GALLERY
AT THE FRONT
Original photos from the unit, collection of Clemens
Copyright G. Plattes
By train from Cologne to the Russian front
This picture was taken in Russia when the train stopped temporarely and two local boys came to visit the Germans.
The soldiers did not have winter great coats. They had to make do until November when coats were issued.
March 1942
Summer Offensive
It is the 27th June 1942, the day before the great German Summer Offensive.
A young soldier tends to the horses who pulled the carts with materiel, food etc. This man belongs to the same unit as Clemens.
No infantry company at the front had any motor vehicles. All logistics depended on horses.
Company Commander
Lieutenant Josef Regner (with sun glasses) was from Vienna/Austria and commanded the 9th company to which Clemens was assigned.
It is the evening before the offensive. Lt. Regner is in conversation with a young soldier.
27th June 1942
The Russian steppe
The 9th Company of IR 278/95th ID is advancing through the Russian steppe towards the target which will be hard to take. Russian opposition is very strong and determined.
June/July 1942
Normandy
In 1944 many veteran German sol-diers were transferred from the Russian front to the French Atlantic Coast where it was expected the Allies would land.
Clemens was assigned to the 84th ID at the French Channel Coast near Dieppe. All companies were reinforced by young conscripts (18 years old) and experienced soldiers from the Soviet Union (Ostlegion), who had volunteered for the Wehrmacht.
In July - after the Allies had landed at the Normandy coast - the 84th ID was assigned to the front which had been penetrated by the Allies near Avranches.
All soldiers got bicycles to ride from the Seine to Sourdeval in Calvados/Normandy. Thereafter they marched on foot to their assigned area near Saint-Pois.
Photo above: The soldier with the round cap is likely a Cossack. In the rear soldiers from the Ostlegion. Clemens is reclining in the foreground, second from right. 1944
Clemens as newly commissioned Second Lieutenant in May 1943.
He is 21 years old.