Young Platoon Commanders from Pionier-Bataillon 25

Four young Zugführer (Platoon Commanders) from Pionier-Bataillon 25, pictured in the summer of 1942. From left to right: Leutnant Emil Gräf (1. Kompanie), Leutnant Anton Locherer (2. Kompanie), Leutnant Fritz Molfenter (2. Kompanie), and Leutnant Karl Vögele (2. Kompanie). The battalion was an excellent blend of experience and youth. Most of the officers had been soldiers or NCOs in the battalion during the Polish or French campaigns: the battalion was one of the fortunate few where men would spend their entire careers. If they were wounded, retrained or promoted, chances were very good that they would return to their beloved Pionier-Bataillon 45.

Source :

"Island Of Fire: The Battle For the Barrikady Gun Factory In Stalingrad November 1942 - February 1943" by Jason D. Mark

Wehrmacht Soldiers Pose with Abandoned Soviet Tank

Men of Pionier-Bataillon 45 pose atop one of the many Soviet tanks that littered the vast battlefield west of Kalach, summer of 1942. “We passed through the steppe near Kalach and saw the results of a clash between 6. Armee and a Russian tank army”, recalls Gefreiter Karl Krauss from 2. Kompanie, “about one thousand shot up and derelict Russian tanks – from T-34s up to the 152mm equipped KV2s – covered the battleground, and amongst all these were countless quantities of guns and other materiel. Did Ivan still have the power to resist?”

Source :

"Island Of Fire: The Battle For the Barrikady Gun Factory In Stalingrad November 1942 - February 1943" by Jason D. Mark

Oberst Herbert Selle

Oberst Herbert Selle (Armeepionierführer 6. Armee in Stalingrad) is a colorful and very interesting character (see also his Wikipedia entry): Police officer, Stahlhelm official, early but short-term NSDAP member, involved in the Braunschweig power struggle of March 1933, Holocaust witness, prominent figure of the Stalingrad battle, afterwards critical of Hitler and the Wehrmacht leadership, arrested and prosecuted for "staatsfeindliche Äußerungen" (along with his 17-year-old daughter) in 1943, cleared because of "Unzurechnungsfähigkeit" and returned to service in 1944, after the war honorary member of the Bund der Pioniere and longtime leader of the Deutscher Jagdschutzverband (the german hunting association). Recommendations from Paulus, Schulz and Schörner for promotion to Generalmajor were never acted upon (for obvious reasons).

Source :

"Island Of Fire: The Battle For the Barrikady Gun Factory In Stalingrad November 1942 - February 1943" by Jason D. Mark

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