Russian Partisan question

[Gray]

Not sure if this is the right section - anyway, I was wondering if anyone about attacks by Russian partisans on German trains sending troops home for leave, etc.? Did they happen? Did they happen frequently?

For that matter did regular Russians troops ever target German trains?

Also,if you were a wounded German soldier fighting on the Russian front could you be sent all the way back to Germany to recuperate?


Thanks in advance for any clarity in the matter.

[Paul Giva]

Not sure if this is the right section - anyway, I was wondering if anyone about attacks by Russian partisans on German trains sending troops home for leave, etc.? Did they happen? Did they happen frequently?

For that matter did regular Russians troops ever target German trains?

Also,if you were a wounded German soldier fighting on the Russian front could you be sent all the way back to Germany to recuperate?


Thanks in advance for any clarity in the matter.

This article should answer some of your questions regarding security along the Eastern Front rail lines: http://www.feldgrau.com/articles.php?ID=50

Here is a relevant excerpt:

"To increase the safety of German rail lines, German construction requirements stated that in forested/wooded areas, a clear swatch of land of at least 300 yards in width was to be cut on both sides of the rail line. This was to help ensure that partisans could not sneak up on a train undetected. Not in the early stages of the war, but certainly by the middle and the end, most German trains traveling in the Soviet Union (Baltics mostly excepted), most trains pushed at least one flat-car loaded with heavy rocks in front of the train as a defensive measure against Soviet pressure/vibration activated charges. In some cases, a totally empty train was sent ahead of the fully loaded train whereby the empty train became the proverbial Guinea Pig. Locomotives were often placed in the center of the train to maximize their protection against attack."

[John Toner]

Attacks on hospital trains were quite common too.

John

[Simon O.]

Also,if you were a wounded German soldier fighting on the Russian front could you be sent all the way back to Germany to recuperate?

Absolutely, You'll find many examples of woundbadge documents issued from hospitals and depot units back in Germany.

[Larry deZeng]

Attacks on the rail lines in Belorussia were daily and multiple times each day. The partisans would either lay explosives during the night or weaken rail sections to cause a derailment. The partisans would then attack the train from the surrounding woods as soon as it derailed. Most of the so-called Osttruppen units raised by the German Army in Belorussia used used explicitly for the purpose of guarding the railways by manning bunkers and watch towers that were feverishly constructed 300 meters apart along the hundreds of miles of rail lines in that part of Russia. The identical measures were taken in occupied Yugoslavia, too. The problem was so acute that measures were taken by the resident HSSPF to hold entire villages responsible for the security of rail lines near their respective village. When the partisans struck and the Germans had not been warned by the locals, a motorized police unit would show up the next day and execute all the males found in the village. But in north and south Russia the problem was much less due to more open terrain. It's a fascinating story and there are at least a couple of good books about it.

[ChrisA]

Also,if you were a wounded German soldier fighting on the Russian front could you be sent all the way back to Germany to recuperate?

Hello Gray,

As Simon already correctly pointed out it was possible. It depended on the type of injury the soldier had and of course the doctor.
Special injuries which needed special treatment or special installations like brain injuries, joint damages etc..

/Christoph

[Gray]

Wow, thanks everyone. It's something I hadn't really thought about until recently. I am definitely interested. Thanks for the answers and links. Does anyone know the title of a book or two that will go into more detail? Or what terms to use when searching.

Also would soldiers on leave be on the hospital trains or would they be on separate trains? Did the soldiers get to go all the way to their hometowns for leave or did they have to go to designated areas or both?

Thanks.

[Larry deZeng]

Does anyone know the title of a book or two that will go into more detail?

About what? German railway operations in Russia? If so, here are three:

Mierzejewski, Alfred C. The Most Valuable Asset of the Reich: A History of the German National Railway, volume 2, 1933-1945. Chapel Hill (NC): University of North Carolina Press, 2000.
Pottgiesser, Hermann. Die Reichsbahn im Ostfeldzug. Neckargemünd: Kurt Vowinckel Verlag, 1960.
Sawodny, Wolfgang. German Armored Trains on the Russian Front, 1941-1944. Atglen (PA): Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 2003.

There is a great deal more that's covered in the numerous histories of anti-partisan warfare in and the German occupation of Belorussia, 1941-1944, but most of this material is in German so it may not be of use to you.

Example:
In June (1943) alone in the Heeresgruppe Mitte area (Belorussia), partisan attacks on the rail system increased to an average of 24 per day, culminating in the loss of 298 locomotives, 1,222 railway cars and 44 bridges. [Newton, S.H. (ed.). Kursk: The German View. Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 2002. p.207].