A handfull of Volksgrenadiers get separated from their Gruppe due to a violent snowstorm. Volksgrenadiers Schreuder and Müller are accompanied with Grenadier Steiner. "My first day in the field and we get lost allready?" says Schreuder. Grenadier Steiner replies " We will get there, it is just a matter of time untill we find the rest ".
Grenadier Steiner assures Schreuder " You will get used to the cold". Grenadier Steiner has been on the front over 2 years now, but only recently got transferred to the 18th Volksgrenadier Division.
"Ami's!" Grenadier Steiner tells the young boys to take cover and cover both sides. This enemy patrol is too big to engage, and they wait untill they are out of sight.
Looking at the equipment of this young Volksgrenadier, various bits of equipment are issued to him. His first day in the field makes him a bit anxious on a cold day like this. His mother gave him a pair of gloves and a scarf. Because his lowboots fell appart in the snow, he took the overboots he found in a deserted Jeep.
These three Grenadiers show 3 different types of boots, on the left it appears a pair of US high overboots, in the center the standard Jackboot, and on the right a pair of US Buckleboots.
Suddenly they hear gunfire from where the patrol was last seen, Grenadier Steiner tells Müller and Schreuder to keep still and not fire their panzerfaust. "I could have easily shot that patrol with the panzerfaust" Müller claims. Steiner assures them it is better to keep quiet and sneak back to their own lines.
Suddenly their luck changes, they walk right into an enemy patrol and don't make it out alive. Before one of the Grenadiers could even reach for their weapon bullets flew around their heads. After one day in the field, without firing one round, Grenadier Müller & Schreuder died. After 4 years on in the war Grenadier Steiner dies in the snowy forest of Belgium.
© Erik Suijkerbuijk
I would like to take this chance to thank Francois Vermeulen for the loan of the Panzerfaust and his private land in Stabroek/Belgium to take the pictures.
Kind Regards,
Erik Suijkerbuijk,
www.3kompanie.org " Der Windhund " The Netherlands.
Grenadier Steiner assures Schreuder " You will get used to the cold". Grenadier Steiner has been on the front over 2 years now, but only recently got transferred to the 18th Volksgrenadier Division.
"Ami's!" Grenadier Steiner tells the young boys to take cover and cover both sides. This enemy patrol is too big to engage, and they wait untill they are out of sight.
Looking at the equipment of this young Volksgrenadier, various bits of equipment are issued to him. His first day in the field makes him a bit anxious on a cold day like this. His mother gave him a pair of gloves and a scarf. Because his lowboots fell appart in the snow, he took the overboots he found in a deserted Jeep.
These three Grenadiers show 3 different types of boots, on the left it appears a pair of US high overboots, in the center the standard Jackboot, and on the right a pair of US Buckleboots.
Suddenly they hear gunfire from where the patrol was last seen, Grenadier Steiner tells Müller and Schreuder to keep still and not fire their panzerfaust. "I could have easily shot that patrol with the panzerfaust" Müller claims. Steiner assures them it is better to keep quiet and sneak back to their own lines.
Suddenly their luck changes, they walk right into an enemy patrol and don't make it out alive. Before one of the Grenadiers could even reach for their weapon bullets flew around their heads. After one day in the field, without firing one round, Grenadier Müller & Schreuder died. After 4 years on in the war Grenadier Steiner dies in the snowy forest of Belgium.
© Erik Suijkerbuijk
I would like to take this chance to thank Francois Vermeulen for the loan of the Panzerfaust and his private land in Stabroek/Belgium to take the pictures.
Kind Regards,
Erik Suijkerbuijk,
www.3kompanie.org " Der Windhund " The Netherlands.
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