Fighting in Forest and Marsh

7/29/2019 Fighting in Forest and Marsh

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War in Forest and Marsh G 10/43[Translated at the Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas,

from a German article by Heribert Huber, war reporter, in Volkischer

Beobachter, Berlin, Germany, 31 May and 1 June 1943.]

WHEN spring arrives in Germany the northern sector of the eastern front from

Leningrad to Lake Ilmen enters a period in which the weather makes its heaviest

demands on the army command as well as on the individual soldier, a period which

generally lasts only a few months but in some places may continue until the

beginning of the next winter. It is a period of water and mud, thawing swamps,

steaming marshes, and corduroy roads. It alters the entire face of operation's.

War on frozen soil, war of mass attacks and motorized weapons turns to a war of

forest rangers, of strongpoints, of artillery, a war waged by the supply service, a

war over a -few connecting highways and roads ; it becomes a war against

moisture which is an even more persistent enemy than the Soviets.The main line of battle runs to a large .extent through woods and swamps, generally

far from human habitations.

Battalion and regimental headquarters and even divisional staffs are located in

forest camps which consist of wooden bunkers built deep into the ground. When

the snow thaws, all natural and artificial depressions are filled with water; for the

hard-frozen ground lets nothing through, and positions, trenches, command posts,

and bunkers are flooded. The shelters have "water holes" dug in the ground

beneath their floors, and the men protect themselves by emptying the water every

morning, by laying walks in the trenches, and by changing their felt boots forrubber ones.

When, however, the general thaw comes and rain storms lash the forests, the

frozen soil becomes soft and the ground water rises daily. It is no longer any use

to bail out the water unless the positions are elevated, which is rare. Then there is

nothing to do but leave the old shelters as they become "drowned out." The race

for high spots begins, especially those spots which 'have sandy subsoil and which,

though they may rise only a meter above the general level, still are drier and

permit digging. Quite frequently the fight for a dominating line of hills is not only

for the general strategic advantage which it offers but also to determinewhether one's own line will lie in marshy land or on dry terrain. Yet such elevations

are rare, and tactical considerations do not always permit taking advantage of

them. In such cases the protecting earth has to be abandoned, and "summer

camps" come into existence. It is necessary that these summer camps not only be

protected against enemy fire from above but also from attack by the water from

below. In


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place of winter positions with trenches, dugouts, and parapets, green walls of fir

trees and brushwood appear as a protection against enemy eyes; and wooden

combat positions resembling medieval bastions are set up at intervals behind the

line.It is not only moisture that forces the men to build new positions; the locations of

combat positions are discovered by the enemy and have to be moved away from

his steady fire. All this has been done so many times in the northern sector that all

the positions and bunkers taken together would make a city of enormous size. But

the most unpleasant thing is to be forced to engage in this sort of construction

during the muddy season when, under enemy fire, one is forced to lie on the wet

ground day and night with no protecting wall to shield him from the cold or the

hostile fire and while the hole which normally would afford protection against shell

fragments is filled to the brim with muddy water.Swamps and marshes of the northern sector, bottomless and treacherous as its

forests, have warm, subterranean springs. As long as the severe cold holds them in

subjection with a thick coat of ice, large bodies of troops with tanks and guns are

able to oberate on them. But only a few days of thawing weather bring the marsh

to life and end the Soviet winter operations the execution of which depended on

frozen swamps and rivers.

Many front-line positions have to be abandoned by both friend and foe. "Winter

roads" cannot be used ; and war over broad fronts becomes limited to narrow

positions, passes, and strongpoints. The main battle line changes its course and zig-

zags in order to make wide detours around the marshes. Until the following winter

all movement ceases on the treacherous surface from which, as the season

progresses, myriads of gnats arise.

Where there are forests the marshes come to an end, for no forest can grow in a

marsh. Nevertheless, during the wet season, forests are by no means dry. One is

forced to wade through a sheet of water of varying depth and seek out every high

clump of grass that offers any sort of dry underfooting. When a shell comes

roaring overhead there is nothing to do but throw oneself into the water as quickly

as possible.

When, at the front, the far flung operations of war become bogged down and it is

no longer anything but a fight for scattered vital points, then farther to the rear

there flares up the war of the supply routes on whose maintenance the life of the

front depends.

The few highways which Soviet "planning" built here, without any drainage or

ditches for carrying away the water, have immediately turned into a soupy, sticky,


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bottomless mass of mud which at first reaches as far as the ankles, then as far as

the knees, and at times as far as the waist. If shells have struck recently on the

high-

way, it may happen that the foot will suddenly a bottomless hole. On such roadsmany vehicles a forced to drop out. There they stand along the ed of the road,

hopelessly stuck. Passenger vehic] can maintain the pace for a long time and the

can pillar motorcycle and the heavy tractor still have chance of making it. Quality

of the equipment a careful driving are vital in such cases.

The most dependable and faithful helpers, ho ever, are the horses. Singly, or in

two, four, or si horse teams with heavy limber wagons, they patiel ly overcome the

most difficult places. Thousands engineers and tens of thousands of civilian works

are removing the worst hindrances. Ditches are di in the mud, sand is scattered in

them, and gravel ai stone brought from long distances. In those plat where allmotor vehicles become stuck, tracto stand ready to tow them through one at a tin

Such passages are not popular. They always cau congestion of traffic and would

prove a good targ for enemy aircraft if German pursuit planes did n watch over the

area.

The few Russian roads are far from adequate f supplying the front. Supply service

depends pri cipally on corduroy roads which are not indicab on any map. They

extend in a close network throw the forests and marshes, partly in the form of "au

highways" with a width of as much as six meta partly as single track roads with

passing plan partly as narrow foot paths. With an average thic ness of ten

centimeters for tree trunks, ten thousal trees are needed for constructing but a

single kil meter; and with a million trunks a hundred kil meters can be constructed,

There is no scarcity construction material, and the results are worth tl effort.

Like dry islands, corduroy roads rise out of tl mud and marsh. Naturally they

require constant r pair and improvement, especially since they are e: posed to much

wet weather. In the Volkhov are the water at times overflows the corduroy roads

to depth of one and a half meters so that all land tra fic is stopped and pneumatic

and wooden rafts a sume the task of moving supplies. A trip over the roads is not

exactly one of the pleasant experience of life. The roughness, which cannot be

avoided construction, regardless of effort, shakes the vehic worse than the worst

cobblestone pavement. Mar points are under enemy artillery fire. Shells oftE

strike squarely on the corduroy roads, and der horses remind one how close death

is. One alwal rides through such zones at a brisk trot, for the] is no chance to

detour. It is not always possible travel over the supply routes as far forward as tl

battalions and companies. In such cases mules men bring the ammunition up to the


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front, and nu carrying the food have long distances to cover. Sul plies can be

brought up to the front lines only night ; and after the light-reflecting snow melts

inmud and water, darkness is added as a new enemy. It is only necessary for one to

turn on his heel a few times to lose all sense of direction. At such times the flash

of one's own artillery and the glow of flares serve as reference points fordetermining in what directions friend and foe lie. Forest paths provide excellent

means of orientation. Much-used.foot paths are lined on one side with the trunks

of small birth trees whose light-colored bark forms an unmistakable marker by

night. Messengers who travel day and night in all kinds of weather over the routes

from companies to battalions and regiments know every foot of the way and

penetrate the darkness of night with the eyes of a lynx. They can guide one safely

past water-filled shell craters and mine fields to his objective.

When one considers these conditions, he forgets only too easily that the enemy

has to fight against the same difficulties ; and for him they are considerablygreater, for he lacks the firm roadways and railways that are in our possession.


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Fighting in Forest and Marsh