German Winter Warfare (Special Series, No. 18)

German Winter Warfare (Special Series, No. 18)
Author: Military Intelligence Division
Publisher: Military Bookshop
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2011-08-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781780390697

Issued by the Military Intelligence Division, United States War Department. From the introduction: "This work is substantially a translation of an enemy document which has been edited in the style and format of War Department publications and rearranged in order to present the material in a more logical order than in the original text. All of the illustrations, which were rough sketches in the original, have been redrawn, and have been improved as much as possible. The handbook was based on the experiences of the German Army during the first two winters of the war in Russia. Essentially it tells a story of efforts to solve two vital problems of winter warfare: mobility and shelter. The handbook was published by the German High Command on 5 August 1942, apparently in a great hurry, in order to help the German forces to prepare for a third rigorous winter on the invaded territory of a formidable foe. The material, evidently collected from the various branches of the German Armed Forces, was put together badly and in some places was almost unintelligible. A considerable portion of the material was in the form of appendices under headings that duplicated section captions in the main text. These appendices have been merged into their logical places. Some material which had no special application to winter warfare was eliminated." Includes 92 illustrations. Please note these are copies of important historical documents that have been extensively cleaned up by the publisher. While every effort has been made to make these books accessible they sometimes reflect the nature of the age of the originals including the typefaces, print quality and occassional marginalia. These are not poor quality OCR documents with missing pages or tracts illegible text.

The Nazis' Winter Warfare on the Eastern Front, 1941–1945

The Nazis' Winter Warfare on the Eastern Front, 1941–1945
Author: Ian Baxter
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
Total Pages: 330
Release: 2021-06-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 1526768089

Graphically describes the appalling hardships faced by German troops on the Eastern Front 1941-1945. Hitler’s shock decision to launch the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 was arguably the turning point of the Second World War. Spectacular early victories saw the Nazis close in on Moscow but the Soviet 1941/42 winter counter offensive changed the odds entirely. Without doubt Russian winter conditions were a major factor compounded by the Germans’ woeful lack of preparedness. As this fascinating book reveals, Wehrmacht and SS units only began to be issued with winter clothing in late 1941 and many had to improvise well into 1942. In an attempt to restore morale adversely affected by the harsh conditions and military reversals ‘The Winter Warfare Handbook’ (Winter Buch) was produced in 1942 and extracts are quoted in this work. Commanders had to adapt to the snow, freezing conditions and, almost worse, the impassable roads during the melt. With customary thoroughness and drastic measures the Germans largely mastered the climatic challenges but nothing could mask the reality of the ruthless and numerically superior enemy that they faced.

Retreat from Moscow

Retreat from Moscow
Author: David Stahel
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2019-11-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 0374714258

A gripping and authoritative revisionist account of the German Winter Campaign of 1941–1942 Germany’s winter campaign of 1941–1942 is commonly seen as its first defeat. In Retreat from Moscow, a bold, gripping account of one of the seminal moments of World War II, David Stahel argues that instead it was its first strategic success in the East. The Soviet counteroffensive was in fact a Pyrrhic victory. Despite being pushed back from Moscow, the Wehrmacht lost far fewer men, frustrated its enemy’s strategy, and emerged in the spring unbroken and poised to recapture the initiative. Hitler’s strategic plan called for holding important Russian industrial cities, and the German army succeeded. The Soviets as of January 1942 aimed for nothing less than the destruction of Army Group Center, yet not a single German unit was ever destroyed. Lacking the professionalism, training, and experience of the Wehrmacht, the Red Army’s offensive attempting to break German lines in countless head-on assaults led to far more tactical defeats than victories. Using accounts from journals, memoirs, and wartime correspondence, Stahel takes us directly into the Wolf’s Lair to reveal a German command at war with itself as generals on the ground fought to maintain order and save their troops in the face of Hitler’s capricious, increasingly irrational directives. Excerpts from soldiers’ diaries and letters home paint a rich portrait of life and death on the front, where the men of the Ostheer battled frostbite nearly as deadly as Soviet artillery. With this latest installment of his pathbreaking series on the Eastern Front, David Stahel completes a military history of the highest order.

World War II Winter and Mountain Warfare Tactics

World War II Winter and Mountain Warfare Tactics
Author: Stephen Bull
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 66
Release: 2013-04-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 184908713X

The twentieth century saw an unprecedented emphasis on fighting in all terrains, seasons and weather conditions. Such conditions made even basic survival difficult as subzero temperatures caused weapons to jam, engines to seize up and soldiers to suffer frostbite, snow blindness and hypothermia. The conditions often favoured small groups of mobile, lightly armed soldiers, rather than the armoured forces or air power that dominated other combat environments. Some European armies developed small numbers of specialist alpine troops before and during World War I, but these proved to be insufficient as nearly all the major combatants of World War II found themselves fighting for extended periods in extremely hostile cold-weather and/or alpine environments. Drawing upon manuals, memoirs and unit histories and illustrated with period tactical diagrams and specially commissioned full-colour artwork, this study sheds new light on the winter-warfare tactics and techniques of the US, British, German, Soviet and Finnish armies of World War II.

The Nazis' Winter Warfare on the Eastern Front 1941-1945

The Nazis' Winter Warfare on the Eastern Front 1941-1945
Author: Ian Baxter
Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2021-08-30
Genre:
ISBN: 9781526768070

Hitler's shock decision to launch the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 was arguably the turning point of the Second World War. Spectacular early victories saw the Nazis close in on Moscow but the Soviet 1941/42 winter counter offensive changed the odds entirely. Without doubt Russian winter conditions were a major factor compounded by the Germans' woeful lack of preparedness. As this fascinating book reveals, Wehrmacht and SS units only began to be issued with winter clothing in late 1941 and many had to improvise well into 1942. In an attempt to restore morale adversely affected by the harsh conditions and military reversals 'The Winter Warfare Handbook' (Winter Buch) was produced in 1942 and extracts are quoted in this work. Commanders had to adapt to the snow, freezing conditions and, almost worse, the impassable roads during the melt. With customary thoroughness and drastic measures the Germans largely mastered the climatic challenges but nothing could mask the reality of the ruthless and numerically superior enemy that they faced.

Winter Warfare

Winter Warfare
Author: Richard N. Armstrong
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2014-06-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 113521154X

Based on German and Soviet military archival material, this book provides an insight into the tactics and planning for combat in a winter climate. It also studies the mechanisms for change in an army during the course of battle. The first part of the book looks at the tactical pamphlet 'People's Commissar for Defence Order No. 109', as passed by Red Army units on 4 March 1941, which provided regulations for combat in Winter. The second part of the book, using material from the Soviet military archives, reveals Red Army General Staff supplements to the winter regulation.

Hitler's Arctic War

Hitler's Arctic War
Author: Chris Mann
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2016-11-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1473884586

In the past the German General Staff had taken no interest in the military history of wars in the north and east of Europe. Nobody had ever taken into account the possibility that some day German divisions would have to fight and to winter in northern Karelia and on the Murmansk coast. (Lieutenant-General Waldemar Erfurth, German Army). Despite this statement, the German Armys first campaign in the far north was a great success: between April and June 1940 German forces totaling less than 20,000 men seized Norway, a state of three million people, for minimal losses. Hitlers Arctic War is a study of the campaign waged by the Germans on the northern periphery of Europe between 1940 and 1945.As Hitlers Arctic War makes clear, the emphasis was on small-unit actions, with soldiers carrying everything they needed food, ammunition and medical supplies on their backs. The terrain placed limitations on the use of tanks and heavy artillery, while lack of airfields restricted the employment of aircraft.Hitlers Arctic War also includes a chapter on the campaign fought by Luftwaffe aircraft and Kriegsmarine ships and submarines against the Allied convoys supplying the Soviet Union with aid. However, Wehrmacht resources committed to Norway and Finland were ultimately an unnecessary drain on the German war effort. Hitlers Arctic War is a groundbreaking study of how war was waged in the far north and its effects on German strategy.