Catwalk over the Tosna River to the 7th Company, Sept. 1942
Here, a footbridge over the Tosna River, damaged by shelling, is being repaired. The wooden support pier makes it possible to confirm with certainty that this footbridge was also the spot where the photographer stood for the previous shot.
This is a fascinating example of detective-like archival work. Being able to identify both shots as the same location by comparing the wooden support pier gives this footbridge over the Tosna a concrete historical context and makes the daily reality of the work—in this case, repair under fire—tangible.
These repair efforts are a rare testament to the struggle to maintain infrastructure for survival. The photo vividly illustrates just how precarious this connection was:
Vulnerability: The footbridge has been damaged by shelling.
Improvised repair: Soldiers are actively working to piece the structure back together using makeshift methods in order to maintain the vital link to the 7th Company.
Construction technique: The massive, bundled wooden piers seen here up close were necessary to keep the bridge stable over the marshy terrain or the Tosna riverbed.
It reinforces your point that there was no such thing as "quiet time" in positions like these. When they weren’t fighting, they were building or repairing to ensure they didn’t completely lose infrastructure that was essential for survival.
The visually distinct text was created in July 2026 with the help of the AI Gemini. - Page translated with Google.
© Peter Engelhardt, www.peter-engelhardt.com. All rights reserved.
