Battle-weary Nazis pictured on the brink of defeat in incredible rare pictures
German forces were retreating all along the line in the east, while Allied Forces had fought their way through southern Italy as far as Rome in the west
THESE new photos show exhausted German soldiers on the brink of defeat during the end of World War Two.
By 1944 the Nazis' military position appeared hopeless.
German forces were retreating all along the line in the east, while Allied Forces had fought their way through southern Italy as far as Rome in the west.
New photos from historian Hans Seidler’s new book ‘Images of War: Hitler’s Defeat on the Western Front 1944-1945’ show their struggles in the last months of WWII.
Seidler explained: “The opening months of 1944 for the German soldiers was an ominous prospect.
“Out on the Russian and Italian Fronts they had been fighting desperately to maintain cohesion and hold their meagre positions that often saw thousands perish.
“By May 1944 on the Eastern Front the Wehrmacht were holding a battle line more than 1,400 miles in overall length, which had been severely weakened by the overwhelming strength of the Soviet forces.
“To make matters worse, during the first half of 1944, troop units were no longer being refitted with replacements to compensate for the large losses sustained.
“Supplies of equipment and ammunition were so insufficient in some areas of the front that commanders were compelled to issue their men with rations.
“As a consequence, many soldiers had become increasingly aware that they were in the final stages of the war, and this included battle-hardened combatants.
“They had also realised that they were now fighting an enemy that was far superior to them.”
Terror began to replace commitment as a means of keeping people fighting on.
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More than 20,000 German troops were executed by courts-martial during the war for varieties of defeatism.
Seidler argued that the war was lost for the German soldiers after the Allied forces launched the D-Day attacks. Operation Overlord saw some 156,000 Allied troops land in Normandy on June 6, 1944.
He said: “The Germans that arrived in Northern France were either worn out and under strength from years of continuous battle or under-trained conscripts hastily drafted in.
"These men were now expected to defend northern France from the largest amphibious invasion in history."
