Feldgrau.net

“VB-Feldpost #3,” page 52, “The Callout” by Uffz. Walter Herrmann. Autumn 1941. The infantry marched on the Rollbahn to Leningrad. Gray, dust-covered forms marched silently toward their daily match objective. My Flak unit was positioned near the road to offer protection from air attacks. Now and aga...

“Drei, Vier, ein Witz!,” page 103, “Two Holes Tighter.” The artillery fire was coming hot and heavy, and the Landser were worried that morning chow wouldn't make it to the front lines. Bolle, a Berliner, simply adjusted his belt so it was two notches tighter. "What are you doing?" asked a ...

“Drei, Vier, ein Witz!,” page 113, “Good Advice.” Unteroffizier Müller was scheduled for surgery in the division hospital. Before leaving the Kompanie , Müller's buddy, the supply sergeant, gave him some practical advice: "Make sure if they take anything out, that they give you a hand receipt f...

“VB-Feldpost #3,” “Gunner K. is on fire!” by Oblt. Oskar Palwait. The first sergeant was in the middle of reporting the battery status to the commander, when out of the back rank, someone yelled in alarm, “ Herr Hauptmann , Gunner Karczelewsky is on fire!” Karczelewsky was standing at attention in t...

VB-Feldpost #3 page 19, “Rudi serves Noodle Soup, by Ogefr. W. Kitte.” My "Rudi" is second cook. At the field kitchen one day, the smell of noodle soup filled the air. The Hauptmann came by and asked, "That smells great! Is chow ready?" My Rudi said it was and the Hauptmann reque...

“Drei, Vier, ein Witz!,” page 29, “Information.” “Well, Karl,” says Grenadier Krawutschke to his Kamerad , “I just heard two juicy tidbits in the company office. One was good, and the other terrible. Which do you want to hear first?” “The good news, of course!” “We’re being transferred from the Ostf...

This is off topic, but the best of all was checking the armor for soft spots. It worked every time. It went like this: Give two new guys a piece of chalk and a ball peen hammer form the tool kit. Take the hammer and show them how to tap the sides of the track for soft spots. Then demonstrate it. Tel...

I'll bet a bunch of guys went the commo shacks over the years looking for those BA-1100-Ns. It does sound like the nomenclature for a battery. Good stuff. Here are a few funny ones for today. “Da Lacht der Soldat,” page 4, “Top Secret.” As Friedrich der Große was preparing war plans, a curious adjut...

Yeah, the list is endless: Check the armor for soft spots, go sign out a blank adapter for the 25mm cannon, Test the shock absorbers on the tanks, make sure the guard shack is level, check to make sure the radios all are lubed with squelch grease, find the track pad adjuster, go get a B-1-RD.

Hi Tom: Yeah it does. You can almost hear the other guys in the squad figuring out how they were going to set Jupp up. It would be interesting to know if the Germans practiced the sort of practical jokes we played in the US Army. (You know — sending guys out hunting for the key to the turret travel ...

Hello Jonathon, and thanks very much for the kind sentiment. Here is a cute story that sort of fits with Halloween right around the corner. This is a longer story and it passed the "funny test" with my son. VB-Feldpost #1, “The Cemetery Ghost,” pgs 10-13 by Gefr. K. G. Bernhardt We’d occup...

“Drei, Vier, ein Witz!,” page 37, “The Exact Number.” One day, 20 German pilots showed up at the Pearly Gates. They had all fallen in aerial combat and now demanded entrance into heaven. But Saint Peter rejected the pilots. “I can only let five of you in here,” he said sternly. A highly decorated ma...

“Lachendes Feldgrau”, pgs 145-146 “Springtime with the Gebirgsjägern ” A Gebirgsjäger platoon was conducting field training in the high alpine region somewhere in Norway. “Imagine,” says the lieutenant, “you’re on duty in a hut 2000 meters high. Everywhere around you, the snow lies deep and crusted-...

Forum member Zepp sent me this one. This is a true story from a Norwegian volunteer, who related it to Zepp. A Norwegian volunteer sat on a train somewhere in Germany near the end of the war. The German civilians in the compartment gave him a lot of flak, accusing him of prolonging the war by servin...

Excellent observations you've made. The class distinctions in some of the German humor are very funny in context, but don't make much sense if the reader isn't aware of the various ranks and how conscious Germans are of them. A good example is the story about the philosophy professor in the beer gar...