The German Soldier smell

[sapper]

Some folk may find this difficult to believe, but we could smell Germans before we found them. A heavy pungent scented smell.
I never forgot it...But what caused it?

Germans Smell !
Ah! But so did we!

Germans do actually have a very different smell! When we took over his dugouts or rooms where he had been, this smell was nearly always present. It was a sickly, scented, pungent smell, very distinctive, and one that I have never forgotten. Lots of suggestion on the cause of this smell from other ex service men, but nothing conclusive, Captain Edwards R. E. of my old company, suggested it came from the oil he cooked his bread in, others have put it down to his Ertzats soap. I have heard so many other causes, such as a preservative on his uniform, but none that can be proved, even today, after all these years, I can still recall that smell and I do not think that I will ever forget it. Near the Chateau de la Londe, we found, quite by accident, a German dug out, it had been constructed as a square room dug into a steep bank of earth, in it, he had made a complete home from home, it had a table with chairs and bits of furniture with a stove, all dug out of the earth with just a small door for an entrance, the roof was earth with a bit of support, just a room inside the bank! But, most of all, the German smell, in that room it was very strong,

The smell of Germans in the vicinity is not that surprising when one considers the smell of our battle dress after it had soaked with rain and sea water, any service man who wore battle dress will be only too aware of the smell if he has ever entered a Nisson hut after battle training.
Sapper

[Ron Goldstein]

Brian

I can confirm your memories.

I too can remember the distinctive smell on taking over Jerry positions and, on thinking about it, I would put it down to the odour caused by the wet "feld-grau" or field gray uniforms combined with the pink disinfectant that they used and the black bread that I believe was part of their rations.

When my unit ran a POW camp in Ferdorf the interior of the prisoner's hut were equally pungent but this I would have put down to them living in cramped quarters.

Ron

[Paul Reed]

My father has said this, too, and several veterans I have interviewed said night patrol work was often made easy by these smells!

[Slipdigit]

Could a contributing factor have also been thier diets? Sausage and kraut leeching through the skin?

[sapper]

I think not. The smell was very pungent and scented........ After 64 years I recall it clearly.
Sapper

[von Poop]

Now there's a fascinating detail. Certainly not something I'd heard before. I wonder if the Axis soldiers also thought the allied had a distinctive smell?
I've heard that smell is the strongest trigger of memory.

[A Potts]

Possibly the detergent used to wash their uniforms?

[A Potts]

I guess maybe that they thought that the British and US had a strange smell as well.

[Ron Goldstein]

Originally Posted by A Potts

I guess maybe that they thought that the British and US had a strange smell as well.

I'm sure you are quite right, but we will have to wait until you get an answer from one of them.

Sapper & I merely report what were our own experiences

Ron

[sapper]

I like the bit about detergent washing clothes. There was no detergent and its an odd idea that you got a chance to wash your clothes. You would be very lucky if you ever got a chance to take them off.
Sapper