In the German trenches

3rd October 1942: The experience of German soldiers on the Eastern Front is remarkably similar that of their fathers in the trenches of the First World War

Soviet Union, at Voronezh.- soldiers in position, infantryman with rifle lying in the attack, sergeant looking for binoculars, soldier with armoured rifle, in the background two soldiers with machine gun 34 (MG 34)

Russia.- Heinrich Himmler on a frontline visit - an honour formation of the Waffen-SS division "Wiking", September 1942.

The greater part of the Eastern Front remained 'static', perhaps marginally less dangerous than the active parts of the front but barely more comfortable.

For many German troops the miserable squalid conditions of trench warfare had changed little since the Spring.

Willie Reese¹ was now suffering from the wet and damp rather than the freezing cold.

We lived in a kind of glorified rifle pit. A planked ceiling protected us against light mortar shells; a box stove afforded some warmth. We picked up firewood wherever we could.

We were unable to wash, and the field kitchens in a remote ravine didn’t serve us before dusk. But our serenity and calm stood us in good stead. Danger was normal, and what had once petrified us as we first set out now barely touched us. Mind and spirit accommodated the requirements of destiny.