Trigger-happy
Gloomy, rain soaked machinegun semi-caponier idles on the filed south of Neman river. It never had its designated two Maxim machine guns fitted and, most probably, there was no crew to man it neither.
It was no obstacle for the advancing German units, it did not fire on the approaching enemy and was not fired upon. But a closer inspection reveals that what is known today as a “trigger-happy syndrome”, known from the battlegrounds of Iraq or Afghanistan, was apparently doing well in opening hours of 1941 German-Soviet war.
There's a metal “L”-shaped pipe protruding outwards from one of the walls – it's a part of the air exchange system which had never been installed inside. The immediate area around the pipe is pockmarked with bullet marks and the pipe itself is riddled with bullet holes.
I can almost see those youngsters in field grey uniforms, sleeves rolled up in June heat, as defiant as they are disappointed – the enemy is fleeing too quickly and they have no chance to pull the trigger. The pillbox is empty and there's no sign of the Soviets. How about a quick shooting competition then? Who cares about couple of rounds? There aret tons of spare ammo! And the poor pipe looks so inviting.
Little they knew on that warm day of June 1941. There was a lot of real shooting awaiting them in the years to come and, most probably, very few of them lived to tell the tale.
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