Increasing ammunition consumption
11. July 1943
So life flowed there quietly and satisfied. Tourists have come and gone. You brought with interesting news from home. Also my friend Gerhard and I expected with holiday. To raise the intellectual level of the battery, the battery management instituted so-called study groups. I had the high honor, to guide the Working Group for stenography. Non-commissioned officers and soldiers wanted to be inaugurated by me in the high art of fast writing. We do not were added but, because since the rebase in between came.
In the Ju[l]i flared the huge battle of Orel, where the German and the Russian offensive clashed. The Luftwaffe flew from our Horst in this combat area. It was mostly [Heinkel] He 111 or [Junkers] Ju 88 Associations of approximately 40 – 50 Machines. Also flew Hunter there. It was me directly scary at this time. Stock on our part and the Russian came only once at night, made Blitzlichaufnahmen or threw some bombs. Our view was, that sometime soon a major attack would be at the place and to do so, he explains to now at night, because it can fly at the days only in high-altitude. Night for night, enemy air activity was. We could go sometimes only in the shack when the Sun announced the new day. It was also sometimes very thrilling and exciting, If slammed bombs in our neighbourhood. In our Protze houses burned down and the telephone line after the Protze was hit several times. Other times we had to book the drivers from the Protze into the battery. We want that at night to the Heranschleppen of ammunition. It was not uncommon, If we in one night 800, 1000, or even 1200 Hunted shot into the sky. Visible successes were however not to notice. The next morning, a car was sent off and he brought them new ammunition, so much we wanted to have. For us it was not like in the army, where only so and got so much shot and was allowed to shoot only as much shot, as approved by the staff, If you ever allowed to shoot.
