Schönsee August 1943 Basic Training

By August of 1943 my uncle found himself in Basic Training. He was stationed in the town of Schonsee, located in the district of Schwandorf, in Bavaria, Germany. Looking at these pictures you will surely notice one peculiar detail, they are all carrying shovels instead of rifles. I would have to assume this is due to a lack available weapons for these non-combat troops. By this time in Germany, things were not good, he knew this, and it must have been a tremendous pressure to know that after this truly 'basic' training he would be sent to a very real war. The look on the face of my uncle in the picture below speaks volumes. He was 17 years old, and about to embark on a trip through Hell that would consume the next 3 years of his life, and all he had right then, at that moment, was a shovel.