Germany moves to a war footing

29 July 1942: German soldiers on home leave discover that much has changed - but have to be careful what they say when asked about the war

Bomb damage in Cologne, Germany, June 1942.

Germany had resisted the commitment to a full ‘war economy’ until early 1942. Hitler’s plan for a quick victory over Soviet Russia in 1941 had failed. Now the Nazis were facing up to a much longer war, even if their propaganda machine would not admit it. The losses on the Eastern front had far exceeded expectat…