North West Europe in late 1944 was supposed to be one of the coldest in years. Looking for pics as I post.
If you read the accounts of Italy, the fighting in the mountains during winter was a battle against the elements as well as the German Army. IIRC a Russian General visiting the front described it as being worse than Stalingrad. Reports of German soldiers frozen to death in their machine gun posts. Also sure that the Arctic convoys had terrible weather to deal with. Regards Tom
Winter of 1939/40 during the Phoney War was rather harsh. The worst weather has to be somwhere in Russia or Finland though, surely.
Firstly I need to tell you this joke.................... A new prison officer is being shown round the prison on his first day. He sees two prisoners chatting together and notes that all they are doing is telling each other a number and which the other prisoner roars with laughter and immediately responds with another number. Baffled by this procedure he appeals to his guide to explain and is told: "It's quite simple really, they've both been inside for so long that they've listed all the jokes they know and all they need to do is quote the joke number !" I'm afraid that it's been quite a time since WW2 and these days I find myself, just like the aforementioned prisoner, quoting links. http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/italy/9596-christmas-hell.html#post118303 BBC - WW2 People's War - Ice cold…. But NOT in Alex ! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr !!!!!!!!!!! Ron
Another one of the aftermath of the storm in Normandy. Of 650 LCT's used during the invasion, 320 were put out of action by the storm.
Cruiser HMS Belfast is at sea in northern waters, March 1943. The cruiser HMS Sheffield, on the same convoy as the Belfast, has both forward turrets trained to the beam to avoid damage to their canvas blast screens. Nevertheless, one turret roof was torn right off by a wave. From here: WWII Through the Lens HMS Sheffield's turret during one of the Arctic convoy
Hollland Dec44 -Feb45 After the heavy snow melted causing major flooding, the Germans again opened the Dykes.
Compared to somewhere else, probably not. http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/543b3385f7b20e61_landing Frozen corpse of a Russian soldier, killed in the Second Battle of Suomussalami during the Russo-Finnish War. A Red Army soldier that was frozen to death after sadistic tortures in the ruined city (Stalingrad). Feb. 1943
The Gefrierfleischorden (frozen meat medal - officially Winterschlacht im Osten 41/42 - Winter combat in the East), awarded to survivors of Winter 41-42. Now imagine the rest. At that time, the German army, famous for Panzers and motorized forces, was operating very erratically due to many mechanical problems. Some motorized units were no longer mobile, thanks—not to the Russians— but to the weather. We also had to depend on horse-drawn vehicles to bring supplies from the railroads distant to the rear. Because of the extremely cold temperatures, often below minus 30 degrees Celsius, or about 22 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, many trucks, some of our guns, and other vehicles developed "cold breaks" in the leaf springs. They just wouldn't run. Thirty percent of the leaf springs in our trucks broke. If one broke in the rear, the truck lost braking capacity. It wouldn't stop. ... No soldier could understand the idea of an offensive under such miserable conditions. The spirit of the troops was also below zero. We suffered terribly, as you know from reading the historical account. The wind blew almost all the time. We never officially received winter clothes and could not understand why they were not given to us. Our men received pieces from home in the mail, mostly socks. We improvised by wearing newspapers inside shoes and all our shirts and underwear at the same time, and tried making straw and rope boots to cover the shoes. Our clothes became infested with lice which added to the cold misery. Our skin was greasy and itchy. We dared not sweat too much, if that was possible, because it gave us a nasty chill in the wind. The German soldier who crossed into Russian territory felt that he entered a different world, where he was opposed not only by the forces of the enemy but also by the forces of nature. Nature is the ally of the Russian Army....The winter of 1941-42 was most severe in European Russia [in a hundred years]. In the area northwest of Moscow the mean temperature during January 1942 was -32 degrees....The Russian peasant stores his winter supplies in advance and digs in to spend the winter completely cut off from the outside world.... Paralyzed by cold, the German troops could not aim their rifle fire, and bolt mechanisms jammed or strikers shattered....Machine guns became encrusted with ice, recoil liquid froze in guns, ammunition supply failed....Leadership and bravery could not compensate for the lowered firepower....Hitler neither expected nor planned for a winter war. Night temperatures dropped to between -30 and -40 degrees, and no shelter was available to the German troops [on the Lama]....Periods of moderate cold alternating with thaw are particularly dangerous....Boots, socks, and trousers that had become wet during the day stiffened with the night cold and froze toes and feet. Serious frost injuries developed when troops overheated f r om combat were forced to spend the night in snow pits or windswept open fields, especially when the fatigued men took even the shortest of naps.... Frostbite was frequent among drivers and troops who were moved long distance in open trucks. So long as a suitable clothing was not available, constant indoctrination in cold-weather precautions was necessary. Frequent halts were made so men could warm themselves by exercise. Front-line troops became indifferent in extreme cold; under constant enemy pressure they became mentally numbed....Some chemical heat packets were issued but they protected only small areas of the body for short periods. Regular use of the sauna...was helpful in preventing illnesses...but such baths were not always available....
The Gefrierfleischorden (frozen meat medal - officially Winterschlacht im Osten 41/42 - Winter combat in the East), awarded to survivors of Winter 41-42. Now imagine the rest. And the winner is.............
Why not ask the question again. Other than the Eastern Front (which we would always expect to be severe and would always be the winner), what was the worst winter in all other areas of the world during WW2.
Why not ask the question again. Other than the Eastern Front (which we would always expect to be severe and would always be the winner), what was the worst winter in all other areas of the world during WW2. Why not rephrase the question to be "What was the SECOND worst weather of the war??