Mortar Gunner on the Eastern Front Volume II: Russia, Hungary, Lithuania, and the Battle for East Prussia

1943

Chapter 1

Defensive Fighting in the Achtyrka Area

Between 8 and 23 August 1943 the author was attached to the Officer’s-Reserve as Unteroffizier zbV [Corporal for special purposes] with the close-up Tross [rear services] at Chernetchino.

11 August 1943

Back at Chernetchino via Achtyrka we find the Russian air force to be very active! Ivan attacks everywhere he can. A proper Front has to be set up again. At present there is total chaos. The enemy breaks through the main battle line again and again. Russian tanks appear suddenly amongst the Tross and cause great confusion. The town of Achtyrka is a battlefield. Our stragglers from beaten units stream back to the collection point. Our Grossdeutschland men, used to rolling from one area of shit to another, maintain an inscrutable facial expression for these demoralized soldiers. We are the fire brigade, and even our Tross has to keep the sharpest watch. In such a situation it is often safer to be at the fighting front. We grabbed some schnapps and many eggs from the provisions warehouses and made an egg liqueur.

At first light the Russian bombers and ground-attack fighters appeared, attacking with bombs and cannon. A house caught fire. In 1941 and 1942 the Luftwaffe had air supremacy. Now the Luftwaffe is very much weaker and Ivan has air supremacy instead, and we are experiencing for ourselves what that means! We despatched a Kübelwagen to establish where 9 Company was in action. It could not be found. Next we sent out a motorcyclist to find II Battalion and get the precise location of 9 Company from them. Somewhere two T-34s broke through to the outskirts of Achtyrka town and occupied the southern part. Our light 10.5cm howitzers and 15cm heavy howitzers opened fire at a range of 500m. They knocked out a 52-tonne tank with a direct hit. Driving on the Rollbahn has now become very dangerous, big formations of Russian bombers or Il-2 Sturmoviks fly along it. Not even half of our division had been unloaded from the trains before Ivan arrived. We are missing our other regiment, the ‘Fusiliers’ and our panzers. It is rumoured that SS units are coming here from the Mius Front. I ask myself, ‘What will it be like here when winter comes? Will the miracle weapons get here in time?’

12 August 1943

Today I led the advance party of the entire II Battalion Tross. We had to return to Lebedin using the Rollbahn over long distances. Every kind of vehicle imaginable was striving to either get to the Front or back to the rear. The fighter-bombers are active every day – and feared! Men ask, ‘Where are our fighters?’The ‘committed’ aircraft rake us with bombs, rockets and cannon. They make three attacks and then after a wide turn come for us at low level, fire pouring from all barrels! Lorries halt! Everybody out of the vehicle and take full cover! But where? We dash into the field and hide behind a shock of corn sheaves. The rounds from the machine cannon impact into the earth near us: we hear the ugly swish of the rockets. The MG salvoes pass close above our heads, most of this stuff going into the ploughed field 5–10m behind us. Everything that fifteen Russian aircraft had to offer within a few minutes! We all thought: ‘We’re done for!’ Incendiary bullets ignited the straw and the harvested corn. Three men were wounded by ‘light anti-personnel bombs’. Hardly was it over than we leapt into our lorries and roared away at top speed, trailing long banners of dust behind us. This made it difficult for the drivers to see out. Some of the lorries stood abandoned and burning by the side of the Rollbahn. Finally we reached the new accommodation area, a village just off the Rollbahn. The men chalked on the doors, ‘Nahtross [close-up services], 9 Company, weapons and equipment or field kitchen, drivers, etc.’ I had to take a lorry back to fetch II Battalion. The sky was cloudless, we raced along the Rollbahn at 70km/hr. Huge plumes of dust trailed behind all the vehicles. Speed had to be reduced for oncoming traffic, whose visibility was down to a few metres. Our uniforms, the weapons, everything was coated with this brightish-yellow dust. On sweaty faces it formed a yellowish-brown layer. It got between the teeth. At 1300hrs I led the battalion back along the Rollbahn. There were numerous other convoys, all driving much more slowly because of the reduced visibility. I thought of the many ground-attack aircraft which had given us such rough treatment just three hours ago. I do not know from where and how this word ‘rake’ (beharken) came to be used in connection with gunfire. But one must be lucky. We reached the new accommodations without being spotted. The individual companies were shown to the houses allotted to them. The infantry then dug foxholes. ‘Whoever digs deep has more chance of living.’ I reported to the battalion officers that everybody had arrived without loss. One good report: the Ferntross [static rearward services] still a few kilometres behind was bringing up mail. During the night Ivan pestered us with his accursed Il-2 ‘sewing machines’, roaring up and down.

13 August 1943

The forward positions could be held. The orders now are to pull back to the Vorskla (small river). Achtyrka is still in our hands. Reinforcements are coming up! But only very few men! SS units are also arriving from the Mius as reinforcements. We shall soon be in action again as per the saying, ‘Attack is the best form of defence!’

Chapter 2

Retreating as Far as Kremenchug

14–17 August 1943

I am in charge of Tross I, i.e. the Nah Gefechtstross, the front-line support services. We are in the small town of Chernetchino again. During the night we patrolled the town. With things being in the state they are at present, one must always expect the impossible. 9 Company is being relieved. Billets in Achtyrka. Only a short pause for washing and sleep.

18 August 1943

Today we advanced! Powerful formations of Stukas softened up Ivan beforehand. Ivan bombards the Rollbahn with his 15.2cm heavy artillery. All we have been given as our objectives are the names of places. We made good headway! Our Grossdeutschland panzer spearhead made contact with the SS units coming up from the south-east. The ‘Nahtross’ is heading for Achtyrka. During the night we had continual Russian bombing raids. Damn! Where is Ivan getting all these aircraft from? Heavy bombers and those ‘sewing machines’ we love so much! They are going to be our companions right through the war!

19 August 1943

Our vehicles are well camouflaged, the men have deep foxholes. At this moment all hell has been let loose in the sky! Ivan’s bombers arrive in endless streams during the night. But our Luftwaffe is more active! All day the drone of aircraft engines, artillery fire and heavy Flak. Tomorrow we will be resuming our advance.

21 August 1943

We’re attacking! Ivan is putting up a fierce defence! No backsliding here! It was so pleasant with the platoon and now we’re coming!

22–23 August 1943

The combat Tross is heading for Ochuchra where we encircled Ivan and gave him a thrashing. The place is devastated, destruction and ruins everywhere. Now we’re going via Kotelva-Oposhnia to Dikanka. We know it because we spent a few weeks ‘resting’ there before the Zitadelle offensive.

24 August 1943

We rolled all night! The bombs of the ‘sewing machines’ erupting everywhere. A searchlight emits a beam of light so that their pilots can find the airfield after their mission. We call these pale beams ‘fingers of death’. They have to fly through our Flak to do this, but these ‘crows’ are very difficult to damage. During my four years at the Front I only ever saw one shot down. He had left it too late to set off back, and we could see the small training machine at low level with the naked eye. That was his misfortune. The wings have canvas covering and apparently our shells go straight through them without effect!

25–27 August 1943

Our division is being relieved. So what next? We hear that the ‘New Sixth Army’ (a revival of the old Sixth Army after the Stalingrad disaster) is to take over from the SS units and Grossdeutschland after we get it in shape. Fresh orders for the fighting troops. I am leading the Nahtross to Lyutyshya-Budechiya, northwest of Poltava.

28 August 1943

9 Company has spent a day and night at the Front mopping up. Something not quite right there again.

29 August 1943

Relieved! The word is going round that we’re off to the Mius Front. Beforehand, this evening there’s going to be a convivial company and NCOs’ evening. ‘Whoever has troubles also has liquor’ (Wilhelm Busch). We have enough of both here, God knows! Soon we will be drowning our sorrows!

30 August 1943

The transfer out seems to be going ahead. Parts of the division are moving out to Poltava for train transport. That definitely sounds like another ‘fire brigade’ operation?! But just before Poltava a Fieseler Storch landed ahead of the convoy: ‘Stop! Turn around, go back! Await new orders!’ A fresh operation. We all rolled back again!

31 August 1943

The division has assembled and is ready. What’s in store for us?

1 September 1943

The fifth year of the war begins today. We are at Gadyatch.

2 September 1943

I went with the lorry to the Grossdeutschland Field Reserve Battalion. The journey took us through Birki to Sorochinzy. From there I had to pick up four Sanitäter. It was about 30km. I sat with the driver, the safety catch of my submachine gun off. Another soldier sat in the rear of the lorry, also ready to fire. The partisans make it necessary. The road went through fairly unpleasant woods to Lyutyshya-Budetchia. But all went well.

3 September 1943

We set off for Dikanka but at Birki received our operational orders: ‘Turn around, march! Fire brigade! To Syenkiv.’ A gap between two divisions had to be closed. In the evening we made a strong attack on Syenkiv and took the village. The Front is still not stable.

4 September 1943

We are making our advance with new panzers! I have heard of ten Tigers, Panzer IVs and Panthers. Adding it all up, about fifty new tanks.

5 September 1943

There is a lot of movement at the Front. No peace there. We took the combat Tross to Daidalovka. Scarcely had we got there than the Il-2 Sturmoviks graced us and the Rollbahn with their presence. Wherever does Ivan get them all from? As their enemy we say without any trace of envy that what the T-34 achieved on the ground, these Il-2 ground-attack aircraft (designed by Ilyushin) have done the in the air. But our Stukas also keep on flying long operations.

6 September 1943

Our division was relieved at 0300hrs. An hour later Ivan broke through as far as Syenkiv with almost thirty smaller tanks. Our Tross people, who had already abandoned their accommodation to the relief, turned back but found a new rest area halfway. I found out that our ‘Fusilier Regiment Grossdeutschland ’ is in action south of the Grenadier Regiment. Thick smoke on the horizon. Thick yellow-grey dust hangs over our convoys on the Rollbahn. I have never see so much dust in my life!

7 September 1943

The Grenadier Regiment Grossdeutschland has been sent south to Oposhnia. There is much aerial activity by both sides, unfortunately the casualties amongst the ‘fire brigade’ units are increasing. The men forward (age group 18–24) get no rest. They often find themselves in the most difficult situations without a ‘reliable’ unit on either side of them. The fallen are brought to us at the Tross in the provisions lorries. It is also my job to ‘prepare’ these poor boys. First I break off the ID tag for collection by the Spiess [CSM], then I go through all the pockets. I pack in the fallen soldier’s washbag private belongings such as purses, other papers, pipe, photos, letters, harmonica. I remove still usable boots. Finally the body is sewn into a woollen blanket or groundsheet and later removed to an easily recognizable place near some salient feature and then interred. There will often be many comrades lying side by side. Each grave receives a wooden cross. The orderly office keeps a precise plan of the cemetery. The Spiess then writes to the parents or wife or other family member with the report of death, these letters being signed by the company commander. A sad task. So many men whom I had known well and in whose company I had spent many difficult hours I now have to lay to rest in Russian soil. The weapons and equipment corporal is constantly busy making crosses during heavy fighting. Then the legend is inscribed on the crossbar of the cross, often branded with the Grossdeutschland symbol, then follows the rank, forename and family name, often also the company and sometimes the words ‘God – Honour – Fatherland’. And naturally the date of death.

8 September 1943

People are rather angry. A staff sergeant arrived in ‘our village’ wanting quarters for his general, von Knobelsdorff. After a short but noisy discussion in which the staff sergeant thought he could deal with me by virtue of his rank, he was forced to retire complaining. When his general turned up later and wanted to be shown to his quarters, I informed him that his staff sergeant had gone on to the next village. The general thanked me and left. Then came a messenger with orders for us to abandon the village within three hours. We are having to evacuate all territory east of the Dnieper and form a new front line to the rear of it. Furthermore all grain, cattle, horses, everything of value has to be brought back behind the river, even the remaining civilians. An emigration of nations! I looked on as crops in the fields were harvested, threshed, loaded aboard lorries and driven off. The Russians will arrive in a land bereft of everything. All the large haystacks, often the size of a house, were set afire, and we watched the flames eat their way through the stubble still standing in the fields. Dense smoke and fumes everywhere; we heard many explosions, and even the railway lines were torn up by the ‘rail ripper’.

‘Scorched earth’– what Ivan left for us in the winter of 1941, and for Napoleon in 1812.

By night it burned, glowed and glimmered all around us. Many houses were on fire too – a ghastly scene. ‘C’est la Guerre!’ Total madness. And it is not as though it will hold the Russians up for very long.

9 September 1943

Today I took charge of 9 Company’s Tross II. I took three lorries on reconnaissance to Sorochinzy, about 40km west. On the radio we heard that Italy has capitulated. ‘Badoglio treason!’ What is that going to mean? Here the damn’ war is going to go on.

10 September 1943

Yesterday evening when supper was being delivered to a farmstead at the Front, Unteroffiziers Spiegel, Ahlburg and Muggenburg plus four grenadiers were killed in a shower of mortar bombs; another four grenadiers were killed in bitter fighting during the day. Eleven comrades in one day! When I heard, I wrote to my company commander offering to go to the Front to take over a mortar group or platoon but contrary to my expectations he replied, ‘You stay where you are and as you are!’ I am disappointed! I haven’t yet found out how many men were wounded in this attack. None of my last mortar crew came through it unharmed. A shell exploded against a tree, causing the death of the No. 2, Gefreiter Stomberg, and wounding the mortar captain and No. 1 gunner. Shit war! This was the first time in the whole war that we had suffered casualties from a shell exploding against a tree. I have noted down the strength of 9 Company. We have only two heavy MGs and four mortars (8.14cm) operational – 45 to 50 men (authorized company strength 150 men). The clearance parties are working feverishly to evacuate villages and towns. Everything moveable and usable is being taken, then lorries loaded up with grain head in convoys to Mirgorod station.

11 September 1943

I took my three lorries west to Velika Bahachka (about 70km) and past Poltava. It rained again, turning the dust into slippery mud, like driving on wet soap. We passed large collective farms and barns burning, heard explosions at many places. Ivan must not be allowed to find anything usable. Our troops are pulling back ‘according to plan’. Unfortunately Ivan often sets the pace and destination.

Meanwhile our battered division finds itself in a continuous rearguard action at the Front, always as the ‘fire brigade’. A Russian message was intercepted: ‘We are going to encircle Grossdeutschland and wipe it out.’ Ha ha ha. Wipe us out? It won’t be as easy as that. How often have we held a position to the last while Ivan outflanked us on both sides and raced ahead. Other units would have decamped long before. And when we actually are encircled, a couple of panzers and assault guns, 3.7cm and 2cm Flak and a loud ‘Hurrah!’ get us free. Ivan would dearly love to bag us here. Our presence here causes him much anguish. We have often struck out his far-reaching plans. I always remember the words spoken to us by Major Tode (commanding officer, Reserve Battalion Grossdeutschland) as we left for the Front: ‘Wherever Grossdeutschland is to be found, there is always something going on!’

12 September 1943

Today I was given the job of locating the field post office. It had moved off somewhere.

13 September 1943

We were told about some more intercepted Russian radio messages. Example: ‘They’re all pulling back, only Hörnlein’s Pimpfe are still holding firm!¹ We shall encircle them and wipe them out!’

On the same day as when we were attached to Eighth Army, Ivan’s message read: ‘Hörnlein and his bandits are rushing from Army to Army!’ The use of the word ‘bandit’ shows how much our presence upset Ivan. Otherwise all passed quietly today.

14–17 September 1943

Tross, II Grenadier Regiment Grossdeutschland. We pulled out at 0800hrs and rolled via Bahachka along rutted mud tracks to the small town of Rechetilovka (70km) as far as we could go today. We had a fifteen-minute rest in front of the soldiers’ hostel. We are very short of lubricants and fuel. Where next? We slept exhausted in the cabs. When we woke up the weather had cleared.

18 September 1943

We overtook a Hungarian motorized unit. We traded one bottle of vodka for 20 litres of lubricant and one canister of fuel ‘decided to come with us’. On the big IVC Rollbahn, which had dried out well, we headed for Kremenchug, luckily hardly bothered by Russian aircraft. We had the SS unit’s Tross rolling with us, other Tross being back behind the Dnieper. There was a Flak group amongst the columns. We reached Kremenchug on the Dnieper around 1600hrs without arousing much attention. A traffic jam at the single big bridge over the river meant we had to stay overnight on the eastern side of town.

19 September 1943

We had just found quarters and were ready to sleep when there was an air-raid alert. Heavy 8.8cm Flak barked, searchlights swept the sky. A few bombs fell. At 2100hrs peace returned. We noticed the many heavy Flak batteries in position here: the large bridge is well protected on account of its vital importance.

Note

1. Pimpfe – colloquial name for boys before their voices broke . In the National Socialist period, Pimpfe were boys aged 6 to 10 who formed the youngest section of the Hitler Youth . (TN)

Chapter 3

Crossing the Dnieper Towards Kirovograd

20 September 1943

We pulled out at 0400hrs. Tross I rolled past us then we followed. We crossed the big ‘Rundstedt Bridge’ over the Dnieper towards Kirovograd via Alexandriya. All the various Tross arriving from the east head for this bridge and then fan out again after crossing it. Our journey took us through Kirovograd where the ‘peacetime economy’ was in full swing. Then we headed for the villages of Krasnozilka and Stavidlo, our rest areas north of Kirovograd. From its airfield a fleet of probably a hundred He 111 bombers operate along the Front. Huge ‘transport gliders’ are towed by conventional aircraft. I saw two enormous sixengined machines taking off, the first time I have ever seen such large aircraft. Are they bombers or transports? Later I found out they are the Gigants. In Kirovograd there are German girls working as auxiliaries on the staff, in signals units and as nurses.

21–22 September 1943

We saw Russian auxiliary troops, partisan hunters, Cossacks and Ukrainians. Wild, daring, brave men! They ride like the devil! Their songs are wild melodies but nearly always tinged with melancholy. They wear German uniforms with blood-red collar patches, some wear fur caps. They carry captured Russian weapons and are led by their own officers. All sworn enemies of Bolshevism! They have three German officers with them.

23 September 1943

Our company commander Oberleutnant Schmelter is back. In the Karachev Woods operation he had been sitting on the hull of a panzer when the turret turned, crushing his leg. I met him again during my study-leave in 1944.

I was advised to contact the senior vet of the slaughtering company and I visited him at Kamenka. He gave me some interesting information and I gained some insight into a slaughterhouse. That is only a minor part of veterinary medicine of course. I observed meat inspection and processing.

24 September 1943

I was active today in my ‘special purposes’ role. There is heaps to do even here.

25–27 September 1943

So as to forget the strain of the past weeks, we all imbibed as an ‘antidote’. It was also a very special occasion, for our Hauptfeldwebel Oskar Gellert is twenty-seven. I was twenty in April this year. We were ‘paralytic’ for almost three whole days.

28 September 1943

Alarm! Anti-partisan pursuit. An alarm battalion set out with anti-tank guns, Flak, heavy MGs and mortars. The wood around the village was surrounded and then combed through on a broad front. Unfortunately the village itself was only given a superficial search and nothing was found. Back to Krasnozilka. Our battlegroups funnelled back to Kremechug and the important Dnieper bridge, the Russians following up rapidly.

29 September 1943

Once all our men have crossed the Dnieper, the great bridge is to be blown up, and the fighting troops will fan out along the river in order to form the new Front.

30 September 1943

In a new operation against partisans our Field Reserve Battalion combed the woods while we stood security at the edges. I had to go to Kamenka to fetch their baggage. During the search of the woods the battalion came across a village where the partisans were ready for them with MGs. The nest was captured, but unfortunately we lost three comrades in the skirmishing. Thirty-four partisans were taken together with weapons, ammunition and maps.

1 October 1943

Today’s post brought bad news. My mother wrote: ‘Heavy terror attack by the Anglo-Americans on the town of Hagen. 260 killed, 23,000 homeless, much destruction.’ I also received a telegram: ‘Serious bomb damage’. At that I immediately submitted an application for home leave. The next few days were much alike. I have plenty to keep me busy.

2–6 October 1943

I had to get ammunition ready and finish off a lot of paperwork. The term ‘zbV’ (zur besonderen Verwendung = for special purposes) means that the Hauptfeldwebel can set me to work anywhere he thinks I am needed. I certainly don’t get bored but I have this unhappy feeling. My comrades serving the mortar at the Front – I am always thinking of them, especially when mortar bombs have to be loaded. Often I get the feeling of being a shirker, but when I wrote to the company commander offering to take over a group or the mortar platoon after it suffered heavy losses in a bombardment, all he said was ‘You stay here, do your job, then we’ll just wait and see.’ I have another assignment tomorrow.

7 October 1943

I led the advance party to Novo Praga in the new accommodation area via Kirovograd. We stayed overnight at Korssenivka. Next we stopped at the village of Nyaedivoda (free translation: ‘I give no water’.) In one of the houses I met a young Russian field-hospital nurse whom I identified by her white uniform. I asked her how the village came by this peculiar name. She explained: ‘When the Tartars under Genghis Khan conquered the village they asked for water. The inhabitants replied, We give no water. At that they destroyed the village and raged at the inhabitants, so now this place is called Ne dai vodá.’ Previously it was called Katharinovka. I found that very interesting.

Then I searched for a billet for myself and my driver. It was easy to talk to the young nurse; many Russians were taught German at school. With pistol drawn, my driver and I went door to door accompanied by her. We looked over the rooms and then chalked the front door with the names of those who would be lodging there. The field kitchen always got a house close by the village well or spring. I also took the opportunity to give the inhabitants of each house a look-over. In one house a woman sat making a kind of winter dress using an old sewing machine. In the same house we found a man of somewhat suspicious appearance: he was of military age and had his hair cropped short in the Red Army style. When I questioned him, he told me he was infirm, and acted like it. We continued our search for quarters. I thought to myself, ‘Blind eye, be watchful.’ On the first night my driver and I worked shifts, one sleeping while the other kept watch. But all remained quiet.

8 October 1943

Next morning we were surprised by the arrival of Ukrainian police who had come to arrest a partisan leader hiding in the village who had been denounced. My driver and I accompanied them. They strode in determined fashion to the same house where I had spoken to the man yesterday. When the two of us got there, the partisan had already been overpowered and stood in the living room with his hands tied behind his back and a mocking expression on his face. The whole village was now searched very thoroughly. In the house we found military papers, a German haversack and a concealed bicycle. The Ukrainian police chief asked him: ‘Have you any weapons? Where is your rifle?’

‘I have no rifle.’

Meanwhile the house and garden were searched again. In a shed we found a Wehrmacht belt with full ammunition pouches, a German uniform and a Wehrmacht carrying frame! From which poor comrade of ours, to whose back it had perhaps been strapped, might he have taken it? At that the Ukrainian police chief took a whip to the bare upper torso of the prisoner, shouting: ‘Where is the rifle? Where are the weapons?’

‘I have no rifle!’

One of the police auxiliaries spoke with the onlookers. He asked them something and then came to me; ‘Sir, the people say the woman hid a rifle in the ground. Come, let us look.’ I went with him into the garden and found a fresh depression in the earth. We dug down with our hands and found the rifle, a German carbine. Hardly had we got it free and held it aloft than the Ukrainian police boss punched the lying partisan hard in the face which made him stagger. The police set fire to the small shed and soon the ammunition hidden inside it began to explode. It was evidence enough. The prisoner was led away, his wife too. In order to reach the police station, we had to cross a high bridge over a river. I called out, ‘Take care he doesn’t try something here!’ No sooner said than done. It happened in a flash. With a leap and a bound he was over the railing and head-first into the river, all done with his hands tied behind his back. The courage born of despair. He did not get far, however. One of the police hauled him out, also the haversack and papers. From the harsh interrogation there and then it transpired that he was a lieutenant in the Red Army and, as he also admitted, had ‘worked’ with four accomplices. More he would not reveal. Suddenly he gave the police corporal interrogating him a powerful kick to the stomach. The immediate response was a blow to his head with a cudgel, repeated until the prisoner fell senseless. I saw here at first hand an example of the hatred which exists between Russians and Ukrainians. To prevent any further aggression by the prisoner when he came to, he was bound hand and foot. I had seen enough. ‘Shit war!’ He was taken to the police station where I doubt that his treatment would have been any better and very probably he would have been shot dead.

Chapter 4

Transfer to Seleni

10 October 1943

We were ordered to change location. The battlegroups in the line are having great difficulties, not least by being greatly outnumbered by the Russians so that the Front is frequently breached. We are to transfer to Seleni.

11–12 October 1943

I am alone with the company. Tross II has not yet arrived, only a 9 Company Kübelwagen being here so far.

Assessment of Unteroffizier Hans Heinz Rehfeldt

12 October 1943

To: Panzer Grenadier Division Grossdeutschland

II Battalion Grenadier Regiment, heavy Company, 8 Company

Open, honest character, modest, obliging. He has worked at carrying out his duties to the satisfaction of his superiors. Rehfeldt is a determined and energetic