen der Operationen im Sommer 1942 Mil.Rangordnung 257.Inf.Div. MG-Komp.eines Inf.Batl. Kgf.-Lagerorganisation Kriegstagebücher Allgemeines Zu einzelnen Zeitabschnitten Linkliste Rotkreuzkarte Originalmanuskript Briefe von Kompanie-Angehörigen

  1. 1,0 1,1 The field post letter of 23 Jan 45 was probably pre-dated, i.e. written on today’s 22nd, because the author reports: “Yesterday Ivan shelled us heavily for the first time”, which must refer to the shelling of 21st, and the whole text does not seem as if it was written in the stress of preparing for deployment, as it must have been on 23rd.
  2. The author already complained about the “enormous paper war” in his field post letters of 11 Jan 45.