German Forces
Unknown private author.
ROA (Free Russian Army) soldiers on parade, 1944. The ROA shield is worn on the left sleeve; collar patches suggest a Cossack unit. Most of these soldiers are prominently equipped with an "entrenching tool" (short-handled shovel) carried on the belt. Apart from its use in digging trenches and foxholes, these tools doubled as very useful weapons in the event of hand-to-hand combat. Such situations occurred in WW1 quite often; entrenching tools were often used as weapons in the course of WW1 trench raiding in WW1. In WW2 such situations arose, perhaps, somewhat less so. Best regards, JR.
2640 Views
9/30/2014