German and Swiss close combat training WW2 - self defense with a spade - trench warfare

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Today we’ll continue covering the training of close combat during WW2. In the video we’ll see more of this Swiss footage from 1941 including soldiers training with bladed weapons, we’ll go over an article from a 1938 Die Wehrmacht periodical, and we’ll see part of a German training film which covers the use of a shovel in self defense. This is interesting stuff so stick around.

Of course the Swiss were not involved in WW2 but they were surrounded by countries that were either allied to or occupied by Nazi Germany. Had they been attacked they certainly would have fought.

This 1938 collection of the German periodical Die Wehrmacht is both complete and in beautiful condition. This cover is original from the publisher and makes the collection more valuable. The high valued originals that I introduce in these videos tend to go up in price considerably overtime. Let me know if the comment section if you’d like me to do a video focusing on the purchasing of such originals as an investment.

We’re looking at periodical Nr. 12 from June of 1938 which focuses on the German Infantry. This article covers the training of close combat to the new recruits.

The text reads, close combat is a fundamentals of basic infantry training. Thrusts to the chest and head are repeated hundreds of times daily on the target puppet who takes the damage, almost never being out of commission.

In addition more advanced training includes trenches where the straw puppet is replaced by a wooden figure. In this photograph we see the trainer is able to raise the puppet up out of the trench as if it’s countering the thrusting Landser.

As with the cartoon on the right, the final photograph introduces a peculiar Soldatenhumor which was quite common. It shows that after everything that the soldiers and the puppet have gone through together that they still get along well.

At the end of this video a young soldier describes how he needed to use his spade in close combat on the Eastern Front. If you are a Patreon Channel member then you have access to more of this exclusive footage. If you’re not yet a member please consider becoming one. It’s worth it, I promise.

The caption to this photos states. Only the helmets of the entrenched enemy are visible to the soldiers involved in the close combat training exercise.

That usually gives away the soldiers locations. Unafraid, the charging unit engages the enemy. Only with well timed and placed bayonet thrusts can the enemy be taken out which allows the trench to be occupied by the soldiers in the training exercise.

And now let’s go back to the 1941 Swiss training film.

Finally here’s the footage from the German 1944 training film.

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