Interesting photo of a command group of a Heer rifle company on a reverse slope of a low ridge. The radio operators with their Torn.Fu.d2 backpack radio can be seen at the upper right. They have scraped the snow down to bare ground for their resting place.
The radio cannot be operated on the move. Some of the other men are no doubt company messengers, tasked to maintain contact with the platoons. Platoons did not have radios. One man in left center is armed with a Soviet 7.62mm SVT semi-automatic rifle, which Germans called a "Sl.Gew.259(r)". "Sl.Gew." means "Selbstladegewehr" (self-loading rifle). While not too rugged or reliable, many were pressed into German service, often one or two per squad.

Reverse Slope

German troops crossing the Bug river on June 22, 1941.

June 22nd, 1941

A patrol cautiously enters an abandoned Soviet position. Caution was necessary owing to the common presence of mines and booby traps and the threat of
snipers, machine gunners, or mortars positioned to catch the unwary. Booby traps sometimes failed to function in severe winter condition owing to the firing
or trip mechanisms freezing up.