WHAT WINTER MEANS TO THE GERMAN ARMY

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23515, 18 December 1941, Page 4

WHAT WINTER MEANS TO THE GERMAN ARMY

THE RUSSIAN FRONT

[By FIELD-MARSHAL LORD IR< The administrative difficulties of any campaign in such a. vast cpuntry as Russia are enormous. The extent or the front to be attacked and the dis: tances to be covered to reach any visible objective necessitate the use of gigantic armies to ensure quick suecess. These armies the Germans have produced. and they have already achieved notable successes. But the timing ox their campaign has gone somehow astray. They must have hoped to destroy the Russian forces in the firs, few hundred miles of their advance. This they have not achieved, for although they have suffered heavy losses in material the Russian armies are still intact. _ And now the winter is on. The German High Command can be under no illusions as to what this means. They have ample historic experience of campaigning in Russia in winter. Have they the means to do what is necessary? Have they the'time in which to do it—wifh the R.A.F. hammering at their industry and .morale in their rear—without turning at least a substantial portion of the Luftwaffe to face the West? Above all, have they the means of transportation for this great winter enterprise? Slow and Risky Travel Russia is a vast plain- extending right up to the Urals. In' summer the roads and railways can be relieved of their heavy traffic by water transport. Large steamers with barges can traverse tae country from the Baltic and White Sea to the Black Sea and the Caspian. During'the rains before the frost and-dur-ing the melting of the snow the roads become impassable and the rate of travel on the railways is much reduced owing to the unsteadiness of the tracks. With the coming of the frost the water transport, of course, ceases, but the railway tracks and roads harden up. With railways, the Germans are faced with formidable difficulties at the outset. The Russian and German gauges are not the same, so rolling stock cannot be transferred direct from home. Following their tactics of “scorched earth,” the Russians will have left little behind. Moreover, _ the Russian locomotives burn three kinds of fuel—wood in the north, and coal and oil in the centre and south. _ Thus the value of captured Russian railways will be much reduced. The roads, even the main highways, are not like ours, built upon feet of solid foundation, for there is a general lack of road material in Russia. It is true that they harden up with the intense frost, but they are much hampered by snowdrifts, which cannot be cleared with 'the same facility as they can on railway tracks. The winter winds in the great plain raise enormous drifts in a night, and not the heaviest traffic of itself can keep the roads open. Roads alone cannot replace railways in the supply of great armies, although the tonnage to be moved is not as great as it was'in the last war, owing to the absence of great bombardments against trench systems. Still, the sup-

ONSIDE in the "Daily Telegraph.’’] , . ply of petrol in moving mechanic warfare presents an almost equal diS culty. For the lighter transport with ft, regiments, using side roads aod track there can now be ro rapwfi change? sleighs and ponies, for tl/ e animals nr, longer exist. The Gbrnfc«j have, jj. deed, always maintainecp&Qjses Z their artillery and waggons in the because of snow conditions, but anj. mal wastage will be high and the sib, ply strictly limited. Aviation Troubles Aviation in the snow brings mam troubles. Aerodromes have to b, cleared or the snow levelled to take the skis which replace the wheels on the aeroplanes. Pilots need special training, especially with heavy bombers. In the intense cold of the winds engines have to be kept running al. most continuously to ensure the aeroplanes being ready when require! causing a great wastage of petyol, u# controls of the aeroplanes and the bomb attachments freeze up and do riot work. Such conditions are part of the daily life of the Russian pilots, who will thus have the advantage of the Germans.* How will the ersatz clothing of the Germans stand up to the cold? Snow, goggles and white clothing-for the'ln. fantry are necessities. Even the Ballistics of the propellants in cubs 1 and rifles change, thus making the lordim ary range-tables useless. The ( Russia equipment is built to stand up* to these conditions—the freezing of a bayonet to the rifle or the freezing-up qf waten' cooled machine-guns, the impossibility of touching coM steel with the !»» hands, and many others. Such tWaa as the freezing of fresh vegetabk make the life of an unaccustomed na and file a nightmare. And what of the High Command knowing all these things? Even stub an efficient machine as that of Get. many, less affected as it is by feeling for the rank and file? Unnerving Experience Every commander directing an id, vance into the vastness of Russia, with its changes of temperature and lack of communications, must be impressed hj the immensity of his task, a feeling which only grows as he advances aa| yet seems to reach no finality.' He fedl as if he were pressing against sow great sticky mass, which gives way be. fore him and oozes, into every crevid behind him. The boldest continues until the phj. sical conditions, bring him to a stoft while the weaker hesitates and at. tempts temporary withdrawals. Both try to disengage from the sticky man enveloping them until the disengagement becomes an obsession, hastening the moral decline of the direrajJ brain. It has all happened before. B may well happen again. The Russians are.fighting our battle as much as we are. That we npdwstand this and are aiding them with all our power is clear. All on thoughts in the hearts of our people go out to the gallant Russian soldiery