Figure 1.--Here we see a German soldier probably in November 1941. Note how he is dressed in coparison to the Russian boy. Even as winter approached in November, the Wehrmacht made no effort to equip the troops with cold weather clothing. |
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The Wehrmacht was totally unprepared for the arrival of the Russian winter, even a normal winter. And the winter of 1941-42 was not a normal winter. Barbarossa was premissed on victory before the Winter set in. Limitations in the German industrial and man-power reserves made it necessary to plan a short, successful campaign. Germany would be at a disadvantage in a lengthy war of attrition. Thus Barbarossa was basically the Germand hurling their full force at the Siviets in the hope of securing a decisive victory before winter set in. Planners who sought to make provision for winter clothing were criticized for negative thinking. This would havecrequired the diversion of resources. It is not that preparations for a winter campign were inadequate, there were absolutely no preparations for the winter. The German soldiers who began the campaign with light-weight clothing were wearing the same uniforms when fall arrived. Commanders who asked for winter gear in the fall were first ignored and then reprimanded. The German troops continued to fight in their light summer uniforms. Even as Winter approached, no effort was made to send winter gear forward. This seems almost unbelieveable. Germany is not a southern European country. Wunters can be quite severe in Germany. And there is no way commanders would not hve known that warm weather clothing would be needed by December if not earlier. Yet even in November there was no effort to provide the troops winter clothing. Report reached Propaganda Minister Goebbels who promoted a a national collection of winter clothing (August 1941). THe Wehrmacht leadership, however did not like the sound of this and rejected the campaign. [Bullock, p. 769.] Had the Redc Army collpsed, the problem might have been manageable. But the Soviet offensive before Moscow meantv that the Wehrmacht would have to fight it out without winter clothing. "
Bullock, A. Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives (HarperCollins, Glasgow, 1991).
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