Panzermänner (tank crew) of this Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf.F1 has established itself in front of a thatched house in a village on the Kalmyk Steppe, asking for water to the locals, September 1942. This photo was taken near the town of Elista near the Caspian Sea leading one to believe that this unit belonged to 16. Infanterie-Division (motorisiert) who was doing reconnaissance in the vast no-man's land between Astrakhan and the Terek river. Initially this sector was fairly quiet and the German troops had time to rest after the rapid advance from the Don, but in time isolated German detachments in this area were at great risk. While Ewald von Kleist's 1. Panzerarmee waited for fuel in order to resume his advance towards the Terek River and Grozny, the bulk of German combat activity shifted towards clearing the Taman Peninsula and the Kuban. The OKH believed that this operation would improve German logistics in the Crimea by allowing naval convoys to arrive through the ports of Anapa and Novorossiysk, as well as eliminating a good part of the Soviet coastal forces
Source :
Book "The Caucasus 1942-43; Kleist's Race for Oil" by Robert Forczyk
http://stukasoverstalingrad.blogspot.com/2013/06/recon.html
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