Diary Of A German Soldier On The Eastern Front. Heavy Defensive Battles In The Encircled Demyansk.

Today, we are beginning our acquaintance with the diary of a German officer. Wilhelm Bovensmann was born and raised in the town of Westhofen along the Ruhr River, located to the south of Dortmund. His profession was that of a retail merchant.
On the Eastern Front, he served as a platoon commander with the rank of non-commissioned officer in the 5th Company, 27th Infantry Regiment, 12th Infantry Division. In August 1941, he became a Feldwebel, and in January 1943, he was promoted to lieutenant. He was awarded the Wound Badge. In January 1943, he was given the Iron Cross, 1st class...

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#history #easternfront #worldwarII #technic #wehrmacht

[geraldhagen]

One of the VERY BEST productions I have seen in about 20 years. The pics and dialogue blend amazingly well; a very difficult thing to achieve. Congratulations ; a superb production.

[UnknownHumanOnline]

Great story, great photos & great narrator and Voice.
Thank you from Finland 🇫🇮

[craigfazekas]

The care put in to these segments is obvious. Thank you for preserving history, and in turn, the people who served their countries- no matter the country- and their lives & memories. Great stuff, keep it up !!!!
🚬😎👍

[ewanbaxter]

Excellent photographs and excellent story, thanks for posting.

[Udo-zs]

Greetings from Brandenburg 🇩🇪
Eine schöne Woche Kamerad
Udo👍👍👍👍

[kainigwon]

I kinda use this as ASMR.
Not concentrating to the story, but just relaxing.
It kinda works. Helps sleep. 😄

[petesmusic]

First class content, big thanks 🙏 for you taking the time, keep up this quality work 👍

[bookaufman]

For those of you who are like me and didn't know what a sutler was it is a person who followed an army and sold provisions to the soldiers.😊

[tvg]

Thank you very much for this very insightful upload

[waffle_burger]

The successful battles in Demyansk were in large part due to the efforts of the SS Totenkopf division which was basically destroyed in the fighting, and other combat units such as the one detailed in the diary. The Luftwaffe air supply mission was also extremely effective, both bringing in supplies and reinforcements, and evacuating wounded men. Unfortunately the same template was attempted at Stalingrad a year later, with disastrous results.

[stevengirouard]

Actually the mp 40 German sub machine gun had plastic/ bakelite instead of wood

[KrN]

Interesting! They made a reference to Valenki's which are basically a felt liner that you would find in a Sorel boot for example - because the Russians found out that at below -20 C, or there a bouts, it is much better to just wear the felt liner ; your feet stay warm, and the snow is so cold that the felt liners don't get wet.
My father was a starving German soldier in Russia in the winter of 43. He said there was one time where both sides were facing each other across a snow blown field and then a rabbit ran between the two sides. He said almost immediately a white flag on each side went up, and then two guys from each side met in the middle and discussed who should shoot the rabbit. The rabbit was shot and each side got half a rabbit.

[christhomas]

Great documentary, never seen these pics before..

Thanks

[Beam_me_up_]

Really appreciate the research and dedication to your content. So well done. I like to watch your latest vids, an hour or so before I sleep at night. Thank you!

[majorintel]

His 12th infantry division was largely wiped out in the 1944 Soviet summer offensive, called Bagration, or some such. In fact, most of german army group center was destroyed. So he was lucky not to be there in the summer of 1944.

[mikepotter]

"So what are we doing here
In a place where we have no friends
All we can do is sit and cry
Let the time drag by and think of home" - John Entwistle

[fishpoem]

Remarkable black-and-white photos nicely support the narrative. This diary series offer unique insights into the lives of ordinary soldiers. Priceless and stands in sharp contrast to Hollywood movies and military history books. It shows war for what it is: boredom, trivial routine, terror, and death.

[elizabethtamp]

Very good content. Where is part two of this soldier diary?

[rogerkjellstrom]

Don't know if you listened to the distance these men marched, but that's some superhuman distance( not counting the fighting and everything else they needed to do now and again)

[antonioperez]

A fantastic video log of WW2 Pearl Harbor. Your behind the scenes locals is special. Thank you Sir.