DAS REICH, private war diary of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Pt 19 supporting the 29th mot "Falke" Div

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In part 19 we’ll see how Kurt’s unit was rushed again to the front to hold the line at a critical position. I’ll use an original situational map to show Das Reich’s positioning on the front and at the end of the video I’ll add footage from the 29th motorized ID divisions that’s mentioned by Kurt in his diary, so stick around, it’s worth it.

The last time we were with Kurt we saw how his unit built out bunkers. After a very short rest they happily mounted up into their trucks and again headed out, wondering whether they might actually be heading back west, towards home.

The blazing sun beams down upon us. The dust burns into the skin, the heat and thirst leaves our lips dry and blistered. We quickly learn to avoid the main road which is in terrible condition. Instead we travel along 3 or 4 side roads which cut through fields and we begin to make reasonable progress. Our never ending columns of vehicles wind their way intersecting and continuing in as organized a fashion as possible. Evidently we’re heading north to a new zone of operation and not to the south as we’d half expected. After a short stop in the evening to have dinner we then continue on driving throughout the night.

Gradually our nerves, worn thin by battle, begin to settle down and we feel more at ease. We really could have used a longer rest to pull ourselves back together. Our thoughts wander to our loved ones back at home. Home seems so far away, little more than a distant memory. Somehow our mail from home hasn’t caught up with us, when will it arrive? That would really make a difference. This war has us so under its spell that there’s no breaking away mentally which is to be expected. Who could possibly keep their mind from contemplating the constant horror and killing that we are surrounded by?

We drive on through the swamp and the quagmire of a forested area, traveling forwards with our weapons always at the ready and then, when we take fire, letting loose from within our trucks with everything that we’ve got. We travel through burning towns on terribly cratered roads that are almost unpassable. We cross quickly repaired bridges barely capable of holding up the weight of the passing SS Division Reich. With adrenelin again surging, we feel renewed, concentrated and focused on the tasks at hand. We are hardened and proven by our experience and performance in combat. But where are we being sent?

9. August 1941
In the late evening we arrive to the heights of Dolgolade to relieve a weak regular army contingent of soldiers. We’ll operate as a blocking unit to stop the possible breaking out of a trapped Soviet force. The road winds over an elevated area then through a wide valley towards Michailowke, which is still occupied by the Russians. During the night we jump to action setting up security posts to the right and left of the road and a command post. At the same time, observation posts and MG nests are positioned on the front slope of the elevation. Apart from occasional light incoming Soviet artillery fire, our sector is relatively quiet.

This is the original war atlas for the German High Command for Operation Barbarossa. We will look at the situational map for August 9, 1941 the day that we’ve been following in Kurt’s entries.

We’ll scroll down from Army Group North to Army Group Center so you can get a feel for that part of the front.

From around Aug 6 Soviet forces cut off to the west in combination with other formations attacking from the east had managed to put the 17th PzD and the 29th ID (mot.) under considerable pressure and there was the danger of the trapped Soviets succeeding in breaking out to the east. In response the SS Reich Div. along with the elite Inf.R Gross Deutschland were rushed to the North West in support. The situation for 29th mot ID, or the Falke Division, was especially critical as its forces had been cut in half with part of it in danger of being wiped out in the Soviet vice.

An interesting side note, the German map shows the Soviet 1st Moscow Motor Division on the left flank of the Soviet 89th and part of the128th IDs which were attacking from the east. The 1st had actually been destroyed 4 days earlier, just to the west in the Smolensk pocket.

As promised, here’s some fantastic footage of the Falke Division from late Summer of 1941.