DAK home movies. Libiya, 1941.

[Longbow]

Came across this on YT, today. Interesting period "Home Movies" with lots of details included.

 

 

[Jochen Barett]

The narrator apperas to be Winrich Behr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winrich_Behr

in some technical details he is plain wrong (talking about a Storch when an HS 126 is shown), but the movie shows scenes away from the Wochenschau / propaganda newsreel, taken "for the families back home". The narration appears to be candid (including half finnished sentences and interrupting himself). He is giving very interesting comments from the view of a then Kompaniechef, but after some more years of experience.

 

The movie starts after the French campaign (and after Poland), in February 1941 in snowy Berlin, leads via train Italy and via ship to Africa and back via Ju 52 do Italy when following an order (holders of the knights cross being the only son (left) were to spend a year at home away from the front) was made easy to him due to suffering from jaundice. In December '42 he joined Paulus at Stalingrad, serving as the O1 but that's another story (in his words Russia / Stalingrad was "the real war, the evil war" whereas Africa was more of an adventure)

 

Some of the comments:

At the train station all soldiers receive the same "Fraß" (derogatory for chow, maybe like grub slop or muck) in contrast to later the Italians where the officers had a white table cloth and comfort and better food than the enlisted men. And he elaborates on the positive effect of equal food on the men's fighting morale.

The 13 graves shown in Africa (21:20) are the result of a blue-on-blue (mentioned minutes before) when German bombers attacked German Landsers riding in captured British vehicles.

Around 42:00 he is awarded the knight's cross and he elaborates on the circumstances, it was not only given for brave action but for success (and luck) and he claims in afrca a (his) knight's cross was earned for lesser (less daring) achievements then on the Eastern front, just because the Africa campaign could be used so much better for propaganda.

Edited January 21, 2021 by Jochen Barett

[Pete in Lincs]

@Longbow Thank you very much for posting the film link. And @Jochen Barett Thank you very much for the explanation.

My German is not fast enough to follow what was said on the film. I am decades out of practice!

Some very interesting things to see here. The use of captured vehicles being one. The drivers had to cope with right hand steering wheels & left hand gear changes!

That bus was interesting too. The card symbols painted on the side, the desert sand paint worn away by the door handle and there were boxes

stacked in front of a wheel to keep the sun off the tyre. I've seen what it can do to tyres in the middle east!

There was also at least one truck with a Swastika painted on the back rather than a cross.

All good details for AFV builders. Not my thing nowadays but I do have an interest in the desert war.

Another thing, while all around him were in light clothing, Rommel still wore his usual 'costume' of greatcoat, hat with goggles & binoculars.

Rather like Montgomery always wore the two badges on his beret. I think I'll have to re watch this one. Thanks again.

[Jochen Barett]

According to the narrator the card symbols on the bus 37:00 ... the sentence has to be reversed, the entire (formerly painted in Panzergrau RAL 7021) vehicle, the "Befehlsbus" (command bus) of 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irnfried_Freiherr_von_Wechmar was covered in mud for purposes of camouflage and to keep the sun out and these card symbols were cleaned again to let some sun in (and the palm symbol on the door was freed too) - and von Wechmar loved to play bridge. And von Wechmar rode (was driven by is driver) in this vehicle across the desert, as long (in those early days in africa) as there was no threat from the air.

 

German subtitles may be activated, but they are "grabbed" from the audio and obviously done by a computer (or some other non-native German speaker). Names of places and people should be understandable to the knowledgeable not understanding any German.

 

Unfortunately the commentary section is rather useless for the modeller or person interested in that period it merely shows how many stupid German speaking people are living today. Naturally the film and audio is the view of a person being a German officer at that time.

 

Around 6:57 (when everything is loaded aboard ship) the narrator (from Berlin) let's us know the ship's captain (from Hamburg) told them where everything was stowed and where the fuel and the ammo was placed and that in case they were hit by a torpedo everything woul blow up "und das wollen wir scha nu nich" (probably the Hamburger said "un dat wüllt wie scha nu nich" in BBC-German "und das wollen wir ja nun nicht" translating into "and we wouldn't want that" (a somehow unneccessary explanation to a probably uncomfortable situation)) and this "und das wollen wir ja nicht" became something like a slogan for the narrator's entire outfit for the rest of the african campaign. Lovely detail!

 

At another time he is pointing out Rommel never cared a lot for attire and never asked a soldier to "close that button!", Rommel rather cared things were working.

Edited January 15, 2021 by Jochen Barett
typos

[Pete in Lincs]

Jochen, Thank you for that. I agree about the ship. They wouldn't want that! 

I know that throughout a country, the language may be the same but they all have regional variations. 

I once read a book dated 1944/5 in which the Russians were approaching Germany.

Two soldiers were in a trench, one from Bavaria, the other from Hamburg, and they simply could not communicate with each other. 

The Befehlsbus card symbols make sense now. Nice sense of humour by von Wechmar. 

Rommel was, in my opinion, a soldiers soldier. Unlike some of the Prima Donna's on both sides.

Given more fuel and a free hand, I wonder what he could have achieved. Perhaps that is why I find the desert war so interesting.

Thanks again, Pete

[Jochen Barett]

Maybe "we" feel the desert war was a comparatively "clean" war, just amongst soldiers, not killig millions of civilians. Somehow like naval warfare on land. But I fear if it was you or your male relative who got shot, stabbed, burnt, cut to pieces by a mine ... the difference shrank a bit. Some of the commentators on youtube seem to forget that and others seem to be obsessed with other issues ...

 

Behr points out (around 5:39 at "Neapel" Naples Napoli) he was apointed Kompaniechef and promoted from Oberleutnant to Hauptmann after his former Kompaniechef died on day #2 of the fighting in Belgium. Later you can hear his deep regret for the 13 dead (13 out of 180) due to that blue-on-blue.

 

At 7:50 he mentions how "harmless" the war was in those days, it would have been possible to go to the hotel and make a phone call to London (in worst case to tell somebody a detachment of German soldiers is boarding a ship named Adana ... about to sail to "Tripolis" Tripoli). At 10:39 the men are changing clothes, that was actually planned to have happened in Napoli, but local church authoities objected to the men running around town in short pants. 11:34 remark about the pith helmets that were later not used, because they were "impractical" in fighting. 11:45 he (standing in his car) and 12:10 is greeting the military way (the other way became mandatory July '44). 13:26 Via Balbia "to Kairo".

 

16:18 "Wüstenfort El Agheila", his troops make a play with the forts' name, "Geile Ella", where Ella is the first name of a woman and "geil" as an adjective to her may mean hot or horny in this context (it is one of those intranslatable words, it comes from gardeners language describing a shoot going straight up - well you get the picture). His Kompanie took the fort and captured British troops - to him no big deal but it played a role on the maps and the propaganda made good use of it. 17:30 British POWs and captured trucks.

 

18:30 first mention of big red/white flags with the swastika to be easily recognized from air. More POWs and captured equipment (reminds me of the old Airfix 1/76 CM Quad Gun Tractor and 25 Pounder).

 

19:26 retreating Italians. 19:50 first medals (Iron Cross) awarded and British leather vest worn by the narrator. Leather vest and lots of tanks and vehicles left behind by the British due to lack of fuel (over stretched supply lines)

 

21:50 Rommel (you can hear the narrator's excitement) and von Wechmar with von Fallois. Relaxing days ("even at Stalingrad there were days without shooting, days when you would not be shooting the evil Russian" ...) and fighting, going around Tobruk and reaching Bardia (still at the border of Lybia to Egypt these days), capturing New Zealanders in the course of the events. 26:00 he believes if they had had enough fuel, they would have made it to Kairo, because the British where weakened enough. Hitler was "reluctant", Rommel was the guy to say "Boys, go and get your fuel from the Tommies!" It would have been a gamble (wether the British would "give" the fuel or jus tblow up the depots), in the end the decision was made against that gamble. 27:15 again lots of British vehicels "the British were so kind to leave them behind due to lack of fuel (translator's remark: Maybe a thing to keep in mind on the own advance!).

 

Germany is a comparatively new country in Europe, and Luther's bible was one of the first documents giving a kind of a unified language. In old movies people are speaking in their local dialect, and television (getting spread in the 60s) and mobility for work "helps" to even it out. Still there are local "cultural" differences.

 

Winrich Behr (speaking good/"educated" (but not nose up high in the air) high German, not typical Berlin-slang or pronounciation, maybe a touch "Northern German" when neglecting the last "t" in "ist" and pronouncing the "g" at the end of a word/syllable a bit like "ch") points out his Kompanie of 180 men was mainly composed of men (or "boys") from Berlin (with a hands on mentality (translator's remark: nowadays just big mouth, no hands, no real hard work)) and the Rhine (faithful catholics).

 

More later if anybody is interested.

 

 

Edited January 15, 2021 by Jochen Barett

[Pete in Lincs]

1 hour ago, Jochen Barett said:

More later if anybody is interested.

Well, there's me...

My Sister lived & worked in Bavaria (And also married a German) at the same time as I was in the RAF near to Kleve.

On the TV at the time was Magnum P.I. She explained to me how Higgins spoke with a High German accent, whereas Magnum didn't.

[malpaso]

We visited our twin town in Germany regularly in the 80s.  One of the surrounding villages (over a barely noticeable pass) had only been connected by road to the main town in the 60s and even our English ears could detect the huge difference in dialect - this was in less than 10km.  It was a fairly extreme country dialect and needless to say these villagers were considered the comedy yokels! 

My dodgy german pronunciation was occasionally good enough in the 80s to confuse as someone from somewhere else in Germany rather than English, as people would recognise it wasnt local but not that badly foreign!  

[Jochen Barett]

27:30 about the vehicles left behind by the British: The British thought they could run/walk back, get some fuel and reclaim their vehicles, so they did not destroy the vehicles they left behind. To them it was new that there were German troops coming after Italian troops that ran away.

28:00 expressing his understanding for the (poor) Italian plain soldier, poorly equippend and led by officers who led an "easy" and (comparatively) comfortable life in the field.

 

Remember: I'm trying a translation, but I am no certified translator AND I'm translating what the narrator (who was involved in everything on one side) is telling! So in case your dad/grand dad/ history book tells a different story, bear with me and let's try to look at things and consider things said in front of that background.

 

29:00 inspection of a British Mk II tank, a source of cigarettes and canned food - and the officers were interested in finding maps and documents.

29:45 he believes that is Fort Capuzzo, known back home (and in the history books) for his action when he (his men) captured New Zealanders and later when Hauptmann Bach gave his stand.

30:30 Oberst von Wechmar and Oberleutnant Wolf (known for making several raids into the desert (away from the coastal road, 200-250 km to the South).

31:00 Oberleutnant von Fallois and a scout troop leader (receiving orders)

locals and camels

32:20 Bardia, Italian observation tower, cliffs similar to Tobruk, houses etc. later bombed by enemy planes

33:00 "my Kompanie was half from Berlin (agile inventiveness) half from Westphalia (sedate catholic trust) "an excellent mixture" and we were together for four years, Sudetenland, Czechia, Poland, France, Africa. We knew each other well and it was a well experienced troop, that you could rely on"

34:00 "Later I was in Russia, and let me tell you, it does make a difference wether you have to expect to ge massacred when catured or like with the French and English when you couldn't expect to be treated "nice" but at least you don't have to decide wether you would prefer suicide over being acptured like in the Caucasus - and you would ponder about that around the campfire."

34:53 "This is Bentheim. We, the scout troops knew each other with the English and sometimes we left a case of beer behind and they would leave Whisky for us"

35:15 too unlucky Englishmen who got captured, they were treated "ordentlich" (according to the rules), and later they wer brought to a collection point for prisoners, from that point on you had no  influence on the fate of those "arme Schweine" (poor pigs / poor devils) were they would be brought to, Sicilly or a camp near Passau, that was totally unclear." "So they were best of as long as they were with us, were they received proper treatment and the same food as we."

35:55 von Wechmar (receiving the knight's cross) and Rommel (not yed field marshal), Major von Borne, May '41, von Görne in the back, Rommels (armored) radio car

bus already explained

the PK-shot around 38:00 "knight's cross holder von Wechmar amongst his comrades" raised considerable attention back home do to the slack attire

38:10 turtle "drafted" for the Afrika Korps and a desert uhu, scenes taken for the loved ones back home, pictures like these were enjoyed more by the families then scout cars shooting each other, "I dod film fighting too, but many of those sceenes were rather shaky so they were left out in the cutting process - whereas today one would keep them because they would be quite interesting"

40: 30 the same officers again, Panzeraufklärungsabteilung 3, "we" were the only ones at the very front, the tanks and infantry (Schützenregiment) were kept further back. Later another scout group (Aufklärungsabteilung) joined but they would be located further South while "we" would always have our let shoulder along the coast. "We climbed that hight from Bardia by foot, the English were there with their tanks and it is a miracle they did not shoot us to death. But that was a real attack we were leading and at night we continued the attack among the retreating English, and everytime we encountered a tank we were in doubt if that tank would fire on us any second or was left behind"

42:00 narrator receives his knight's cross (mentioned by your translator above) from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_von_Ravenstein

Rommel will congratulate later, "it was just about knight's cross #100, later thousands were awarded, but at that time it was a high level of recognistion to me"

44:04 General Garibold https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italo_Gariboldi issuing Italian medals, the narrator received his for taking Bardia and the Halfaya pass plus El Agheila.

45:20 Italian colonial style buildings, civilian life (maybe Bardia), the people were "trying to get through" and they were nice to the Englich, nice to us and nice to the Italians.

47:00 soccer in the desert, his men taking the war (and the Duce und the Führer) with a "skeptical humor" ("What are we doing here?") only few "Nazis" would acknowledge that the world would be saved for Germany down there in Africa, the "lady" 47:55 is a Landser too (with rather artificial breast augmentation). "Later, after I left, many of these boys/men fell at El Alamein and when retraeting, since a scout group is always right next to the front and the enemy. I can only say I left Africa while things were still running well for our side"

He was at a Kavallerieschule for some months and then directly joined Paulus as the O1 of the 6. Armee at Stalingrad. "And that was real war!"

"We had those 13 dead in the beginning and El Alamein was no child's play, but put to a point Africa was Karl Mey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_May and Russia was the real, the evil war"

49:43 Oberleutnant Weihrauch (HS 126 / Fi 156 mismatch), "later (with allied air superiority) it was suicidal to fly around in such a reconnaissance plane" and Weihrauch lsot his lilfe

50:00 Ju 52, omnibus back home, reliable plane, but slow, so you better not meet an anemy fighter

Rome, jaundice and the attempt to preserve holders of the knight's cross. He would have preferred to stay with his troops but the jaundice "convinced" him (made him too weak for combat). From Rome he travelled to Germany by train.

 

Well thanks to Redneck Limey for pointing me/us to that video!

 

(exceue me for any typos)

Edited January 20, 2021 by Jochen Barett
typo(s)

[Rumblestripe]

Thanks Jochen for taking the time to do this, much appreciated. I will now watch the film with your commentary to hand,