A squad of Luftwaffe soldiers is crammed inside a tent made from the ubiquitous Zeltbahn that was part of every soldier’s field equipment. The Zeltbahn shelter halves were triangular pieces of camouflage cloth, which could be used as rain ponchos, camo ponchos, ground sheets, temporary camouflage for foxholes and equipment, or as protection from the elements, either singly or with two or more buttoned together to create shelters or tents. They could also be used for flotation devices or as part of makeshift stretchers. In the photo above, eight pieces have been used to make an 8-man tent. Sometimes, it was used to wrap the body of a dead soldier before he has buried.
The basic use of the Zeltbahn as shelter, as demonstrated in Reibert’s 1940 manual “Der Dienstunterricht im Heere“. In the picture on the left, a single Zeltbahn has been attached to a tree in order to provide cover for one solder. Pegs, rope and a sectioned pole were kept in a separate bag, and used in the picture on the right, where two Zeltbahnen have been buttoned together to create better protection against wind and rain. Never underestimate the usefulness of a piece of weather-proofed cloth in the field.
World War 2 in Photos 