Title:EINGRABEN IM GEFECHT : ein Lehrfilm des OKH [Main Title]
Film Number:GWY 943
Other titles:DIGGING IN IN BATTLE : an OKH instructional film [Translation]
Summary: Military instructional film demonstrates the correct method of digging in during battle.
Description: Effectiveness of the spade as a weapon for defence or attack is illustrated in the opening sequence, a Russian tank attack repulsed by a German grenadier who lobs a grenade onto a T-34/76 after it has driven straight over his well-dug trench. The correct and incorrect ways of digging a foxhole under enemy fire are shown by a grenadier who alternates between digging and firing. Ground sheet is used for camouflage against aerial detection and for concealing lighter coloured earth. Excavation continues under cover of darkness. Reel 2 illustrates how to protect weapons and equipment in dug-out positions. Examples cover a light gun situated on an open plain which is destroyed by enemy fire and a correctly dug-in 3.7 cm Pak which withstands shelling and knocks out a Russian tank. Behind the front line the spade is an equally useful piece of equipment to all branches of the Army. A 10.5cm light howitzer battery is concealed in a dug-out position and cartridges and shells stored in another trench. Final dramatisation of the military utility of the spade contrasts the fate of a bivouacked unit which has neglected to dig trenches with a properly dug-in unit when both are attacked from the air.
Alternative Title:DIGGING IN IN BATTLE : an OKH instructional film [Translation]
Production Details: Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (Production sponsor)
OKH (Production sponsor)
Filmgruppe des General der Flieger Ausbildung (Production company)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: German Army (regiment/service)
Keywords: armour, Russian - tank: T-34/76 (object name)
equipment, German military - engineering: spade (object name)
defences, German - passive: anti-tank trench (object name)
weapons, German - grenade (object name)
training, German - specialist: digging foxholes (object name)
weapons, German - gun: 3.7 Pak (object name)
weapons, German - gun: 10cm light howitzer (object name)
Instruction (concept)
Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W
Sound format: Sound
Soundtrack language: German
Title language: German
Subtitle language: None
Technical Details: Format: 35mm
Number of items/reels/tapes: 2
Footage: 1785 ft; Running time: 19 mins
