Original war diary from platoon leader of mot. SS Div. Reich 1941 Pt 9 - Paul Hausser, color footage

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Episode 122

The Wolfsangel, is an ancient Germanic ruin that in the middle ages that was believed to ward off wolves. In February of 1941 when the division Reich was stationed in France the commander, Paul Hausser is said to have declared that the unit needed a recognizable insignia which could be easily written in the field to mark the direction that elements of the division should follow. Looking at his ring he chose the Wolfsangel as appropriate and from that moment on it was the division’s insignia. This Merkblat, or leaflet, was issued by the division on March 13 of 1941 which designated the official dimensions of the insignia.

That goes well with part 9 in the series that covers this sensational original war diary written by a platoon leader from the Regiment Der Führer named Kurt who lead during the final assault on Moscow in the Winter of 1941 - 42. In Part 9 we’ll follow the unit from July 15 to the 18th, see associated film footage, and use original OKW situational maps to get an overview of the front. To start off we’ll see part two of the German training film Digging in under fire and at the end we’ll see more of that so stick around. If you like this kind of content based on primary historical sources please take the time to like this video and subscribe to the channel.

The last time we were with Kurt was with his entry from July 18th of 1941 which he mistakenly dated it as the 19th. Here on the original OKW war atlas situational map from that date we see that the majority of the SS motorized division Reich was situated at the city of Mstislawl where they narrowly avoided a nasty friendly fire incident with elements from the 10th PzD which could have wiped out Kurts Regiment.

The first large city we reach is Mstislawl. The vehicles are parked in a cornfield in front of the city after the area is carefully secured by our advanced elements and a reconessaince team. It’s a good thing too because they uncover and kill a number of Soviets including 2 officers that were waiting in ambush.

Over the next couple of days it’s interesting to see how the battles of encirclement evolved. Early on as the 10 PzD thrust farther east, the Motorized SS Division Reich secured their exposed flank and rear. It looked as though much of the Soviet bulge to the north east could be cut off and eliminated and that Reich and the 10th PzD would play important roles making up the right pincher. The following day the situation remains fluid as the pocket develops just north of Smolensk, along the Minsk-Moscow highway.

Already it can be seen that the front has moved on and Reich’s role has become holding in the trapped Soviets to the West. In order to relive Reich from this guard duty so that they could continue advancing in support of the 10. PzD, the Infantry Regiment Grossdeutschland moved into position. I’ve got a category of videos covering that elite unit that I’ll leave a link to to at the end of this video.

By the 18th we see that Reich’s presence is no longer necessary as all of the significant Soviet formations have left the area. Advanced elements, or Vorausabteilung of the 10th PzD are advancing on the city of Jelnja where come into contact Soviet defensive positions.

At dawn on the following morning we continue on with our advance and begin with a somewhat strange achievement. A Soviet air ambulance plane mistakenly lands in our midst and we’re able to quickly take the crew captive and then destroy the plane. Without a shot fired we are then able to continue forwards.

As we see on the situational map from July 18th most of the Reich division remained at Mstislawl with Kurts Regiment, Der Führer moving forwards to catch up with the 10 PzD, but that didn’t happen. On the 18th it was learned that the enemy was unloading and staging troops at Potschino and so the 10th Panzer was rushed forwards to brake up that enemy concentration before it could gain a foothold.

This wonderful rare color footage shows tanks on the move during operations in the summer of 1941. At the time, most color film was produced in America and when war broke out privately there was almost no color film available.

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