Tip of the Spear: German Armored Reconnaissance in Action in World War II by Edwards Robert J.

Author:Edwards, Robert J.,
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780811763301
Publisher: Stackpole Books
Published: 2015-11-15T05:00:00+00:00

Kradschützen-Bataillon 4 of the 24. Panzer-Division participated in the drive on Stalingrad as part of Heeresgruppe B. The following firsthand account concerns operations of the 2nd Company, which was a light armored reconnaissance company with half-tracks. In this passage, the battalion was tasked with determining the location of bypassed enemy forces:22

We conducted an enveloping attack against the fruit orchard from the most favorable side. The armored vehicles were on the wings. The attack made good progress; I was personally manning a machine gun. I sent a burst of tracer ammunition into a bunch of Russians who surfaced just in front of us. We carefully entered the expansive plantation, widely dispersed. All of a sudden, something exploded in the middle of the vehicle. I thought it was a hand grenade tossed in from above. Jakob, the assistant driver and radio operator, was badly wounded. A thick stream of blood was running from his throat. At that moment, we were moving across a Russian trench. I looked over the side and fired an entire magazine from the submachine gun along the straight trench line. The bottom of the trench was transformed into a twitching, brown mass. The vehicle got stuck. I pulled Jakob from out of his seat and into my lap and dressed his neck. At the same time, I issued a radio order to the sections, which were only advancing cautiously, to enter the trenches as fast as possible. All of a sudden, something else exploded in the vehicle. Hädrich, my driver, cried out. I saw a small hole in the side of the armor to the left of him. The explosive round of the antitank rifle had shredded his rear. Then it exploded two more times. The dashboard was shattered, the radio destroyed. I had to lead the platoon with flags. Becker, my messenger, pulled the dead driver out of his seat and drove the vehicle. I then saw one armored vehicle set off smoke and pull back. We likewise disengaged from the enemy and assembled to pull back. On the way back, we were engaged from all sides. The armored vehicles moving ahead of us made only poor progress in the mud. All of a sudden, Hädrich stirred and said something. So he wasn’t dead, after all. We picked up the pace; perhaps he could be saved. Finally, we got back to Jefrossinowka. I jumped out and made my report. The vehicle kept on going to the aid station, but Hädrich died on the way there.

There were six holes in the vehicle. There was a pool of blood in the vehicle hull. Everything had been splattered and sprayed with blood. Hundreds of casings were under the seats.

After we had cleaned up a bit and got the vehicle in order again, we were ready to go. In the evening, the Commander came by. My platoon had to form up; he praised it.

As a result of our reconnaissance-in-force, the actual strength of the enemy forces in the division flank had been established.

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.