GERMAN SOLDIER OF TO-DAY

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24894, 16 May 1944, Page 3

GERMAN SOLDIER OF TO-DAY

HIS SELF-CONFIDENCE HAS GONE

STILL AN EXCELLENT FIGHTING MAN

Fritz, the German Landser, the Wehrmaeht's equivalent of America's GI Joe or Britain's Tommy Atkins, is, after four and a-half years of war, not the cocky, boastful, spick and span, heavy-set, lusty fellow that his older brother was in 1939 or 1940, writes Mr. C. L. Sulzberger, New York Times war correspondent with the Fifth Army in Italy. Fritz is not so comfortably equipped. Ho is not so luxuriously fed. He is not so overwhelmingly impressed with his own prowess. He is quite definitely depressed when he hears an aeroplane. For the odds are heavily against its being one of his own.

The prisoners from Fritz's unit are curious when they listen to the prison radio. Some are convinced that Germany will win the war, but those who really believe this are becoming fewer. The older fellows know that the war is lost, and those who had jobs are just hoping to go back and start afresh. While Fritz may not he the husky fire-eater that his brother was, I'ritz's no 11 com is a really tough _ individual. Great care was taken iu his selection, and he keeps Fritz fighting well even when Fritz does not particularly leeJ like it. Fritz respects that sergeant 110 end. He calls him Herr Feldwebel Mister Sergeant. To Fritz he overwhelmingly represents authority. There is" a greater gap between the Landser in Fritz's unit and the officers than was the case four years ago. lhere is absolutely no comradeship between the two grades now, although in 1940 there was a little of this injected by the Nazi Party's "democratic" ideas. The officers are now a thing apart. Indeed, there is dissatisfaction in the mind of Fritz's sergeant with officer material nowadays. "These lieutenants/' he says, are too young for the job and cannot appreciate their responsibilities. The officer seems deliberately to seek to keep himself as a man apart in order to hide his ignorance. As a result, unless there are veteran officers around, Herr Feldwebel has become the real leader of the men, especially in the infantry, where the _ biggest replacements are always coming in. Strangely enough, Fritz has not shown the expected reaction against Tommy or Joe as a result of the constant bombing of German cities. Those whose families have suffered divide their animosity between the enemy and their own Government. "Why doesn't the Government in Berlin do something?" they ask. When Fritz sits about a cellar chatting, lie usually doesn't think very independent thoughts. Sometimes if one of his friends expresses mild doubts about winning the war Fritz is likely to say: "Well, disunity between the Allies will save us. Everyone knows they can't got on together, so how can jwe be vanquished?" § . When he does dimly think, Fritz realises the possibilities of defeat remotely. In that event he would certainly rather see Americans and British in Germany than the Russians. _ Fritz has an absolute fear of the Russian as an individual, and of Russia. Admiration of Allies "Fritz seems to have a sneaking admiration for the English-speaking nations, and he sometimes prides himself on his blood kinship with them. Fritz's brother sang, "Wir Faliren gegen England" with a certain amount of animosity. In spite of the R.A.F., Fritz just hasn't got the same bitterness. Fritz occasionally cracks a rather obvious joke about himself. One of his favourites comes up when the conversation swings around to secret weapons. "What is the secret weapon?" asks Fritz. "The German Landser."

Unlike his brother who now occupies a few feet of Russian soil, he grumbles constantly about the lack of guns behind liiin. In spite of the mounting destruction of his home towns by the R.A.F. and United States Army Air Force he is likely to have less hatred and a slightly more comradelike feeling for Tommy or Joe than had his brother. He is certainly not so cocksure that Germany deserves and will shortly obtain, the better part of the world as living space. Fritz's uniform to-day certainly does not fit the way his brother's did, and its material is of inferior quality. His coat and pants are often two or three sizes too big and sometimes too small. Either extreme is accentuated _ when Fritz has spent a week or two in the front line. And if he wears out his pants it is pretty hard to get a new pair. For uniforms are not as plentiful as they used to be. Wool content in his clothing is now at a minimum. His jacket is thinner and not so warm, and it does not stand up to wear the way that his brother's did. Equipment Changes

Fritz's boots are still of good leather. But the Wehrmacht has adopted the British type of anklet for convenience and warmth, and it is a saving in leather over the jackboot in which Fritz's brother started the war. Iritz usually wears an alpine type of cap instead of -the former field cap. By and large, though, Fritz's uniform is still plenty good enough'to fight in. Fritz manages to get along fine with his personal equipment, though it may not always ho good according to Tommy's or Joe's standards. His weapons are excellent, although sometimes, if glanced at hurriedly, they have an appearance of cheapness. The German machine-gun of IJ4/, which he uses, looks slipshod and made of tawdry material. But it fires 1100 rounds a minute, and has far fewer stoppages than the more handsomelytooled machine-gun of 1939 —a beautiful precision job, but not so good for killing. Fritz's brother usually liad_ an ordinary carbine whereas Fritz is just as likely to he armed with a ten-round automatic rifle. Recently some of Fritz's unit have been showing up in black shirts, taken from still existing Italian stocks. Fritz's blankets arc of British,style, but the wool is coarser. His helmet has not changed since his brother wore one—it is the same heavy but efficient _ steel casque. But nowadays Fritz's drinking cup is made of bakelite instead oi metal. The stopper in his water bottle is also bakelite. . Fritz's food is quite satisfactory to him —if he gets it. There is.not actually any shortage of food _ for him. The Fuehrer was a soldier in the last war, and he insists that the Landser gets t.ie best of everything available. But many times Fritz does not get his meal because of transport difficulties —usually caused by those planes that do not belong to" the Luftwaffe. Fritz likes fats and coarse foods, and the Wehrmacht dietitians cater to this taste. He gets a considerable allowance of butter, margarine or lard, which lie carries with him in a little round orange celluloid case. He gets marmalade and plenty of food.

"With air support we would kick out the Yanks from Anzio," Fritz says. "If we had a Luftwaffe wo would win the war easily."

In some kind of sullen way, however, he isi apparently getting used to the idea that he has ( no Luftwaffe.^ It would be a mistake to think from all this that Fritz is merely an amiable character. Any passing week demonstrates that he can do some weirdly brutal things. He cannot be considered a particularly reasoning unit. He is still an intelligent, dogged soldier, just as good on defence as his dead brother was in attack. Ho is good because he subconsciously fears defeat and its consequences. No matter how he rationalises, he is afraid of losing, and that makes him fight. He is good because he comes of a warrior race, and in his veins runs soldiers' blood. And he is good because Herr Feldwebel is there to see to it that he is good. Herr Feldwebel represents force and authority, and that is what Fritz respects. All things considered, Fritz remains an excellent soldier. Mako no mistake about that.

Army and the Nazi Party When Fritz's comrades are captured they find English or American diet too light, even though they are given good quantities of food. They eat American white bread as cake and are still hungry alter finishing off a loaf. Fritz is used to his own "dauerbrot —the "loaf that lasts." It is very dense and heavy, being made from whole rye, grain and other ingredients. It is black in appearance and something like pumpernickel. The dauerbrot is not so good as it was. It is still quite nutritious, but under the knife it is apt to break and crumble in the slicing. Fritz's elder brother belongs to wellrested troops, with excellent detailed training. Most of them were between 25 and 28 years old. The younger were volunteers. The older were usually noncommissioned officers. All were enthusiastically indoctrinated with the idea of German military prowess. But when Fritz and his classmates were inducted, a big effort was made in the light of the two last years' reverses to insure that Fritz will be amiably enough inclined to the party—that Nazism will not experience a setback because of the Wehrmacht. The latest conscription has been largely into the S.S., which is nothing else but a Nazi party militia. Eighteen months ago the S.S. were a stalwart lot, proud of their bullying reputation. But to-day their unit is often made up of frightened little 17-year-old kids, frequently only semi-literate farm hands. Although they make good cannon fodder, they certainly are not imbued with the fervour and spirit of Storm Troopers. In fact, they consider that association with the S.S. is a liability, and they are cowed by the thought of possible retribution. Volunteers in the S.S. are still different from other soldiers, but that elite organisation is now being gradually filled up with conscripts from the 1926 age group. Many of them, drafted at 17 only last November, are now dead or prisoners.

Training of New Recruits

The new recruits are usually trained outside Germany in some occupied country. They have been a reserve in case of trouble there. While learning how to be a soldier they maintained the high level of the garrisons set over the enslaved populations, so replacing better trained units that had been sent to battle. Fritz did not have as long a training as his brother, nor was it as thorough. The age limits in the Gorman Army used to be between 25 and 28 as a rule. Recruits now inducted into the ranks range between 17 and 45. Even older men, including Fritz's father, are in uniform back home, serving in the security, flak and railroad guard units. The average -age in Fritz's platoon is about 19 to 23, although non-commis-sioned officers are older. Among the conscripts are foreigners from conquered nations, including Poland and Yugoslavia. Fritz's morale remains pretty good. It is unfair to judge this morale from German prisoners, since they are no longer a thermometer of the Wehrmacht spirit. For when a Landser is captured it comes to him as a shock. His immediate psychological reaction seems to be a feeling that he is a gnol bird rather than a prisoner of war. He feels that he is being deprived of his liberty as an exile in a foreign country. He does not appreciate that he bad no liberty at home. But in due course lie is affected by decent treatment and good food. He does not mind it. Prison life builds up bis morale —regular meals and not too much work. But, right at the start, Fritz's comrades are quite differentacting from those in his brother's unit. That earlier lot in 1939 and 1940 were arrogant. They were sure they would soon be liberated by a conquering Germany. They had implicit faith in their Fuehrer. Some of them even epat in. the faces of their captors. i