On 25 October 1942, Joachim Stempel was seconded to the 103rd Panzergrenadier Regiment because most of the regiment’s officers had become casualties. He was to lead the 2nd company in a renewed offensive to force the Red Army back just a few hundred metres to reach the Volga. The first target was the so-called administration building of the “Bread Factory”. This was part of the key complex of factories (by now largely in ruins) that had by October become the focus of the infantry battle.
Events13 October 2014
October & November 2014
In addition to its permanent collections and exhibitions, the Imperial War Museum is an important centre for ongoing scholarship. It has a vast archive of military documents, photographs, and propaganda material. Along with other similar institutions in London, it also hosts seminars, public lectures, and debates on subjects relating to Britain’s role in world conflicts. Here are a few of the events taking place in London over the next few months.
Reviews: Museum Review13 October 2014
The Imperial War Museum, London
The Imperial War Museum (properly the IWM London) is tucked away in a small park in Southwark, south London. It was for many years a rather dusty and neglected addition to London’s stable of museums and galleries. This has all changed, however, thanks to a recent £40 million revamp and the surge in public interest that has come with the 100th anniversary of the First World War.
I Was There13 October 2014
Alfred Regeniter in Northern Poland, 31 January 1945
Lieutenant Alfred Regenniter was the commander of a StuG III Ausf G assault gun, part of Assault Gun Brigade 276, Third Panzer Army. He was in almost constant action on the Eastern Front from the summer of 1944 to February 1945, when he was badly wounded and sent back to Germany. This extract from his journal is an example of a fairly typical day’s action for an experienced panzer commander on the eastern front in the later stages of the war. It describes the fighting for a small village in Northern Poland, close to the border with what was East Prussia.