Tigers in the Mud by Otto Carius

Author:Otto Carius
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stackpole Books
Published: 2017-08-14T04:00:00+00:00

“Report immediately to the unit”

After its successful operation at the “Judennase,” the battalion returned to its assembly area in the rear. Lieutenant Karl Ruppel from the 3rd Company and I were sent to the forward area rest center at Ravel to be able to recuperate a bit. That was probably intended to make amends for the home leave that had been so abruptly interrupted.

Besides, we were always immediately available in Reval in case we were needed. We were to find out how much we were needed sooner than we would have liked. More about that later.

My referral to the rest center at Reval was based on a statement written by the battalion doctor. A physical had been conducted after my premature return from convalescent leave. The document stated that no more indications of a weakness in the functioning of the heart had been determined. This condition had first been detected in the fall of 1943. That meant that I had recovered surprisingly quickly! But then the findings went on:

“A four-week stay at a rest center would be appropriate due to the instability of his circulation and his reduced general state of well-being, despite the leave. Strict abstinence from nicotine and alcohol is another prerequisite for attaining complete readiness for duty. New heart asthma attacks can be counted on in case of future physical stress of long duration.”

Karl Ruppel and I pulled out with the “express” to Reval. It is difficult nowadays to believe that we were en route for eight days. That wasn't too much fun for us “vacationers.”

The train would hardly move any distance at all before the locomotive started to switch railcars once again. For a change of pace there was another stop: partisans. This unpleasant pace continued all the way to Reval.

To my surprise, the manager of the home, who already knew me from 1943, sent a vehicle to the train station. We received magnificent rooms with running water, flushing toilets, and a bath. All the men were accommodated that way. One could get back in superb shape with the excellent food and the complete quiet there.

On the first morning, we had breakfast with the proprietors of the home. We were in the process of telling them what had happened to us in the recent past, when an aide appeared. He handed each of us a telegram.

We each made a nasty face, because I had already made a wager with Ruppel during our trip that we would never have three weeks of rest in Reval. I already knew my bet was as good as won. On the evening of our arrival, we had heard about the breakthrough of the Russians along the front at Witebsk on the Wehrmacht news report.

I naturally had an idea what was in the telegram: “Report immediately to the unit!” We cursed up a storm, and my good upbringing prevents me from repeating it. We were less upset about being needed than having made the boring trip completely in vain. We had the same trip ahead of us one more time.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.