How should lightly armed units repulse a T-34 attack? Eastern Front training film - 71st ID Pt 5

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On June 24, 1941 forward observers of the lightly armed divisional staff of the 71st ID situated just outside of the Polish city of Niemirow raised the alarm of approaching Soviet armor. At the end of this video we’ll see more from this training film which shows how lightly armed formations, for example staff, supply, or security units were expected to respond in such a situation.

On this day Heinz, embedded with the divisional staff, would continue the forced march through territory recently abandoned by the enemy and see the death and destruction left by the mauled and desperate defenders. In addition to his diary entries I’ll use rare associated film clips tie the story together so stick around, it’s worth it.

Unfortunately we are only able to sleep for 2 hours. By midnight we are already out and advancing up to another village. There, in a horse stall, I try to get a few more ours sleep but the ground is freezing cold and my teeth chatter. By the time the morning fog has risen, we are up, out and better able to make sense of the area we’ve entered.

Everywhere we see signs of the enemy’s hectic retreat with jackets, blankets, even weapons and ammunition strewn out all over. The amount of abandoned equipment leads us to believe that this was some kind of supply base. There are also dead bodies, most with asiatic feature, lying unceremoniously all over the compound.

Suddenly there’s an air raid alarm and I dive for cover in a nearby bush. Three enemy planes flying at a low altitude roar just overhead and then quickly return and strafe our positions. When it’s clear and I look up I’m terrified to find myself face to face with a dead Soviet soldier. Behind asian features, the dead man’s eyes, frozen wide open, seem to stare right through me. It’s horrifying.

Soon we are ordered to comb through a nearby forested area. The thick underbrush severely limits our vision and makes this unpleasant task highly dangerous. In the middle of a field we come upon a dazed and injured Soviet who’s been shot in the leg and doesn’t seem to even notice of us. With equanimity his attention is focused on plucking the pedals of a flower. Then we come across another suspicious looking individual. When searched we find that he’s carrying a uniform in his backpack.

We continue on and after a few hours come to a spa area where we’re surprised to find brightly painted, well kept houses. Apparently the area had been used as the summer quarters for a Soviet unit as we can see all kinds of equipment and weaponry that was destroyed when the troops abandoned the area. I see an area that was used as a hospital with much of the equipment also destroyed. Our regiments staff moves into a large abandoned villa.

In the evening we sit together in a park on wicker seats listening to the radio. All at once an alarm is sounded signaling that approaching enemy tanks have been spotted.

The horses are immediately taken out of the way and tied up. Get the close combat weapons from the truck. Everything else to the barricade. The idea is to slow the tanks down at the barricade so that the infantry can engage them with the close combat weapons.

Just before reaching Heinz’s position it turned away. But this is what might have happened had it continued.

Well, like I said that didn’t happen. Actually they just went to bed, so back to Heinz’s diary. During the night a heavy firefight breaks out but we are simply too tired to respond. At 300 hrs myself and the other communications men are woken and instructed to repair a damaged communications line.