Rank and File
A Clerk’s War
12th June to 14th June 1939
Sifting through the morning mail, a very pleasant surprise. Finally news from one of my brothers! Heinz has managed to find time to write a brief note and he remembered to use the official report system rather than the Heer Post. (If we used the standard post, the letter would probably take months and be censored to death. It seemed obvious to me to tell Heinz, Ernst and Christoph to use an official report envelope (the one used to send unit information) addressed to me at the Reichskanzlei. Not only did it speed things up, but they could write what they liked without worries of it being read by one of Goebbel’s men: they wouldn’t dare read mail addressed to a senior member of Minister Schacht’s Department.)
The letter was less than a week old, but I suspect it took Heinz a few days to get the right envelope as the official mail usually only takes a couple of days. He is well and – but it probably best to just include his letter.
“
Lieber Bruder
Yes, I know I promised to keep in touch, but things have been a little hectic since we entered Poland. I am well, and so are the rest of my crew. If you hear from Ernst, can you let me know how he is going? We don’t get any news here at the front, but there are rumours of some sort of action in the West, and I would guess that involve fighters.
This fighting is not at all what I expected. Most of the time we have been trying to break through the Poles, but they just keep putting more troops in the way. We have had 4 major battles, and have been pretty lucky in all of them, in that casualties in the tank regiments are light, though the infantry have taken more.
Mostly what we have been doing is roaring up the roads with the infantry trying to keep up in their trucks. When I say roads, I mean what passes for roads. If it had been raining, we would be still in the border provinces. Every now and then we come on a position the Poles are defending, and we assault the position. Our boys have every faith in General Manstein: he doesn’t spend his mens’ blood. Once we have identified the Polish defences, we go in slow at first, waiting for the bombers and artillery. I haven’t even seen anything that presents a real threat, though we have lost a few tanks to AT rifles and occasional artillery guns firing direct. But that is just bad luck, and this is a lucky tank.
Motorised infantry of 3rd Leichte Panzer on a typical dusty road: as they crossed the Polish border they decided to take the Customs sign as a memento.
It took us five days to take Poznan, and then we were sent north to Naklo nad Notecia. The travelling is what is killing us. We are losing tanks constantly to breakdowns and getting parts and repairs is a real problem. By the time we have spent two or three days on the road about 25% of our vehicles are out of action, and the percentage of trucks is higher. At times we don’t have any infantry: they are all dozens of miles in the rear, waiting for transport. I hope someone is working on better equipment and repair services.
Naklo is where we saw Stukas for the first time. Brother, you would not believe how good these things are. You see a small bunch of dots in the air as you sit in front of a known strongpoint, wondering which lucky bugger is going to drive up the road first. Then the dots get bigger and suddenly, when they are nearly on top of you, they grow big really quickly and you realise they are heading straight down! And they are screaming! They make this incredible loud scream as they dive. Then you see they are aiming a kilometre or so in front of you and the farmhouses or woods where the Poles are holed up just explode! That’s the signal to race up and get them before they can recover. I hate to think what it is like to be on the receiving end.
Don’t get me wrong: we like the Heinkels too, but it just doesn’t seem as personally helpful. We see them day and night, high in the sky. They fly over, and then a few minutes later we hear the thunder and see the smoke on the horizon. The next day, we pass whatever they were hitting: a bombed out town, a string of vehicles burnt out along a road, a marshalling area devastated. Naklo was a hard fight, the Polish general Maczek seemed to know what to do, but we still won.
Next was Chojnice, that was a bit of a blur, we were fighting in forests and I didn’t like it one bit. I thought that every tree and shrub hid a Polish anti-tank gun. We wasted a lot of shells firing at rustling leaves. It didn’t help that von Manstein wasn’t in charge and some infantry general from3.Infanterie in Stolp was in overall command. We got through that OK though if I don’t ever see another straight branch pointing at me out of a low bush I won’t be unhappy.
Why my brother was concerned: the wz36 (a Polish version of the Swedish Bofors 37mm anti-tank gun manufactured by Stowarzyszenie Mechanikow Polski z Ameryki). This is the identification photo issued to our panzer units. We have lost several tanks to these guns, and the Poles seem to have quite a few.
While Heinz didn’t run into any real anti-tank guns, some of his fellow panzers did come under fire. This photograph was taken from a prisioner, and shows the Polish gunners setting up their gun in preparation for the approach of our panzers.
The last combat we were in was in Bydgoszcz. That was a real mess. We were sent in just after midnight and you really don’t want to see a tank regiment trying to advance into enemy territory in the dark. We basically let the infantry regiments go first, not that they were very keen either. It didn’t help that there were Poles everywhere, nearly 30,000 of them. Luckily they didn’t put up much of a fight, because they had been hammered somewhere else and were retreating. Mostly we just had a brief fire fight and then took prisoners. From the look of the ones I saw, they were exhausted, and they had no heavy weapons, so they probably had no choice. Whatever the reason it was a nice change, as everywhere else the Poles fight like mad. Anyway, after three days we reported the province secure, but really it was a shambles, most of the Poles got away, and we were so disorganised after blundering around that we will have to rest up for a few days. Plus hundreds of vehicles need more repairs.
Some of the Poles who surrendered in Bydgoszcz: they have been bombed and shelled for weeks now and have reached the limits of their endurance.
How are things back in Berlin? Sleeping in a nice comfy bed and eating 3 square meals a day? Sorry, I shouldn’t make fun of you - I know you would be out here like a shot if you could.
Better finish up. The rest of the boys say hello.
Will send you another letter from Warsaw! Keep in touch and don’t forget to let me know about Ernst and Christoph.
herzliche Grusse
dein Bruder, Heinz”
I’m glad he is OK. Even though I know the chances of him being a casualty were very slim, it was always nagging at me. It’s not quite the same with Ernst, if he got into trouble his Geschwader would know within an hour or so. In a battle, it may take days for information to make it to headquarters.
He included some photographs (I think it is his driver who is a keen photographer), some of which I have used above.
Back to business. Two more battles began in Poland before dawn on the 12th June. General de Angelis is using the speed of his motorised 60.Infanterie to chase four fleeing Polish divisions in Sieradz. Our information is that the Poles cannot put up much resistance, so although he is vastly outnumbered he is still expected to enjoy a quick victory.
Although Hopner is facing a slightly tougher opposition in Zloczew, he has the advantage of combined arms and is co-ordinating his attack from Ostrzeszow with 13.Infanterie (motorised) attacking from Kalisz. Again, this should not take long as the Poles are already weakened by prolonged fighting.
General Rommel has not managed to pull off a miracle. After taking another 265 casualties he is pulling out of Allenstein, as the Poles move in once again (they lost only 149). How long will the Poles hold the province this time?
And that was all the news for the day. Bombing reports, fuel requisitions, movement orders, promotion approvals etc as usual, but nothing that grabbed my attention.
The 13th started off the same way, with a flood of routine (and boring) documents that I had no compunction in delegating to junior staff. At noon came news from Denmark: Jorgensen has surrendered with his 1st Infantry. He had 418 men killed before he realised he had no hope and ordered his men to lay down their arms. More than 10,000 prisoners were taken, while our losses were kept to 380 killed and missing in action, believed dead.
Soon after General Hell reported he had taken Limanowa, but the fight must have been much harder than expected. He has lost 779 men to the Poles 469. He was vastly outnumbered, but we were told that the Poles were ready to break. Obviously no-one told the Poles. Our background material on the Polish general Schally must have been accurate, as his file refers to his expertise in defensive battles. He may be “old guard” but he definitely gave General Hell a lesson in overconfidence.
The Polish Air Force had been giving some trouble with Heller’s tactical bombers hitting our positions. Bogatch’s fighters met them over Marienburg early in the morning of the 13th and forced them to abort the mission. Heller’s bombers were not seen for the next few days.
Late in the evening the radio room received another urgent message from General Kesselring’s Army of the Westwall headquarters. The unfortunate Zaiser and his equally unfortunate 35.Infanterie are again under assault. This time there are only two French divisions involved (52nd and 14th), both from Pirmasens. But the 35th is down to just over 8,600 men and is still recovering from two defeats. Anxious expressions have returned to the faces of the Westwall liaison officers in the Reichskanzlei.
Third Battle of St Wendel
The next day, there was no news from the west on my desk when I came in, so Zaiser must still be holding on. I did hear a few adjutants talking in the corridor (security around here is getting very lax) and gathered that Zaiser is now facing three French divisions, but is using delaying tactics successfully.
There was, however, news from East Prussia. General von Wietersheim, the hero of Rosenberg, has moved to take back Allenstein. The Fifth Battle of Allenstein has commenced! The Poles can have hardly recovered from their attacks, let alone prepared defensive positions. It is still a gamble, however. Von Wietersheim’s 11.Infanterie is not fully organised and while he has a slight numerical advantage the Poles have the terrain in their side.
Fifth Battle of Allenstein
Within hours our concerns were justified. General Werobej’s 39 Dywizjon Piechoty (Rez) had been reinforced with the arrival of the 9th Division. The recapture of Allenstein, while not impossible, is now a much less likely proposition.
I did see amongst the mass of routine information mention of my brother’s squadron. They had been involved in an air battle over Metz but details were sketchy. Only one French air unit was mentioned, a bomber wing, and the air battle seems to have been brief. I must write to Ernst soon, if only to let him know Heinz is fine.
The confidence the Heer advisers had in General Hopner was well placed. Mid-morning he radioed in with a message that all resistance in Zloczew is over. The Poles are routed and, for the loss of 373 men, he has driven off more than 22,000, inflicting 823 casualties. Still no news from Sieradz: surely an experienced general like de Angelis shouldn’t be having much trouble chasing out a disorganised rabble? We have heard that he has managed to encircle some of the Poles, and that 71.Infanterie is moving to assist him, so perhaps we just need to be patient.
Once again that was it for the day. The bombing summaries as usual, and position reports from both fronts (even I now refer to the “two fronts” though I hate the expression). I see that Pfeffer has been joined in his attack on Brodnica by Guderian’s 1st Leichte Panzer from Torun (attacking across the Vistula) and Curtze’s 20.Infanterie (motorised) from Rosenberg. As if that wasn’t enough, 3.Infanterie (motorised) is getting ready to move from Grudiadz. Is this the beginning of a sweep to drive the Poles from East Prussia?
Bombing summaries
Luftwaffe
12th June
Sensburg: Kesselring with 2 x Ju 87B:
45, 52, 41, 67
Limanova: Keller with 2 x He 111:
129, 110, 121
Brodnica: Grauert with 2 x He 111:
88, 98, 97, 56
Mlawa: Muller-Michiels with 2 x He 111:
102, 84
Rypin: Kitzinger with 2 x He 111:
105, 121, 79
Rypin:Kitzinger with 4 x He 111:
145
13th June
Broidnica: Kesselring with 4 x Ju 87B:
126
Tarnowskie Gory: Keller with 2 x He 111:
88, 116, 57
Limanowa: Keller with 2 x He 111:
95
Brodnica: Kesselring with 4 x Ju 87B:
78, 98, 88
Siederadz: Grauert with 2 x He 111:
83, 100, 91, 78, 62
Pirmasens: Lohr with 2 x Ju 87B:
54, 84, 81, 41
Polish Air Force
12th June
Allenstein: Heller with 2 x Dywizjon Bombowy:
70
13th June
Marienburg: Heller with 2 x Dywizjon Bombowy:
no casualties inflicted, driven off by our fighters
Westwall at end of 14th June
Fall Weiss at end of 14th June
What intrigued me occurred very late in the day. A series of meetings were arranged on short notice, involving diplomatic staff and senior officers of the Heer and Luftwaffe. Early in the evening a delegation arrived, and as well as the standard diplomats in morning suits, there were several high ranking officers wearing what I am pretty sure is the uniform of the Magyar Honvedseg. Just before I left for the day I saw Minister von Neurath arrive (walking from the Foreign Ministry around the corner). I was sure something big was in the air, and this was confirmed when a brand new Mercedes 770 dropped off General von Blomberg. I suspect there will be a major announcement tomorrow, and, given all the secrecy, I suspect it will be significant.
. Besides the words "bloke" and "mate" sound way better than "dude". My english teacher was an american with a passion for British and Australian english. She said that the American english was a derivative language, which used only about 20% of the total words in english. So she insisted on teaching us "the real" english language, while always comparing it with the way it`s spoken differently in some other parts of the world. She made learning english great fun and exciting. (I`m getting OT again 
