Relief!

This is coolbert:

"I gotta GO!!"

Here is what Lucas says about bowel movements, constipation and the effect it had on the German soldier fighting in Russia during the winter of 1941 [coldest winter of the century?]:

From the book by Lucas "War on the Eastern Front".

"The more basic requirement to evacuate the food [defecate] was a tiresome procedure. So much so that many men were glad that they were suffering from constipation, even though this brought with it headaches and stomach cramps. Lavatories in rural houses were usually a small shed on the western side of the house so as to shield it from the prevailing east wind. Inside the shed would be a primitive latrine trench, although in some houses the lavatory was actually a room in which there was a bucket Within the shed or room there would be an unpeeling of layers of clothing, then a few agonising minutes and then once again the cocooning process."

THIS ASSUMES OF COURSE THAT THERE IS THE LATRINE SHED AVAILABLE. FOR INSTANCE, IN THE EXTREME CASE OF A SOVIET UNIT TRAPPED IN A MOTTI, THERE WAS NO LATRINE SHED!!!!

AND WHEN WE ARE TALKING ABOUT TEMPERATURES DROPPING TO -40 centigrade AND REMAINING THERE FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD, ALL THE WHILE UNDER FIRE FROM THE ENEMY, ETC., WELL YOU GET IT!

Again, from Lucas:

"even this simple toilet procedure [became] a long and painful business."

C'est le guerre'!

coolbert.