| German soldiers in a trench at Stalingrad. Ideally, German defensive doctrine called for the defensive trenches around a fixed position to be at a distance from the structure the soldiers lived in, and away from buildings to provide flank protection to the main defensive objective of an attack. Note the curve to this trench; this was to prevent mass casualties from artillery or grenades. The Maschinengewehr 34 (Machine Gun 34, or MG34) fired 7.92mm (.31 caliber) ammunition. Originally the MG34 in a bipod configuration (like the one shown here) used a drum magazine, but most soldiers simply belt-fed the weapon as it consumed ammunition at up to 1,200 rounds per minute. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0251.jpg |
| Image Size | 217.16 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 721 x 1000 |
| Photographer | Unknown |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | November 01, 1942 |
| Location | |
| City | Stalingrad |
| State or Province | Stalingrad Oblast |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2009, ©2024 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission |
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