Panzergrenadier Photo Album

SUPPORT THE CHANNEL Patreon.com/Military1945 That wonderful footage is from the summer of 1944 from a combat training film for German Panzergrenadiere, or mechanized infantry. The film has a run time of 31.03 Min. The footage fits in well with todays unboxing of an original photo album from 1943 and 44 that documents the gradual progression of a German unit to a mechanized formation. This photo is from the collection. Using the information I can find in the photographs I hope to figure out what unit this Panzergrenadiere belonged to, piece together their history and learn about their ultimate fate. I’ll then find additional associated primary historical sources and weave the history together into a short video series. Today I’ll flip through the album and give the details that are already known. If you can give me any additional information or point me in the right direction based on what you see, by all means, please post that in the comments section below. I’d love to make this a group effort. If you’re interested in this kind of material and historical research please like the video and subscribe to the channel, that only takes a second and really helps. At the end of this video I’ll add the first scenes from that Panzergrenadier training film which has English subtitles added to it. If you like to see more of that film please let me know. The first piece of evidence we have is the license plate on this halftrack. The WH means that it was a Wehrmacht’s unit that used the traditional Husar Totenkopf or Deaths head, and not a Waffen SS unit. Husaren were central European light cavalry from the 15th and 16th century. Here we see soldiers relaxing in a wheat field which makes me think that they might be in the Ukraine. One has built a cage for a hawk that he’s captured. I’m not sure soldiers in a combat zone would have time for this kind of activities. This is an interesting photograph of a mobile medical unit. Here we see them at some kind of social meeting with women wearing traditional clothing. These barrack like buildings, possibly where the women are housed, are clearly marked with birch branches formed into swastikas which leads me to believe that they are back on German territory. The following photographs in the album I believe show locations in Northern Germany, I’m sure I’ve seen this statue but I can’t remember where. Let me know if you recognize something here. German cavalry divisions each had a battalion of cyclists attached to them. In this photo we see the battalion after receiving their military issue bicycles. In addition, the German army had 36 independent companies of bicycle infantry with 10 reserve bicycle companies. The German Army had 36 independent companies of bicycle infantry, a battalion of cyclists attached to every cavalry division, and an additional 10 reserve bicycle companies. But this was the photograph that’s provided the most information, specifically this sign here. The second line of text reads the 5th Heavy Company which should tell me exactly what division the unit was part of but unfortunately I been able to find anything. The third line reads Wehrkreis Unterführer-Lehrgang X, which means training to become The second line reads 5. schwere Kompanie or, 5th Heavy Company which I assume refers to our unit and should help us discover which division they were part of. Below that it reads Wehrkreis-Unterführer-Lehrgang X which means that those involved were being trained to become non-commissioned officers of the rank of sergeant in Military District X, which was situated around Hamburg. The first line I believe simply states the phase of the training that the soldiers were currently in. What I have been able to find is that with Order Nr. 630/43 from the replacement army that was issued on Feb. 6 of 1943 the formations that were lost at Stalingrad were to be rebuilt. A unit similar to ours that was created with this order was the Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 879 which included 3 battalions of Grenadiere and more significantly, a squadron of bicyclists. I’m pretty sure that what we are looking at is part of this post Stalingrad reorganization. This nice Russian footage covering the fight for Stalingrad and the eventual surrender puts things into historical context. If you’d like to see more of this material that can’t be shown here go to www.military1945.com. There you will also find high resolution maps with links to many of my channel videos. If you haven’t yet, please click the subscribe button now. We’ve got to get this channel growing. In the next video we’ll cover the rest of the photo album and see how the unit evolved.

BECOME A CHANNEL MEMBER www.Patreon.com/Military1945 www.Military1945.com That’s a clip from 1944 combat footage of Panzergrenadiers on the eastern front and it’s pretty good. Here we see a young soldier, possibly in his baptism of fire, peering into a destroyed Soviet tank. You can imagine the carnage inside. Today we’ll continue with the 1943-44 photo album that shows a cavalry unit which eventually converted into a PzGr. formation. I’ll talk about how cavalry units were used by the Wehrmacht and we’ll see some associated private training footage. Finally, responding to a comment string in the last video, I talk about leadership styles in the Wehrmacht. In Part 1 we saw a short clip of a 1944 Panzergrenadier training film. Go become a channel member on Patreon and take a look at the first 10 min of that film. Among other advantages, as a channel member you’ll get access to footage that I get clips from to produce these videos, basically every week. I’ll make sure that it’s worth your while. Our mystery photographer was not part of this bicycle unit that was also training in northern Germany in the spring of 1943. In the following pages we see his regiment training to become a cavalry formation. That mobile fighting units that were not motorized were still being formed in 1943 is interesting. Experience with the harsh Russian Winters had proven that non-tracked vehicles were often immobilized. tracked vehicles generally didn’t have the same problem of getting constantly bogged down but they too suffered mechanical difficulties caused by the biting cold. That’s really nice footage from Army Group Center from 1943. Motorized and mechanized elements, they simply couldn’t compete with the mobility offered by cavalry. In the Winter, cavalry units performed better and with the increasing problem of resupply, horses could better live off the land. A number of photographs like this one show the soldiers with their horses out in the field which is good evidence that the photographer himself was on horseback. During the Soviet counter offensive during the Winter of 1941/42, the Germans, through necessity, began organizing mobilized defensive formations that could be rushed to critical locations along the front. In this role the cavalry units had shown their effectiveness. Here we see private footage of the training of a cavalry unit in 1941. It’s a misconception that such units attacked on horseback. The horses were used to transport the light infantry to their area of operation where the soldiers would then dismount and act as regular infantry. At the firing range, this sign reads, no mounted horsemen. The cavalrymen are training on an MG34. Obviously there was never any intention of firing automatic weapons like this from horseback. And here, I believe, we finally get to see a picture of the photographer. In these photos he seems to be back home on leave. If you recognize any of the locations please let me know in the comment section. Here I’d like to reflect on a comment string that can be found on part one in this series which referred to the pleasant manner that the officers and men were interacting in the training film clip. The comments left give good insight into why this might be. Adding to what was left, Wehrmacht officers had the freedom to interact with their subordinates in the way that they believed would achieve the best results. Competent leaders who treated their men with respect and were sincerely interested in their wellbeing were often beloved in return. An example would be General Eduard Dietel, who was in charge of the 20th Mountain Army. He first gained prominence during the Norwegian campaign and became known as the hero of Narvik. Later during Barbarossa, he was in command far to the north in the push towards Murmansk. Dietl was known for leading from the front, experiencing the same hardships as his men and making sure that his injured soldiers were well taken care of. He had a natural way of interacting that can be clearly seen in the limited film footage that we have. In contrast, less competent or insecure leaders could treat their subordinates with contempt or even aggression. An example would be Otto Ernst Remer, who played a major role in putting down the failed military putsch which took place after the botched assassination attempt on Hitler on July 20 of 1944. For his actions he was immediately promoted two ranks to become a Colonel and portrayed as a national hero in the news. Realizing himself that he was, to say the least a controversial figure, he played this propaganda role to the hilt. Had Remer been promoted because of his effective leader skills? No, he’d became the characakture of what the world expected a Nazi to be.

SUPPORT THE CHANNEL and get access to exclusive film footage www.Patreon.com/Military1945 This is a part of a 1944 panzer grenadier training film which fits in well with today material. We’re continuing with the 1943-44 photo album that shows a cavalry unit which eventually converted into a PzGr. formation. I’ll talk about how cavalry units were used by the Wehrmacht and we’ll see some associated private training footage. Finally, responding to a comment string in the last video, I talk about leadership styles in the Wehrmacht. At the end of this video you can see more of the Panzergrenadier training film so stick around. Our mystery photographer was not part of this bicycle unit that was also training in northern Germany in the spring of 1943. In the following pages we see his regiment training to become a cavalry formation. That mobile fighting units that were not motorized were still being formed in 1943 is interesting. Experience with the harsh Russian Winters had proven that non-tracked vehicles were often immobilized. tracked vehicles generally didn’t have the same problem of getting constantly bogged down but they too suffered mechanical difficulties caused by the biting cold. That’s really nice footage from Army Group Center from 1943. Motorized and mechanized elements, they simply couldn’t compete with the mobility offered by cavalry. In the Winter, cavalry units performed better and with the increasing problem of resupply, horses could better live off the land. A number of photographs like this one show the soldiers with their horses out in the field which is good evidence that the photographer himself was on horseback. During the Soviet counter offensive during the Winter of 1941/42, the Germans, through necessity, began organizing mobilized defensive formations that could be rushed to critical locations along the front. In this role the cavalry units had shown their effectiveness. Here we see private footage of the training of a cavalry unit in 1941. It’s a misconception that such units attacked on horseback. The horses were used to transport the light infantry to their area of operation where the soldiers would then dismount and act as regular infantry. At the firing range, this sign reads, no mounted horsemen. The cavalrymen are training on an MG34. Obviously there was never any intention of firing automatic weapons like this from horseback. And here, I believe, we finally get to see a picture of the photographer. In these photos he seems to be back home on leave. If you recognize any of the locations please let me know in the comment section. Here I’d like to reflect on a comment string that can be found on part one in this series which referred to the pleasant manner that the officers and men were interacting in the training film clip. The comments left give good insight into why this might be. Adding to what was left, Wehrmacht officers had the freedom to interact with their subordinates in the way that they believed would achieve the best results. Competent leaders who treated their men with respect and were sincerely interested in their wellbeing were often beloved in return. An example would be General Eduard Dietel, who was in charge of the 20th Mountain Army. He first gained prominence during the Norwegian campaign and became known as the hero of Narvik. Later during Barbarossa, he was in command far to the north in the push towards Murmansk. Dietl was known for leading from the front, experiencing the same hardships as his men and making sure that his injured soldiers were well taken care of. He had a natural way of interacting that can be clearly seen in the limited film footage that we have. In contrast, less competent or insecure leaders could treat their subordinates with contempt or even aggression. An example would be Otto Ernst Remer, who played a major role in putting down the failed military putsch which took place after the botched assassination attempt on Hitler on July 20 of 1944. For his actions he was immediately promoted two ranks to become a Colonel and portrayed as a national hero in the news. Realizing himself that he was, to say the least a controversial figure, he played this propaganda role to the hilt. Had Remer been promoted because of his effective leader skills? No, he’d became the characakture of what the world expected a Nazi to be.