Party on!

Everyone is dressed up and in a festive mood. The war is far off – if it has begun at all – and the young people in the photo have no idea what the coming years will bring. “The future belongs to us” – no, it didn’t. But that is 20/20 hindsight, because we know the result. The party might be in Bremen in northwestern Germany, as the guy in the lower left corner serves in Infanterie-Regiment 65, which was based in Delmenhorst just west of Bremen. That regiment had an interesting career, as it belonged to the 22. Infanteriedivision which saw action in the Netherlands, Crimea, Crete, Greece and Yugoslavia, where it surrendered on 11 May, 1945. The man behind him is in the SS-VT (if before mid-1940, when it changed to Waffen-SS), holding the rank of SS-Rottenführer (lance corporal), and is probably an NCO candidate.

Later, the revelers will pop open a few bottles of sekt (sparkling white wine). Maybe someone of them is still alive today. I wonder if that person remembers that party?

We’ll see what 2020 has in store for us. Things have a tendency to surprise us. Trying to be predictable, my aim is to keep making these posts at a rate of 3-4 updates a week. Next post (which will be the first of 2020) will be the 600th post. I’ll try to make it interesting. 

Happy New Year!

Lookin’ good

This Gefreiter looks good in his smart uniform, complete with the M43 Einheitsfeldmütze and black gloves. The photo is most likely from the winter of 1943-44. He wears the “M40” field uniform, the Waffenfarbe edging on his shoulder boards maybe the green of a Panzergrenadier unit. The ribbon of the Iron Cross, second glass, adorns his uniform, and the soldier has been awarded the Wound Badge in black for 1-2 combat wounds. The lack of the Eastern Front medal ribbon could mean that he didn’t spend enough time on the Eastern Front during the winter of 1941-42 (if at all) to qualify for the award, or he was called up in 1942. The boots and the medal ribbon hints at him being a member of a combat unit, as a soldier in a rear area unit would be more likely to wear low boots with gaiters and if he’d received any award, it would probably been the War Merit Cross. Anyway, he is in stark contrast to the soldiers in the previous post, and evidence that winter on the Eastern Front could be tolerable.

There’s no bad weather…

…just bad clothing, as the Scandinavian saying goes. Well, I reserve the right to disagree. The weather can be real crappy, and even if proper clothing will keep one warm and dry, it’s hard to find anything positive about freezing temperatures and driving snow. I guess the poor sods in the photo above would’ve agreed. It is probably from the winter of 1941-42, and the conditions are harsh for both men and horses. Frostbite was common, leading to loss of toes and other sensitive parts of the body. Weapons couldn’t be fired because the mechanisms froze. Horses and motor vehicles had a hard time dealing with icy roads, making it harder for supplies to be brought to the front. No, it wasn’t just the clothing that was insufficient.

Guys and dolls

Christmas in Hitler’s Germany. It can be hard to reconcile this photo of a happy family gathering with the evils of the system that those in uniform fought for. The men in Luftwaffe uniforms both hold the rank of Unteroffizier (corporal), and might not have approved of the evils if they had had full knowledge of them. The same goes for the rest of the family; the concentration camps (not the extermination camps) were common knowledge, the oppression and the Nuremberg Laws were evident, and if they had any Jewish friends, they couldn’t be unaware of their plight. Still, it’s hard to moralize over people who experienced the gradual descent into the Nazi state. Read Sebastian Haffner’s “Defying Hitler” for an inside account of the process. Also, we have ample examples of societies today which are in different stages of totalitarianism: the US, where a disconcerting number of voters are willing to ignore Trump’s transgressions, Russia, where Putin’s cleptocracy is a crimemob with an army, and China, where concentration camps to “re-educate” Uigurs and others, the “social score system” and the surveillance apparatus form a system that would’ve made the Nazis green with envy.

That being said, the people in the photo have a pleasant time for a few days while the war rages on. The black cat on the right has got some competition from dolls and stuffed animals. Soon the Christmas leave for the Unteroffiziere will be over, and if I’m not mistaken, they are flying personnel. Did they return from their next mission? With no names to research we’ll never know.

Merry Christmas!

In Germany and some other countries (like my native Sweden), Christmas Eve is the beginning of the festivities, with the gift-giving and food on the 24th. The guys in the photo look happy and relaxed, with furnished winter quarters allowing for Christmas cheer in comfort. The tree is decorated with tinsel and ornaments, the lit candles providing both ambience and a fire hazard.

Two of the soldiers wear the V-necked Army issue sweaters, while the two men in the back wear “M40” uniforms with the Eastern Front Medal ribbons, indicating that the photo was taken during Christmas in 1942.

A German Christmas card from 1939, showing a soldier standing
guard at the western border during the “Phoney War”.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, and send a thought to the men and women in uniform serving while away from their families and loved ones.

Mid-winter misery

This photo is probably from the winter of 1942-43. While not as cold as the preceding winter, and with the troops better equipped, it still wasn’t an enjoyable experience even f the enemy wasn’t shooting at you. The position in the photo is either part of a trench system, or an observation post. The soldier on the left wears a winter cap, while his friend wears a regular field cap with the sides turned down and a balaclava. They both wear snow suits.

Living in the field in wintry conditions for any extended period of time can be made less miserable if the frontline is static. That allows for the construction of bunkers that provide protection from the elements. Having access to a bunk bed and hot food goes a long way to make life easier. Still, hygiene is an issue, with hot showers and fresh uniforms being rare. One pastime in the bunkers was to remove lice and fleas from the uniforms. Imagine spending a whole winter without a proper shower or bath, while your skin itches from flea bites and your uniform is a small eco-system. The only comfort is that your stink is the same as that of your comrades…

One bright spot in wintertime was the Christmas. That’s the subject of next post.

“Ho, ho, ho, now we’ve got machine guns”

A group photo, showing 22 men and NCOs and one officer (lieutenant). With the guy behind the camera, they are 24 in total. There are three tripod-mounted MG34 machine guns. If this is supposed to be an early war platoon, there are another 24 men missing, and even with the leaner organization seen later, 16 men are still missing. Now, this could be due to one of two reasons: either this is from training, where a squad, the 5-cm mortar section and some other personnel are away, or this is a platoon that have taken battlefield losses. I tend to believe the former.

With three machine guns (four in a platoon at full strength), the men in the photo have some formidable firepower at their hands. Most armies used the MG as a support weapon, laying down a base of fire with it, but in the German army of WW2, it was the rest of the squad that supported the machine gun team. It might seem like a technicality, but instead of having the MG laying down covering fire from the back while the riflemen advanced, the German infantry tactic was to use the MG team in a more aggressive way, the rest of the squad supporting it. The MG34 and later the MG42 were relatively light and could deliver a lot of lead, where the opponents often were equipped with either light MGs with more limited ammo capacity, or heavier, water-cooled MGs. This gave the Germans a tactical edge, and most post-WW2 armies adopted the squad MG concept.

Food truck

This photo is from the Eastern Front, probably taken during the winter of 1941-42. Soldiers carrying the mess kits of their comrades wait for the food to be served. Instead of the usual horse-pulled, wheeled groβe Feldküche Hf. 11, this field kitchen is on the back of a lorry. It’s probably belonging to a motorized or armored unit. It has a 200 liter cauldron and a 90 liter coffee boiler. Getting hot food, especially in wintertime, is necessary to keep the spirits up. In the Wehrmacht, stews and soups were common, but the menu could contain some variety if the cooks managed to get hold on fresh meat. The daily rations were supposed to include:

Cold food

• 750 grams of bread
• 150 grams of fat (divided into butter, lard, margarine as bread spread about 60 – 80 grams , animal or vegetable fat for the preparation of the warm food about 70 – 90 grams)
• 120 grams of sausage (fresh or in cans) or fish preserves or cheese
• up to 200 grams of jam or artificial honey
• 7 cigarettes or 2 cigars

Hot food

•  1000 grams of potatoes, which could be partially replaced by:
  + 250 g fresh vegetables or
  + 150 g vegetable preserves
  + 125 g pasta, rice, grains, etc.
•  up to 250 grams of fresh meat
•  15 grams of ingredients (salt, spices, etc.)
•  8 grams of bean coffee and 10 g of coffee substitute (or equivalent tea)

Eggs, fruit, chocolate, etc. depending on availability.

The truck is parked in what appears to be a farmyard. It’s likely that the farm is used as quarters for the supply column of a company or battalion.

 

Full kit

This photo is probably from an exercise in 1939 or 1940, as evidenced by the double decal helmets and lack of combat suspenders. The soldiers of a rifle company have placed their gear in neat rows, and stacked their Mauser rifles three and three. The equipment was pretty much similar to what other armies issued, the main difference being design and color. For an ordinary German rifleman, the basic equipment carried in 1940 was:

• M35 Steel helmet.
• Two leather belt pouches for ammunition, holding a total of 60 rifle rounds.
• Bread bag, holding rations, a round Bakelite dish for butter or margarine, the rifle cleaning kit, a towel, cutlery, and any spare ammunition.
• Field bottle, capacity 0.75 liters, with an aluminium cup, strapped to the bread bag.
• Mess kit, usually strapped to the bread bag, a small fuel tablet heater stored in it.
• Bayonet, with “frog” (carrying leather ), usually strapped to the spade.
• Spade (fixed or folding, with carrying leather).
• Gas mask, stored in a ribbed, cylindrical waterproof metal container.
• Gas protection sheet (Gasplane), kept in a flat pouch. Carried on the chest up to 1940, from 1941 usually strapped to the gas mask container.

All of that weighed in at about 10 kilos. Add to that the rifle at 4 kilos. Then there was the backpack (Tornister), which was carried or loaded on the platoon’s cart. It held underwear, socks, a woolen sweater, laced shoes, toiletries, sewing kit, and the boot cleaning kit. Strapped to the backpack was the rolled greatcoat. There was also a laundry bag that held the work uniform. Personal effects, like cigarettes, stationery, etc, were carried where there was space for it. A shelter quarter (Zeltbahn), with printed M31 Splittermuster camouflage pattern was strapped to the backpack.

The personal equipment provided the soldier with the means to function for at least 24-48 hours, but then new rations were needed and if in combat, the ammunition needed to be replenished, too. A troop without supply lost its combat value rapidly, making it vital that the supply lines were open. Wintertime made it harder to bring supplies forward, and the cold made access to good shelter extra important. Remember that when you enjoy food, a warm bed and clothes and peace now when we approach Christmas. It’s just a week away.

Hunters in the snow

A deer has seen its last winter, and will end up on a dinner table soon. The soldier on the left, Mauser rifle slung across his back, appears to have been the marksman. The Unteroffizier on the right has a pair of binoculars, which probably were used to spot the deer. The two civilian youngsters hint at a home front setting.

Hermann Göring was a keen huntsman and appointed Reich Master of the Hunt in 1933 and Master of the German Forests in 1934. He instituted reforms to the forestry laws and acted to protect endangered species. Ironically, animals had more extensive protection than “undesirable” people like Jews. It’s almost unbelievable that the same regime that allowed cruel experiments on concentration camp prisoners also instituted animal rights laws that went further than many modern laws.

Hunting was still allowed, though, but with severe restrictions, like a ban of commercial trapping and fox-hunting with hounds. Heinrich Himmler did even look into a total ban on all hunting. The Third Reich was a truly bizarre place.