Mortar Gunner on the Eastern Front

Hans-Heinz Rehfeldt's second volume of his wartime memoirs offers a ground-level perspective on some of the most brutal fighting on the Eastern Front during World War II. As a mortar gunner in the Wehrmacht, Rehfeldt provides detailed observations of military operations across multiple theaters, including Russia, Hungary, Lithuania, and the desperate defense of East Prussia. This account stands as part of a growing body of firsthand testimonies from German soldiers that have been translated and made available to English-speaking audiences in recent decades.

The book chronicles Rehfeldt's experiences as a member of a mortar crew, a specialized infantry support role that placed him in close proximity to frontline combat while requiring technical expertise in operating indirect fire weapons. Mortar crews occupied a unique position in Wehrmacht tactical doctrine, providing rapid fire support at the company and battalion level. Rehfeldt's narrative conveys the practical realities of this role, including the physical demands of transporting heavy equipment, the technical challenges of calculating firing solutions under combat conditions, and the vulnerability of crew members during both offensive and defensive operations.

The geographical scope of this volume reflects the Wehrmacht's increasingly desperate strategic situation from 1943 onwards. The narrative moves through various combat zones as German forces conducted fighting withdrawals and attempted to stabilize collapsing front lines. The Russian theater sections detail operations during the period when Soviet forces had seized the strategic initiative and were pushing westward with overwhelming material superiority. Rehfeldt's account includes descriptions of the harsh environmental conditions, the scale of Soviet artillery bombardments, and the mounting challenges faced by German units suffering from attrition and supply shortages.

The Hungarian campaign material covers operations in a region that became strategically critical as Germany sought to maintain access to vital resources and protect approaches to the Reich itself. The fighting in this theater involved complex operational situations, including attempts to relieve encircled forces and conduct defensive operations against Soviet offensives supported by massive concentrations of armor and artillery. Rehfeldt's perspective as a junior enlisted soldier provides insight into how strategic decisions played out at the tactical level.

The sections covering Lithuania and East Prussia deal with the final stages of the war in the East, when German forces found themselves defending territory that had been part of the Reich or under German control since the early war years. The battle for East Prussia held particular significance as it involved the defense of German civilian populations and represented the approaching culmination of the Soviet advance toward Berlin. Rehfeldt's narrative captures the increasingly chaotic nature of military operations during this period, with units often cut off, communication systems breaking down, and the normal military hierarchy becoming less functional under extreme pressure.

As a primary source document, the book offers value to readers interested in military history, particularly those studying small-unit tactics and the daily experiences of common soldiers. Rehfeldt's focus on the practical aspects of military service provides details often absent from higher-level strategic analyses or official histories. The account includes information about equipment, rations, billeting arrangements, relationships between soldiers, and the myriad mundane concerns that occupied troops between combat actions.

The narrative does not attempt to provide comprehensive strategic analysis or contextualize events within the broader framework of the war. Rehfeldt writes from his limited perspective as a junior soldier, and the account reflects the restricted understanding typical of individuals serving in such positions. This narrow focus constitutes both a limitation and a strength, as it preserves the authentic voice of someone who experienced these events without the benefit of hindsight or access to complete information about the military situation.

Readers should approach this work as one soldier's recollections of his wartime service, shaped by the passage of time and the inevitable selectivity of memory. Like all memoirs, it represents a subjective account filtered through personal experience and perspective. The book contributes to the historical record by adding another individual testimony to the documentation of the Eastern Front campaigns, providing material that can be compared and contrasted with other sources from various participants and perspectives.

This second volume serves as a continuation of Rehfeldt's military memoir series and will primarily appeal to readers with established interest in Eastern Front history, Wehrmacht operations, or personal narratives from World War II. The book's value lies in its detailed presentation of one soldier's experiences across multiple campaigns during a critical period of the war, offering insights into the human dimension of large-scale military operations.