Why were Germans unprepared for the Russian Winter if they shown wearing trench coats?

Griffith

Banned
One of the most popular explanations why Operation Barbarrosa failed (specifically Stalingrad) was that the Germanforces lacked proper winter clothing. The popular stigma is that German soldiers were literally freezing to death during the battle and entire battalions were literally rock frozen with tanks and other vehicles being stuck in mud and ice roads. That Soviets were able to counterattack bunkers and trenches with no defenders because German soldiers were asleep borderline dead from freezing and their equipment and vehicles became damaged from winter conditions

Furthermore many movies and games portray Germans as wearing summer khakis that are literally PERFECT for fighting in summer and even for the desert but would be utter suicidal to wear in late October and early November when fall is coming and the weather is getting colder.

But I just recently saw a documentary where footage of the battles so German soldiers in TRENCH COATS. The kind you wear when you are going out on a cold November night. They also so all German soldiers, including captured PoWs, wearing LEATHER BOOTS and even had leather gloves. completely well-prepared to fight in typical Fall and winter .

Some of the more elite units in the battle were even dressed up in complete Arctic gear with fur jackets, snow booths, mittens, thermals and long special socks. The same exact clothes I when I was watching a video on the Germaninvasion of Norway where they described the Germans as being completely well-prepared to fight in the Norwegian snow.

If you saw a picture of these elite German winter units, they are dressed as such that other than local regional dress variations, they almost look exactly like Russian soldiers that were in Stalingrad (with German military emblems and designs to make them distinguised from Russian troops).

If anything the documentary I watched and further research shown me pics and clips of Germans being in such full Winter clothing, they are technically well-prepared!Is the Germans lacking Winter Clothes an exaggeration? How were Germans freezing to death if they had coats, snowboots, and such?

Furthermore the Germans are known to be a scientific people and their military were frequently well-prepared in prior engagements such as the invasion of Norway where they had full winter gear. This alone goes a slap across the face of the notion the Germans were wearing Summer Khakis and military ceremonial uniforms during Stalingrad (which would get you killed within minutes in a typical winter storm).

I mean even videos of Germans fighting in Western European and Central European Winters (which are much milder than in Russia) show them at the very least wearing trench coats with leather gloves and boots and having longsleeves inside their coats!
 
Biggest issue was they underestimated the soviet army, reserves, distance and winter while overestimating their own forces.
They expected to have driven the soviet army back behind the Ural before winter.
 
No one filmed the poor saps that were freezing to death. Much better to film the rare elite units with decent clothes. While cold wasn't the main problem (I think the Russians had something to do with it?), the cold weather didn't help.
 

Redbeard

Banned
They didn't lack winter clothing or other items for winter warfare (like lubricants), but as the campaign was planned to be over before winter the winter equipment was held back in order to leave logistic space to send other items - to end the campaign. You can say that the Germans gambled everything on winning before winter - and lost.
 
The "trench coats" you refer to are actually wool overcoats. Wool overcoats will keep you warm but they are not true cold weather survival gear. Regular leather boots are not waterproof and will stay wet and not keep your feet from freezing. A standard pair of regular gloves are too thin to keep your hands from freezing in the Russian winter.

In 1943 Italy and later during the Battle of the Bulge for example American Soldiers had a rough time in some units because the only cold weather gear they had was thin field jackets and G.I. Boots and leggings. On the assault American troops would ditch their overcoats because in the snow they became wet and heavy. The length of the coats made it hard to run quickly under fire. Troops would suck it up during attacks and hope that by the time they dug in the unit supply would bring up their coats and blankets/sleeping bags. Read Citizen Soldiers by Stephen Ambrose. He talks about fighting in the winter of 1944.
The point I'm trying to make is that standard issue overcoats and gloves are not perfect cold weather gear for subzero temperatures.
Another thing is Soldiers don't carry everything in their field packs. I'm sure German Soldiers had the equivalent of a duffel bag. During the summer their coats and other winter clothing would be packed in those duffel bags. Once the weather turned cold they would be waiting for trucks to bring up their cold weather gear. If those trucks are getting stuck in the mud and snow or just being ambushed by partisans you don't get warm clothes which means you freeze until somebody gets them to you.
 

Deleted member 1487

Was it not that the Luftwaffe and the Waffen SS did bring winter gear, but that the ordinary Wehrmacht decided not to?
They didn't bring it, they were just able to get it forward by sacrificing ammo and other supplies in their quota of rail shipping space. About 20% of winter clothing got forward to the German army (which BTW is called the Heer, not Wehrmacht; Wehrmacht means the entire armed forces) and the army was also able to scrounge a lot of winter clothing from Russian civilians (leaving them to freeze) while making stuff out of a variety of materials they took from locals. Also they did capture a fair bit of Russia winter gear during the Winter Campaign.
 
It's the damp you need to keep out as mentioned above. Damp clothing encourages rot. Compounded with temperatures well below freezing plus damp clothes, the Germans were fighting in some pretty miserable conditions. As wiking said the Germans pinched a lot of warm clothing from the Russian civilians and the Red Army to supplement their equipment but again you really need specifically made gear.
 
And the Russian winters were far beyond what the Germans expected. A Soviet horse would freeze at -20C whereas a German horse would freeze at -4C. The extreme cold required special lubricants and oils the Germans didn't have. And so on...
 

Towelie

Banned
It wasn't just the coats. It was the fact that they routinely would have the fuel in their vehicles freeze before combat. If the German motor pool was in fighting condition, it is possible that more could have been accomplished at Moscow in 1941. It wasn't, however, because the troops were exhausted and the vehicles would not move.

The basic issue comes up time and time again. The Germans planned for a single campaign, when they should have planned for a multi year campaign. There was a way for them to win on the Eastern Front, but it would have required measurable goals for year one, with the advance halted near Smolensk and more attention diverted to taking Leningrad. They never were able to push the railheads past Smolensk because combat demanded that they ship everything by truck once past. The Germans had the industrial capacity to supply a war in the East. They did not however have the logistical forsight to make the best of what they had.
 
And of course the horrible road/mud situation didn't help. As did the different rail gauges. The responsibility of fixing the rail system fell to the Reich Railway Bureau, a civilian operation who's operatives all went home for their two-week Christmas vacation.

And it's more than just moving the rails together. Russian engines were larger and longer-ranged so new depots had to be built between existing ones. And that's more than just building a water tower and dumping a pile of coal, you need switching yards and other gear. And this takes time and manpower that weren't available.

Towelie has it right - the German's planned for one quick thrust and the war over before winter. When that didn't happen and the conflict continued they just weren't prepared. And Hitler certainly hadn't planned for it to drag on for years...
 

Redbeard

Banned
... They never were able to push the railheads past Smolensk because combat demanded that they ship everything by truck once past...

I haven't heard or read that before, could you please elaborate a little - the Smolensk part :)
 

Deleted member 1487

I haven't heard or read that before, could you please elaborate a little - the Smolensk part :)
It's not true, they were able to extend to Vyazma and then on to Rzhev eventually.
 
Top