two mortars into position.

He laid down fire precisely in front of 2nd

Company. Kalinowski was the master of his weapon. Anti-aircraft
guns fired into the roofs. Heavy machine guns fired just over the
heads of the attackers, who could be seen only as shadows. Every
house that was taken was burning. Our medical officer, Dr. Alberts,
was up front with us. He assembled the wounded in several houses
that were still standing. They all had confidence in their doctor. His
task was more of an emotional one. Those who had been shot up
and were lying on the floor needed words of encouragement, not
empty phrases.
The commander of 2nd Company came back. He was being
supported by his batman. A stomach wound. He still walked upright.
He was an iron man, Obit. Grundmann.
We could get no farther than the centre of the village. The Russian
fire was too intense. Also, the enemy was sitting in the dark, while
we were in the light of the fires. What's more, there was also fire
coming from the heights on the left and right.
A runner approached. He was hit on the brightly-lit street. Next to
me the mortar N C O said to two boys: 'Fetch him in.' They looked
at each other. Then Uffz. Kalinowski leapt up himself. He picked up
the wounded man and brought him behind our house.
Our 1st Company under Obit. Derben had joined up. Derben
assembled his men behind the houses and calmly reorganized them
for the attack. Heavy machine guns and mortars were moved into
position. The machine gunners worked the bolts of their weapons
back and forth a few times. All was ready.
'1st Company forward!!!' A thunderous hurrah sounded
throughout the whole village. Pistols out and after them! We saw
the Russians running. Houses were burning everywhere. It smelled
of war. This assault could not be halted.
'Stalin Organs' opened fire on us unexpectedly. We threw oursel-
ves to the ground. I lay on top of 5 or 6 Grenadiers. Next to me
Obit. Derben, the commander of 1st Company, took a large frag-
ment in the thigh. We sat him up. Insisting on following procedure,
he handed the company over to his Leutnant. Then he gave notice
that he was leaving. Once again one could hear the familiar, 'the
company will obey my orders."
I Battalion's battle took place somewhere on the road to Tula
during the night of 4 / 5 December. It was on this same night that
tragedy struck a sister company, the 17th (Motorcycle), which was
located in and around Kolodesnaja. At the centre of events was the
company's commander, Leutnant Henke. A brave, but young,
officer, Henke was full of ideals, but lacked the vital experience which
only years of combat could produce.
Kolodesnaja was a small village in the midst of a great forest,
surrounded by a few fields and meadows which were now snow-

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covered. Around the village, especially to the east, was the dark,
threatening forest, whose depths were unknown. The few panje huts
were the sole signs of a human presence. Some had been destroyed,
but the Grenadiers crouched in the few which were intact. These
offered some warmth and the soldiers were happy that they were
not exposed to the terrible minus 30 degree cold and the awful
snowstorms. The unspeakable harshness of the past days and weeks
was reflected in the faces of the Grenadiers. An overpowering
weariness caused them to sink into a half- sleeping state, forgetting
the danger concealed in the forests. The Leutnant, who had led the
company with great bravery, was also overwhelmed by exhaustion.
The few sentries and security outposts should be sufficient to warn
of approaching danger.
In another of the huts in the same village was the headquarters of
the Heavy Battalion (V Btl.), most of whose companies had been
assigned to other battalions. The battalion's commanding officer was
Major von Lentkze. He, too, had no idea of the events to come; he,
too, gave in to the vague feeling of security for which he was to pay
so dearly later.
Students from a Soviet officer school, on skis and clad in parkas,
sneaked cat-like through the forest towards the village. Moving out
of the darkness of the forest, they found a gap in the German line
of security, and suddenly burst into the village. The result was a
bloodbath. At the sounds of the first shots the Grenadiers raced from
the huts as they were, seized their weapons and attempted to defend
themselves. In sock feet, some partially clothed as if they had just
left from washing up, they tried to defend against an enemy who was
superior in numbers and had the advantage of surprise. The actual
battle was brief. Major von Lentzke was soon hit and killed, and Lt.
Gamier of 17th Company and many others were wounded. The
survivors scattered. Individually and in groups, scarcely armed, some
with no weapons at all, they reassembled several hours later.
The next morning the nightmare in Kolodesnaja was over; the
enemy had been driven away. But the scene in the village was a
terrible one: the wounded who had been left behind in the village
had been murdered. Those soldiers who had raced out of their huts
half- dressed and been captured by the Russians had been tied to
sleds and pushed into the village pond. They froze to death. Gefr.
Helmut Tuchscherer, a member of 2nd Battery/4OOth Art.Btl., had
stopped in the village for a rest with his comrades in their truck. He
was found by the door of one of the huts with a small hole in his
forehead. Beside him lay a dead Russian.
Almost half of the company's machines (BMW motorcycles) had
been left behind. Either there had not been time to start them or the
cold prevented them from doing so, and they had been burned or
destroyed by the Russians.

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 The shame of Kolodesnaja, as the events of 5 December came to
be known, was seared into the consciousness of every man who was
there. As regimental commander, Oberst W. Hoernlein ordered the
17th (Motorcycle) Company to remove its GROSSDEUTSCH-
LAND cuff titles until it made good for this disaster. Obit. Borowski
was named new commander of 17th Company. Leutnant Henke
stayed on as a platoon leader.
The 5th of December, however, was a far more important date in
the course of events. It was on this day that the Russian reserves
Siberians from the Far East launched their great counter-offensive
against the Germans. It was the hour that saw the beginning of a far
greater tragedy for Germany: the first major retreat.

Chapter Ten

The Fhrer-Begleit Bataillon

As dawn was breaking on the morning of 22 June 1941, while

units of the German Army were setting out from their assembly areas
for the attack on Russia, motorised elements of the Fhrer Begleit-
Bataillon were driving into the Wolfsschanze installation in East
Prussia. Without direction or large scale briefings the battalion
occupied the planned watches, strongpoints and outposts around
the installation in the forest. As the vehicles were still being
camouflaged beneath the trees, the men were already down from
the vehicles with their weapons and had begun building slit trenches
and foxholes. Fields of fire were laid down and sentry paths were
chosen and made passable. The importance of the installation was
explained to each guard. The most important structure in the
Wolfsschanze was House 11 the Fhrer's quarters. Hitler's house
was enclosed by Security Zone I. Within a larger radius was Security
Zone II, which included all the buildings belonging to the head-
quarters. The barriers consisted of wire screen fences topped with
barbed wire. Access was provided by gates at designated intervals.
It was there that the guards were posted. These were named for the
points of the compass, such as Guard West, etc. The sentry paths,
which led to the next sentry post, ran along the wire fences. Along
the paths at designated points were machine gun posts which,
initially, were constructed of logs. Later, these were replaced with
concrete dugouts.
The guards and companies were accommodated in wooden bar-
racks, each of which was fitted out with beds and a lounge for a
section. For months one platoon of the 4th (Panzer) Company was

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