Eastern front under 'terrific pressure'

18th October 1943: German Generals are coming to the conclusion that they are stretched to the limit and have no answer to the long term Soviet menace

A sequence of German images of a front-line position in 1943

The scale of the fighting on the Eastern Front was vast. Some sections of the Wehrmacht had already experienced the onslaught of the Red Army. Men like Willy Reese and Armin Scheiderbauer both felt they had only survived the desperate fighting by sheer luck. Elsewhere other German formations had yet to face the new offensive - other major Red Army attacks were launched during October.

A Russian infantry attack is an awe-inspiring spectacle; the long grey waves come pounding on, uttering fierce cries, and the defending troops require nerves of steel.

German Generals, who often spent much time close to the front line, were trying to grasp the overall strategic situation.

General von Mellenthin¹ concluded that German armour was still holding on and capable of beating off what he described as relatively crude Soviet attacks.