Third night on patrol

"Dear Mum! How are you all doing in these turbulent times? You are certainly safest in Schweidnitz. I am now on my third night on patrol in Russia. There are no German troops ahead of me, so I am the furthest forward. One becomes brutalised in no time at all. I don't mind that I haven't taken off my clothes for four days and haven't washed since the declaration of war. I sleep very little with my six men – under the open sky, of course. The nights are quite warm, but today, in the rain outside, it was less pleasant. There is little to eat; you have to fight to get anything. None of my men have been wounded yet. By the time you receive this letter, I may already be at the French border. The cannons have just thundered again from the direction of Kalisch, we'll have to see what's going on. Warm greetings to you all from nearby Russia Yours, Manfred."