Jeff Rutherford: The German Army on the Eastern Front: An Inner View of the Ostheer's Experiences of War

Anlage 4 zu 24. Panzer-Division/Ia, Nr. 365/42 geh. v. 10.11.42, BA-MA RH 27-24/3.

FES was the abbrevation for Führungsbänder Eisen Sinter (Driving band Iron Sinter). Sinter iron, which replaced copper that was always short in supply, was not liked by the troops.

o.M. means ohne Mundlochbuchse (without adapter).

Vorgeschobener Offizier/OKH bei Armee-Oberkommando 6, An OKH/Op.Abt., 20.9.1942, BA-MA RH 20-6/212.

Due to its great range, the 10cm canon 18 was especially needed for counter-battery fire. This lack of ammunition meant that Soviet medium and heavy artillery could not be silenced.

The Sixth Army had some 60 10cm canon. As a result of this shortage, each gun had only six to seven rounds available, which in a period of normal use could be fired in two to three minutes.

For a detailed discussion on German urban warfare tactics, a numerical comparison and the supply situation in Stalingrad, see Wettstein, Wehrmacht im Stadtkampf , pp. 268-349.

87. Infanterie-Division/Kdr., Betr.: Munitionseinsparungen, 11.7.1943, BA-MA RH 26-87/163.

Jäger (literaly: hunter) was a traditional German military term for light infantry.

See the detailed account in Wettstein, Wehrmacht im Stadtkampf , pp. 121-134 (Mogliev) and pp. 142-168 (Dnipropetrovsk).

Eugen Kreidler, Die Eisenbahnen im Machtbereich der Achsenmächte während des Zweiten Weltkrieges. Einsatz und Leistungen für die Wehrmacht und Kriegswirtschaft ; Alfred Gottwaldt, Deutsche Eisenbahnen im Zweiten Weltkrieg. Rüstung, Krieg und Eisenbahn ; Klaus Friedrich Schüler, Logistik im Russlandfeldzug. Die Rolle der Eisenbahn bei Planung, Vorbereitung und Durchführung des deutschen Angriffs auf die Sowjetunion bis zur Krise vor Moskau im Winter 1941/42 .

See Creveld, Supplying War .

198. Infanterie-Division/Ib/V, Betr.: Kfz.-Lage, 9.11.1941, BA-MA RH 26-198/91.

A German battalion-level supply train consisted of three subunits: The combat train ( Gefechtstross ) with additional ammunition and combat equipment, the provisions train ( Verpflegungstross ) with field kitchen and an additional supply truck and finally the luggage train ( Gepäcktross ) with a truck for additional equipment as well the troops’ luggage, such as additional clothes and personal items. Typically, trucks from the latter one were the first drawn away for other, more important purposes.

The division was the highest level of a fixed unit in the German army. Corps consisted of several divisions, which changed according to tasks and situations, with divisions sometimes remaining under a certain corps’ command for only several days. Each change meant a new chain of commands and was a source of friction.

8. Panzer-Division/Ib, Entwurf, 26.10.1943 (sent with minor revisions included here on 28th October 1943 to Panzer Army 4), NARA T-315 R 503.

See Williamson Murray, Strategy for Defeat. The Luftwaffe 1933-1945 , p. 156.

Luftwaffenkommando Ost/Ia, Gefechtsbericht über die Schlacht von Welikije Luki vom 24.11.1942-19.1.1943, 26.3.1943, BA-MA RL 7/549.

This was the command agency responsible for all Luftwaffe units in Army Group Centre’s sector between 1 April 1942 and 6 May 1943, when it was re-designated as Luftflotte 6.

The Go 242 was a transport glider built between 1941 and 1944, which could transport up to 23 men or an equivalent of cargo.

The Junkers Ju 87 was the famous Stuka. The Bf (Bayrische Flugzeugwerke) 109 (better known as Messerschmitt Me 109) and Focke-Wulf FW 190 were the standard German fighter planes, while the Heinkel He 111 and the Junkers Ju 88 the were the standard German bombers and the Junkers Ju 52 was the standard transporter. The Focke-Wulf FW 189 and the Henschel Hs 126 were reconnaissance planes and the DFS ( Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug , German Research Institute for Sailplane Flight) 230 a glider.

Murray, Strategy for Defeat , pp. 94-96.

LIX. Armeekorps/Qu., KTB, 15.1.1943, BA-MA RH 24-59/180.

Anlage 4 zu Der Kampf um Welikije Luki, zusammengestellt vom Oberkommando der Heeresgruppe Mitte, o.D., BA-MA RH 24-59/70.

For a general introduction, see: Ekkehart Guth (ed.), Sanitätswesen im Zweiten Weltkrieg .

14. Panzer-Division/IVb, Übersicht über die Tätigkeit der Sanitätsdienst der 14. Panzer-Division vom 22.6.1941 bis 31.8.1941, 1.9.1941, NARA T-315, Roll 656.

123. Infanterie-Division/IVb, Bericht über den Gesundheitszustand der 123. Inf.-Division,14.11.41, BA-MA RH 24-2/100.

87. Infanterie-Division/IVb., o.T., 3.7.1943, BA-MA RH 26-83/163.

306. Infanterie-Division/Kommandeur, An Gruppe Schwerin, 4.12.1943, BA-MA RH 21-1/120a.

Jürgen Förster, ‘Securing “Living Space”’ in Horst Boog et. al, The Attack on the Soviet Union , volume 4, Germany and the Second World War ; Dieter Pohl, Die Herrschaft der Wehrmacht: Deutsche Militärbesatzung und einheimische Bevölkerung in der Sowjetunion 1941-1944 ; Shepherd, War in the Wild East .

Rolf-Dieter Müller, ‘From Economic Alliance to a War of Colonial Exploitation,’ pp. 118-224, esp. pp. 150-186 and ‘The Failure of the Economic “Blitzkrieg Strategy”’, pp. 1081-1188, esp. pp. 1141-1179, in Boog, et. al, The Attack on the Soviet Union ; Alex J. Kay, Exploitation, Resettlement, Mass Murder: Political and Economic Planning for German Occupation Policy in the Soviet Union, 1940-1941 ; Christian Gerlach, Kalkulierte Morde . See chapter 6 on issues of food and supply.

Felix Römer, Der Kommissarbefehl: Wehrmacht und NS-Verbrechen an der Ostfront 1941/42 and Felix Römer, ‘The Wehrmacht in the War of Ideologies: The Army and Hitler’s Criminal Orders on the Eastern Front,’ in Alex J. Kay, Jeff Rutherford, and David Stahel (eds.), Nazi Policy on the Eastern Front, 1941: Total War, Genocide and Radicalization , pp. 73-100.

Richtlinien für das Verhalten der Truppe in Rußland, BA-MA RH 26-126/25.

7. Infanterie-Division/Kommandeur, An alle Kommandeure und Chefs, 5.7.1941, NARA T-315, Roll 376.

The word ‘organize’ referred to the requisitioning measures carried out by the individual German soldiers without authorization from their superiors.

Der Ortskommandant Cholm, den 19.8.41, BA-MA RH 26-123/187.

Karel Berkhoff, Harvest of Despair: Life and Death in Ukraine under Nazi Rule ; Pohl, Die Herrschaft der Wehrmacht .