German
panzer crew work to free their Panzer III from frozen mud, Ukraine,
late 1941. Photographer: Artur Grimm. During the invasion of Russia, the
Wehrmacht lacked necessary supplies, such as winter uniforms, due to
the many delays in the German army's movements. At the same time,
Hitler's plans for Operation Barbarossa actually miscarried before the
onset of severe winter weather. Neither Hitler nor the General Staff
anticipated a long campaign lasting into the winter. Thus, they failed
to make adequate preparations for a possible winter campaign, such as
the distribution of warm clothing and winterization of vehicles and
lubricants. In fact his eastern army suffered more than 734,000
casualties (about 23% of its average strength of 3,200,000) during the
first five months of the invasion before the winter started. On 27
November 1941, Eduard Wagner, the Quartermaster General of the German
Army, reported that "We are at the end of our resources in both
personnel and material. We are about to be confronted with the dangers
of deep winter." Also of note is the fact that the unusually early
winter of 1941 cut short the rasputitsa season, improving logistics in
early November, with the weather still being only mildly cold.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Winter
https://www.reddit.com/r/TankPorn/comments/t0pg16/german_panzer_crew_work_to_free_their_panzer_iii/
https://www.warcolorphotos.com/eastern-front
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