Description
Object description
German officer served with 34th Panzer Pioneer Bn, German Army in Soviet Union, 1941-1942; served with 33rd Panzer Pioneer Bn, Deutsches Afrika Korps in North Africa, 6/1942-11/1942
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of operations as officer with 34th Panzer Pioneer Bn, German Army in Soviet Union, 1941-1942: first hearing of proposed attack on Soviet Union, 4/1941; confidence during early stages of campaign; reaction to being halted in front of Moscow, 12/1941; problems with weather; impressions of first retreat, 12/1941-1/1942; opinion of Russian troops; similarities of retreat to Napoleon's retreat of 1812; reaction to poor winter clothing; conversion of his company to ski unit; relations with Soviets; opinion of air cover during advance from River Bug; orders not to capture Soviet Army political commissars; contrast between Soviet Union and France.
REEL 2 Continues: problems with orientation in terrain. Recollections of operations as officer with 33rd Panzer Pioneer Bn, Deutsches Afrika Korps in North Africa, 6/1942-11/1942: contrast between warfare in Soviet Union and North Africa; initial reaction to being in desert; nature of war in desert; effects of British air superiority; sight of British artillery barrage at El Alamein; advance to Alam Halfa; character of Deutsches Afrika Korps; joining Deutsches Afrika Korps during advance of 1942; problems with flies; losing way in desert. Aspects of operations as officer with 34th Panzer Pioneer Bn, German Army in Soviet Union, 1941-1942: question of diverting armies to encircled Kiev.
REEL 3 Continues: effect of treatment of civilians in occupied Soviet Union; how German political organisation contributed to growth of partisan movement. Aspects of operations as officer with 33rd Panzer Pioneer Bn, Deutsches Afrika Korps in North Africa, 6/1942-11/1942: contrast between warfare in North Africa and Soviet Union; initial impressions of desert. Aspects of operatons as officer with 34th Panzer Pioneer Bn, German Army in Soviet Union, 1941-1942: sight of German troops retreating in Soviet Union.