Men of Wehrmacht: German soldiers: Part 1

 THE GERMAN SOLDIER: BEST WW2 FIGHTER

The German soldier was the most effective combat soldiers of the War. Most attention to the German soldier is directed to the Blitzkrieg campaigns of 1939-41 when they faced poorly trained, equipped and led opponents. Actually the most amazing success of the German soldiers was their ability to withstand the onslaught of numerically superior Allied forces during 1943-44 without collapsing. The average Wehrmacht unit could operate effectively with one-third the supplies of a comparable American unit. In may cases the Allied superiority in men, planes, tanks, artillery was astronomical, better than 3 to 1, and often even more lopsided. The great tragedy was that the regime they protected was so diabolically evil. And Hitler for whom they made such enormous sacrifices was completely unmoved by their and their country's plight and sacrifice. His attitude was that if the German people did not win the War, they did not deserve to survive. 

German soldiers examine a Soviet machine gun DP-27 (Dyagtereva infantry sample 1927). They used it later themselves

WEAKNESS OF THE GERMAN WAR MACHINE

"On the home front we had free labor, which always outproduces slave labor--and the NAZIs were relying on slave labor. Hitler's technicians got stuck in ruts. They were ahead of the world in 1937, but in 1944 they were still building 1930s models. Most of all, we were helped by the fact that in the Army our soldiers accepted responsibility and seized the initiative, which are things that the children of democracy are very good at, and the children of totalitarians aren't. Hitler thought that his kids, brought up in the Hitler Youth, would always outfight kids brought up in the Boy Scouts, because his kids would unquestionably obey, and because they were fanatics. The problem with that was that ultimately the orders could only come from Hitler, so it was difficult to impossible for Germans to ever take the initiative. They would always be waiting for orders. They were paralyzed on D-Day. At a time when they had the means and the wherewithal to drive the British back into the sea, and the tank commanders were ready to go do it, they had to wait to get the okay from Hitler, who was a thousand kilometers away. It was just madness to run an army like that. You see the same thing on a smaller scale throughout the whole war. The Germans made great troops until the lieutenant got killed."

Preparing for action: These men are loading their machine-gun belt

The German taken care of , American soldiers look forward. Ardennes, 1944.

Handiwork of a Soviet sniper

Remains of German convoy after the Americans destroyed it. Near Cherbourg, France.

German soldiers with a Jew

March 1945. Just two months before the end. Goebbels congratulates a young recruit. The others are smiling. These folks were amazing. The Russians were at the doorsteps, remember?

The despair. Chief of Staff of the wrecked German Army, General Hans Krebs arrives at the Soviet Army headquarters in Berlin on May 1, 1945. Krebs shot himself later that day.

German POWs walk glumly under escort by a beady-eyed Russian soldier. Later stages of the war in the Eastern Front.

Russian (on horses) and German soldiers socialise in Poland, sometime in 1939.

The men were a hardy, resilient lot. Seen here in a trench in Russia. October 1943.

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Men of Wehrmacht: German soldiers during WW2: PART 2
Wehramcht: Part 3 
 Wehrmacht: Part 4