Well, time to take a look at German Field
Fortifications in World War 2. Originally,
I had this video planned for 2017 or even
2016, but it just didn’t feel right. Yet,
now, it clearly does. So, grab your shovel,
your Stahlhelm and of course your toilet paper
and let’s start digging.
Since we want to do this the proper way, we
need to make sure to have some basics down,
before we look at all the different fortifications.
This means some general thoughts from German
Army Regulations on Field Fortifications.
And they note:
"Field fortifications increase one’s own
[weapon effect], reduce the enemy weapon effect
and maintains one’s own fighting power.
The longer they remain undetected, the greater
the benefit."
Another crucial aspect was the German Army’s
focus on combat effectiveness, as such:
"For all emplacements apply the principle
of effect before cover [effect takes precedence
over cover]."
The pioneer regulation for all arms explains
that the effect of firepower could be increased
by the proper selection of firing positions,
clearing the line of fire, the establishment
of observation and communication posts. Additionally,
by using existing obstacles or constructing
new ones. Furthermore,
"Hedges, trees, bushes are to be removed only
where necessary. Felled trees often block
the field of fire. Trees are therefore generally
only thinned out of branches, the crowns are
left as protection against enemy observation
from the air.”
Of course, it was also crucial to have proper
camouflage, which seems obvious, but you also
need to consider the timing here:
"All field fortifications that are constructed
according to schedule must therefore be camouflaged
before and during execution.”
Note that camouflage should start before the
work.
As you can imagine doing hard manual labor
with pickaxes, shovels and other equipment
while also maintaining proper concealment
can be a bit of an issue, it is both difficult
and time intensive. As such, the regulation
notes that the construction process is often
easier during the night or fog.
As mentioned before combat effectiveness was
crucial. The Germans usually called it “Kampfkraft”
usually translated with “Fighting Power”.
This is also related on how the German Army
saw dugouts, to quote a heading for sub-chapter:
“2. Facilities for maintaining fighting
power. Dugouts.“
It was of course also crucial to preserve
the fighting power of troops and weapons,
one paragraph addresses this:
"Means of maintaining fighting power are:
digging in, building concealed dugouts or
shelters, and preferably camouflaged connections
backwards and sideways."
This could be done in various ways, first
spreading out the entire fortification system
in both depth and width. Second, to have rather
small individual fortifications as well, since
those would diminish the effect of enemy fire.
It is explicitly stated that such an arrangement
is more effective than a single large well-developed
strongpoint.
Another way to reduce the enemy firepower
was the construction of decoy positions:
"Decoy positions are designed to deceive enemy
observers and fragment enemy fire. They are
to be camouflaged in such a way that they
are still recognizable on photographs or with
sharp binoculars and cannot be distinguished
from real positions.”
Yet, decoy positions had to be planned out
and maintained as well:
"Decoy positions must appear occupied. Therefore,
they must not lie dead. Trails, connecting
ditches, wagon tracks must also be led to
or beyond them."
Since we have the basics set, it is time now
to look at some field fortifications in more
detail.
So, let us start with some trenches. And instruction
pamphlet from 1944, basically notes that there
are three types of trenches:
The fire trenches , which the Germans called
“Verbindungsgräben” or “Kampfgräben”,
meaning literally “connection trenches”
and “combat trenches”, but be careful
here, the literal translation of the first
one is misleading, since that is very similar
to the English name of the second type. Fire
trenches ran parallel to the frontline and
connected the various positions and outpost
with each other.
These should be constructed narrow, meaning
about 0.4 m on the bottom and about 0.6 to
0.8 m at the top. The depth should be around
1.8 to 2.0 m. Furthermore, every 10 to 15
m they should be a bend.
The second type were the communication trenches.
These were called “Annäherungsgräben”
in German, literally meaning “approach trenches”.
They usually were laid out perpendicular to
the frontline and were meant to enter and
leave the fire trenches.
Communication trenches in their dimensions
were similar to fire trenches, namely about
0.4 m on the bottom, but at the top about
0.8 to 1.0 m, hence 0.2 m wider. The depth
should be up to 2.0 m. Additionally, it is
noted that regularly they should contain small
trenches that protect against tanks, which
brings us to the final type.
Namely, “Panzerdeckungsgräben”, which
literally means “tank cover trenches”.
Note, these trenches should not be confused
with anti-tank ditches. These trenches were
built that tanks could roll over them and
still protect the personnel inside. The design
was like those of the fire trenches and they
were built near installations that didn’t
provide cover against tanks.
Here you see an example position, there were
would barb wire in front of the trenches.
Here is a machine gun position. These small
elements were dugouts to take cover. And these
parts are foxholes for 2 riflemen. A bit further
behind is the shelter.
Be aware that there were several ways to classify
trenches, e.g., the US Field Manual from 1940,
had two systems one by direction, the other
by employment. Whereas the 1944 Field Manual,
went by layout differentiating between Special
and Standard trench, whereas the latter was
used for fire and communication trenches.
Anyway, let us move on.
Ideally, such a trench position is protected
by an alarm system as well. And this is how
it looked like. Now these elements here are
the sound generators, which were usually tin
cans, which were connected with wires. Note
that they should emit a buzzing sound and
not a loud noise. To quote:
"When the wire is touched, it is set in vibration,
which is transmitted to the sound generator
(tin can) acting as a soundboard. The guard
is alerted by a clearly audible buzzing sound.
The same effect is achieved when pieces of
wire fall onto the tension wire when cutting
through the wire obstacle. If the tension
wire is cut through, the sound generator falls
down."
The construction details are quite interesting,
the also particularly include, which tin can
is the loudest or how to increase its volume:
“The sound generator consists of a long
narrow tin can (asparagus can - loudest buzzer)
(1). Increase the volume by means of sound
generators from two cans according to (2)."
Next, let us look at anti-tank ditches and
tank traps.
The Anti-Tank Ditch from the side looked like
this. The angle of the ditch should be at
least 55 degree.
This triangular shape should result in the
tank either doing a nosedive into the ground,
ideally damaging its gun or to fall into the
ditch after the front had crossed. Now, in
case you think that such a ditch can be easily
spotted, you probably never sat in a tank.
As such, you might want to watch this video
first, where I sit in a bow-gunner position
of a T-34 while it drives with an open driver’s
hatch, which is not recommended in combat.
Also be aware, if the enemy firing at you,
there is smoke, burning wreckages and explosions
going off all around you, you probably see
far less in such a situation as well.
In terms of constructing the anti-tank ditch.
There were two stages, in the first one, the
width was about 3,5 m, whereas for the second
stage it would be 4,5 m. This stage was also
provided for two types soil conditions. For
weaker ground, it was required to use wood
to stabilize the ditch properly.
Yet, let us look at the tank trap. This one
comes with a preface:
“Tank traps shall only be set up as an addition
to other barriers that are located before
the front line in the own firing range (e.g.
setting up a trap on a forest road that cannot
be bypassed by tanks, in front of a wire obstacle).”
Hence, this was not about destroying the tank,
but to render it at least temporary immobile
to increase the chance to hit.
Here you can see the cross section. Notice
it had a box shape, the bottom width was about
5 meters, top width about 6.5 meters and the
depth 3 meters. To cover the trap, wood was
used, and the previously removed topsoil should
be put back into position again.
The next one requires a bit more material,
but also provides more protection. Namely
a “MG-Ringstand aus Stahlbeton” – literally
meaning “MG Ring Stand out of reinforced
concrete”. This one you see right here,
was filmed at the Oder-Warthe-Bogen or often
called Ostwall in Poland. If you never heard
of the Ostwall btw. you might want to check
out this video from my second channel that
contains many videos at museums, historical
sites and also interviews with various experts.
Now, let’s look at the blueprint. As you
can see, it is a rather simple setup. The
opening had diameter of about 0.8 meter, where
angle steel should be used as a guide rail.
Additionally, there were built-in platforms
as well and a wooden one that could be moved.
It was designed in a way that:
"With bipod mount, you can go from anti-air
combat to horizontal fire without having to
reposition."
In terms of supported weapons, it is noted
that the MG 34, 42, 08/15 and MG 30 could
be used in the ring stand, additionally 2
captured French and Czech machine guns are
listed as well. Furthermore, anti-tank rifles,
the 5-cm mortar, flamethrowers, the scissor
scope and tank turrets from captured tanks
were supported as well.
Note that the construction of such a fortification
would take about 25 days for about 10 men
working 8 hours a day. About 55 cubic meter
of earth would have to removed. The material
required was as follows:
14 cubic meter of gravel sand,
90 square meters of wooden formwork
4.5 tons of cement,
4 kg nails,
750 kg round steel,
about 230 m of wires
and 150 meters of wooden beams.
With an estimated total weight of 25 tons.
Which is actually quite a lot, if you consider
how small these positions actually were.
The next position is for a Nebelwerfer, namely
the 28/32 cm Nebelwerfer 41, which was of
course covered in my video on Nebelwerfer,
if haven’t seen it, check it out. Anyway,
here we have the basic outline from the top.
The enemy is towards the right side. The Nebelwerfer
28/32cm should be positioned here. The space
for the Nebelwerfer should be about 5 meters
ins length. Now, the two larger areas on the
left and right are for the ammunition, they
should have a depth of 1.3 m.
The areas further away from the enemy, namely
here are the cover for the crews. These should
have a depth of 1.8 to 2.0 m, so regular trench
depth. Note that the trenches at the front
are less deep, but the earth banks provide
additional protection.
Also, during construction keep in mind that:
"During the entrenchment work the Werfer are
to be placed about 5.00 m in front of the
planned covers so that the battery is always
ready to fire. [...] The drawings should only
be taken as a guide. The details of the positions
are to be developed irregularly and adapted
to the respective terrain.”
Next, let us look at an artillery the position.
Namely, for the 10.5 cm leichte Feldhaubitze
18.
The area of the gun would be around 5 meters
wide and 6 m in length. The position would
be about 0,4 meters deep, yet the trenches
would deepen, with 1,25 m on the left and
1,1 m on the right side. Additionally, there
would be locations for the ammunition at various
points located on the right side. Whereas
dugouts for personnel would be located on
the left. The estimated man hours were around
110 hours, so 22 hours for 5 men.
Finally, let us look at a “Panzerkampfwagenstand”
so a position for a tank.
Here we have the view from the side and the
top as well. As you can see, the dug-out is
placed directly into the fire trenches and
allow the infantry to pass by.
The length of the area before the ramp is
given with 8 meters. Considering that even
the Königstiger had a length of about 7.4
meters, 8 meters should be sufficient, especially
for smaller tanks, like the Panzer IV. The
length of the ramp was given with 4.7 m. The
depth was around 1.6 meters. The walls were
made with fascines, which are bundles of brush
wood or other material, that were held in
place by stakes.
The whole position required the removal of
about 80 cubic meters of earth. The required
material was about 121 meters of round lumber
posts, 150 m of wires and 40 square meters
of fascines.
Construction time was at about 5 days for
about 9 men.
Note that the vast majority of the fortifications
and other elements listed in the pamphlets
and manuals are of the non-combat nature,
to give just a few examples. There are plans
and instructions for various kinds of roads,
dams, log causeways, wells, water filters,
latrines, 8 different types of floors, windows,
doors and much much more.
Well, the next time you need to dig in, you
know some basics. A big thank you here to
my patreon and subscribestar supporters that
make videos like these possible.
Special thanks to Andrew for reviewing the
script!
As always, sources are listed in the description.
Thank you for watching and see you next time!
