Title:GELANDE-SCHWIERIG KEITEN IM OSTEN, WINTER UND FRUHJAHR (FRONTSCHAU 1) [Main Title]
Film Number:GWY 994
Other titles:TERRAIN DIFFICULTIES IN THE EAST IN WINTER AND SPRING (FRONTSCHAU 1) [Translation]
Summary: Actuality film shows how soldiers overcome severe weather and terrain conditions on Russian roads.
Description: (Reel 1) a) Caterpillar vehicle tows line of three supply trucks through axle-deep mud as snow falls. Blizzard howls on soundtrack. Bearded soldier with pipe examines caterpillar vehicle sunk in sludge and grins. b) Car crosses morass landscape with Russian farm building on horizon. Organisation Todt workers rescue a stuck and frozen vehicle and fill dangerous ridges in road with earth. Picks and pneumatic drills free truck frozen axle-deep in ground. Another is jacked up and pulled free by a caterpillar vehicle. c) "After first snows" car with Corps marking moves along road past stuck trucks and cars. Open-top car is manhandled through snow, motor-cycle combination is towed through snow by truck, light gun is towed by car. Logs transported by cart and dragged over snow by horses are laid over road and covered with earth as snow falls. d) Blizzard. Winter clothing is unloaded from goods train into truck. e) Tarpaulin on Luftwaffe registration Krupp L2H 143 truck is painted camouflage white for winter. f) Straw and grit is laid on busy slushy road. Trucks and Pzkpfw IV pass. g) Soldiers mark road with poles and interlace birch and fir branches to form snow barrier. Rifles are stacked nearby in case of partisan or air attack. Supply truck and motor-cycle combination with passengers well protected pass by through blizzard. Passengers warm themselves. Column of tractor and horse-drawn sledges, with well-wrapped soldiers following, passes through blizzard. h) Horses feed in blizzard, incorrectly. i) Knocked out car stands totally covered in snow and ice. Cheerful music. j) Importance of hygiene is stressed, with views of well-built men having showers and then frolicking naked in the snow. k) Engine of frozen truck is warmed by fire and cranked. l) Truck uses chained wheels. (Reel 2) m) 15cm sFH gun is dug out of snow and dragged free by Sd Kfz 8. n) Reconnaissance patrol in snow suits wade through deep snow, prior to fitting on skis unloaded from train. Soldiers learn cross-country skiing and ski downhill in column. Sledges are unloaded from train and towed away. Sledges are pulled along by soldiers in snow suits, then dragged by soldiers on skis to collect wounded from behind front line. Horse dragging sledge stumbles under weight. Horse-drawn and motorised snow ploughs clear path for supply column through wood. Soldiers clear snow from road allowing car to pass. o) Thaw beginning in April turns roads into sludge and rivers, navigated by supply trucks. Soldiers clear snow and ice from street in town. Sd Kfz 8s struggle through morass. Trucks with naval registration plates pass through town during thaw. View of Russian hovels. p) Russian prisoners haul truck through sludge. Sd Kfz 8 tows 15cm sFH through sludge. Motorcycle combinations are dragged by two horses past Russian house. Infantry trudge forward along sludgy road, their figures reflected in water beside route.
Alternative Title:TERRAIN DIFFICULTIES IN THE EAST IN WINTER AND SPRING (FRONTSCHAU 1) [Translation]
