SS Reich Div (mot.) Pt 12 Dorogobusch Bridgehead Defense - SS Sennheim Training Facility Footage 42'

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Episode 135

This rare 1942 footage shows SS recruits at the Sennheim training facility, which is Elssas, in modern day France.

In the last video, part 11 of the series, the division took up defensive positions in the Dorogobusch bridgehead with the responsibility of countering any Russian attack that might come from the south attempting to break out units trapped in the Smolensk Pocket.

In part 12 we’ll see what happened during the defense of this position using Kurt’s diary, original situational maps and associated film footage. If you like this kind of material produced with primary historical sources please like this video and subscribe to the channel.

I asked for opinions regarding Kurt’s statement that German soldiers, especially those in units like his, should never have to go on the defensive.

I’m interested in knowing whether early Waffen SS soldiers had received adequate defensive operations training or whether, since they would never need it, that had been largely omitted.

Waffen SS units that had been active in the campaign in Poland and in the West had taken higher casualties than normal Wehrmacht soldiers which is largely attributed to their heightened “aggressiveness”. There was discussion as to whether the Waffen SS units should be disbanded altogether and the soldiers placed in the Wehrmacht. In fact only Himmler’s political clout stopped this from happening.

During the war of attrition that Russia would quickly to become, the taking of unnecessary casualties was taken seriously with commanders who allowed this to happen considered incompetent. Out of necessity the Germans became masters of mobile defense, rushing fast moving units to critical areas in the front. Military strength was seen as a scarce resource that needed to be used sparingly. Put simply, it was better to let the enemy’s soldiers die for their country.

The division was spread out over a front of 38 Km of contact with the enemy. The defensive line was so thin that there was only one man for every few meters of territory. From the very beginning the Russians bombarded us heavily with their artillery which made us begin to wonder if would be able to hold. The stress was increased by not having an overview of situation and therefor not understanding why we were not able to go over to the offensive.

This is the situational map of July 22, 1941 from the original German High Command war atlas for Operation Barbarossa. Here we can see the area of operation in Kurt’s entry. The majority of SS Division Reich was situated here with Kurt’s regiment, Der Führer, positioned farther to the North. There are an estimated 14 divisions including 5 Soviet tank divisions trapped in the pocket and there is considerable pressure coming from both the east and west on the defensive positions.

For your information there are video play lists for both the 7th and 20th PzDs on this channel so check them out.

The division was spread out over a front of 38 Km of contact with the enemy. The defensive line was so thin that there was only one man for every few meters of territory. From the very beginning the Russians bombarded us heavily with their artillery which made us begin to wonder if would be able to hold. The stress was increased by not having an overview of situation and therefor not understanding why we were not able to go over to the offensive.

This is the situational map of July 22, 1941 from the original German High Command war atlas for Operation Barbarossa. Here we can see the area of operation in Kurt’s entry. The majority of SS Division Reich was situated here with Kurt’s regiment, Der Führer, positioned farther to the North. There are an estimated 14 divisions including 5 Soviet tank divisions trapped in the pocket and there is considerable pressure coming from both the east and west on the defensive positions.

He continues…
Nachdem wir die ersten Tage direkt……

After spending the first few days behind the embankment, on the third day we are moved to the Pronino Heights where we’ll spend the next 8 days carrying out the defensive orders. The Russian artillery bombardments hammer us continually. It’s completely impossible for us to leave our foxholes from sunrise until sunset and there’s a complete lack of communication with the neighboring friendly units.

Only at night are we able to do anything. Through intercepted Soviet communications and information gained through the interrogation of Russian prisoners we are able to learn that 9 complete Soviet divisions have been ordered to retake the city of Jelnia and to destroy the SS Division Reich. The Soviet Marshal Woroschilow has supposedly himself arrived to the front to personally carry out this operation with all available forces.