23. Dezember 1943
| GEO & MIL INFO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| additionally assuming command of 11th Coy |
The leader of 11th Company is out of action. I receive a new order from the battalion commander: Effective immediately, Second Lieutenant Schrödter will also take over the leadership of 11th Company. Now I am almost battalion leader, because I lead 10th, 11th and 12th Companies.
Officers are scarce. We usually have only one officer in each company and these are usually only Leutnants or Oberleutnants. If the leader of a company falls out, then an officer must be given leadership of two companies if a competent Feldwebel or even Unteroffizier cannot be entrusted with command of a company, which was not all that rare towards the end of the war. In our battalion the current situation was like this: two of three rifle company commanders were out of action. Our battalion adjutant, an elderly Hauptmann, had also dropped out some time ago due to a knee shot. This left only the battalion commander and a young orderly officer on the battalion staff (the commander must have an aide, after all). There were only two officers left for the four companies. Leutnant von Arnim kept his 9th Company, while I took over 10th, 11th, and my own 12th Company.
Since I now lead two rifle companies, I have to change my command post. So I move into a new bunker. It is located on top of the plateau, just under a hundred metres behind the front line and right on the edge of the small valley that cuts through the plateau. The next position of the company front is about 80 metres away from my bunker. It is already on the front slope and dominates the whole hollow with one machine gun. It is the only position I can see from my bunker.
My present “command post” is quite primitive. It was originally supposed to be a mortar emplacement, but then it was abandoned. My predecessor then covered it with a layer of boards and put a thin layer of sand on top. If you tried to walk over it, it would collapse. The ceiling is so low that you can only kneel in the bunker. If you straighten yourself more up, you hit your head against the wooden ceiling. The entrance is covered with a sack. Here I am, lying on a bed of straw next to my messenger, staring at the wooden ceiling. It is broad daylight outside. That’s why we can’t leave our hole. Otherwise we would reveal our position. The Russian artillery is spraying the area non-stop. Zone fire. From time to time the field telephone rings. The battalion asks this and that and wants reports. In the evening, I first visit my own company’s machine gun position, which is located next to me. I talk to the men and get some information about the situation in this sector.
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