...and you think it's cold.

[Karoshi]

This extract is taken from an account of the Eastern Front:

 

From November on the German Army suffered the intense cold without winter clothing. The great majority of the men did not receive warm clothing until February. There was a great shortage of boots, socks and shirts and the marching Divisions had lower priority than the mobile Divisions. The Russians wore felt boots (Valinki) and were astonished to find the Germans wearing boots with nails in them. The Russians wore white camouflage smocks and felt hats. The Germans had no white smocks issued and wore steel helmets. In late December when 500 men from the 30th Motorised division were marching near Leningrad the temperature suddenly dropped to 40 degrees below zero. Half of the group who had no woollen protection inside their helmets died as their cerebral fluid froze.

[ashley]

Hi Karoshi,

i belive that a lot of people have great misconceptions about the German army of WW2 in regards to equiptment etc, even as late as 1944/45 i belive i am right in saying that the greater proportionof the Whermacht transport system was still carried out by horses as can be seen in the pictures from the battlefield of the Falasie gap.

Thinking back to my metal detecting days in this area though there was plenty of militaria to dig up the was certainly more bones (horse) mainly in the road side ditches.

Ashley

[Karoshi]

Just happened to chance by this, for those interested.

 

During the war, the Germans drafted some 2,800,000 horses into military service, whereas the Americans maintained only 56,403 and virtually ceased aquiring them after 1943.

[Jack]

On that note Karoshi, here in Dorset (expect that it was the same in all rural districts) during WW1 the ministry would just take your horse's from you, out of the stable and even in some case's out of the shafts of the carts.

 

Another interesting note was that the local blacksmith was often sent to France with the horses as it was he who shood the local horses and new what they needed.

 

...............how do I know this? Well my line of Grandfathers have been blacksmiths since 1645 :shock: and this happened to my great grandfather.

[AlienFTM]

Hi Karoshi,

i belive that a lot of people have great misconceptions about the German army of WW2 in regards to equiptment etc, even as late as 1944/45 i belive i am right in saying that the greater proportionof the Whermacht transport system was still carried out by horses as can be seen in the pictures from the battlefield of the Falasie gap.

Thinking back to my metal detecting days in this area though there was plenty of militaria to dig up the was certainly more bones (horse) mainly in the road side ditches.

Ashley

I seem to recall once reading that at the height of its mechanisation in 1943, the Wehrmacht was only 50% mechanised.

[AlienFTM]

This extract is taken from an account of the Eastern Front:

 

From November on the German Army suffered the intense cold without winter clothing. The great majority of the men did not receive warm clothing until February. There was a great shortage of boots, socks and shirts and the marching Divisions had lower priority than the mobile Divisions. The Russians wore felt boots (Valinki) and were astonished to find the Germans wearing boots with nails in them. The Russians wore white camouflage smocks and felt hats. The Germans had no white smocks issued and wore steel helmets. In late December when 500 men from the 30th Motorised division were marching near Leningrad the temperature suddenly dropped to 40 degrees below zero. Half of the group who had no woollen protection inside their helmets died as their cerebral fluid froze.

 

It was probably Winter 1979-80. Guard duty came round as it did without fail. The guard comprised Guard Commander and NCO I/C Marching Reliefs (his 2IC) and nine Troopers: three to guard the main gate and six to prowl in pairs, two hours on, four off.

It was cold that night. So cold that the first gate guard was mounted at 1800 as usual and the remaining eight Troopers quickly scanned the camp to verify that the perimater was intact and the hangar doors locked.

After 20 minutes, the gate guard was relieved. For the only time in 14 years, the three stags were reorganised. Instead of having three on stag for 2 hours on, 4 off with two prowling and one on the gate, we did 20 minutes on, 40 minutes off to defrost (only guarding the main gate) for two hours then had four hours off. It was decided that more than 20 minutes on stag would leave the Guard Commander with very frozen Troopers and there was more danger to their lives than there was of some nutcase getting up to mischief in this cold. The man on the gate was given a parka and all sorts of extra kit to get him through his 20 minutes. And the Guard Commander or I/C Tea Leafs (as we called him) would bring him a tea or coffee halfway through his stag (every ten minutes).

Following morning, BFBS Radio reported that there was a massive anticyclone centred over Sennelager and that Paderborn was therefore the coldest city in Europe at minus 40 (at minus 40 the Fahrenheit and Centrgrade scales coincide). I therefore posit another claim to fame (see that thread, that I was once the coldest person in Europe.

I always laugh when (like now) the UK suffers a few degrees of frost and a dusting of snow. And those troops who froze in Russia get my utmost respect.

[Degsy]

The winters of 1946/47,1962/63 and 1982/83 were memorable for the cold

and the amounts of snow that fell,62/3 had the longest period of sub-zero

temperatures and although I cant remember what the mercury fell to the rad and block of my car froze solid one night when returning from the pub.

Not too surprising you may think but in those days we ran a 50% anti-freeze mixture!