German soldiers advance; Russians surrender; Burial ceremony

The amateur films shot by German infantryman Corporal Eugen Biedenbach of 419 Infantry Regiment record his training and active service in the German campaigns against Yugoslavia and on the southern sector of the Eastern Front. The films also containg pre- and post-war scenes of Biedenbach family life in Stuttgart (where the family of Eugen's wife owned a clothes store) as well as recreational activities. Reel 15: Soldiers prepare and eat food in the heat and fraternise with their Italian comrades in arms, whom they are relieving. Tschigirin (Ukraine) in September 1941. Soldiers prepare their individual defensive positions on the River Dnieper; Eugen writes a letter. Signs of damage to buildings caused by Russian air attack on the Battalion. March towards the Dnieper. Crossing the Dnieper by dinghy and Schlauchboot. Marching on, now with horse carts camouflaged against Russian air attack. Exhausted troops rest, then select portions of meat carcass for cooking. Bridgehead. Crossing the River Sula. 05:32 CUs of Russian prisoners passing German troops; others emerge with white surrender flags from a foxhole, none looking anxious. Destroyed Russian artillery and surrendered rifles. German military roadsign warns against overtaking for next ten kilometers; "whoever blocks the road, is blocking the ammunition!" Crossing another bridge, German advance continues. Russian prisoners, including young boys smiling at camera, shovel soil into large pit. Dennissovka. Poltava. Krasnograd. Germans shovel mud off road, but still require oxen to drag staff car through deep mud. March towards the River Mius, in cold dry weather. 10:00 Advance continues through snow and wind. 10:32 Burial ceremony outside snow-covered village: covered corpse of Oberfeldwebel Franz Rödder (killed December 1941) is laid in grave beside two other German dead lying beneath wooden crosses. Soldiers emerge from billets in Garmasch under snow, into sunshine.