In a medium mortar position on the Eastern Front, January–December 1943.
On December 9, 1943, for instance, Gruber noted in his diary: "A mortar was being zeroed in."
High-angle fire from concealment: The weapon shown here is the 8 cm Granatwerfer 34, the Wehrmacht’s standard high-angle fire weapon. With a caliber of 81.4 mm and a weight of approximately 62 kg, it was portable and formed the backbone of heavy infantry support. It had a maximum range of around 2,400 meters; thanks to a high rate of fire of up to 25 rounds per minute, it achieved devastating effects against targets in open terrain or trench positions. Unlike direct-fire weapons, the mortar offered the advantage of being able to engage targets behind cover—such as hills or walls—an indispensable tactical asset during the static trench warfare on the Eastern Front.
The visually distinct text was created in July 2026 with the help of the AI Gemini. - Page translated with Google.
