German Patrol Methods of WWII

The Germans were constantly engaged on patrols, and these German infantrymen, advancing warily through a village that has been heavily shelled, could have at any moment met a French patrol engaged on similar work and a sharp skirmish would have resulted. One of the objects of patrol is taking prisoners, and in this aim the French have been far more successful than the Germans.

​

Very many of the casualties in the French Army, which up to December 1939 numbered 1,433 were sustained by patrols such as that seen in this picture, advancing through the ruins of a village. The men engaged in this dangerous duty usually carried their rifles, but as any encounter with the enemy would have been at very close quarters they were almost always armed with hand grenades as the handiest weapon.

​