Bob Carruthers

Winter Warfare on the Russian Front, which has been edited by Bob Carruthers, is an important addition for students of history and teachers alike. Carruthers has edited together various primary source materials and made it accessible for those who cannot read German, as this is very much the view of those who fought for the Wehrmacht against the Russians.

What must be remembered is that the Wehrmacht became victims of poor planning and the Russians not so secret weapon the winter weather. It is also clear through this book that there had been plenty of planning for the fight but no serious attempt to understand the Geography and geology of Russia. What comes across is the simple arrogance of the Germans of their superiority over the Russians.

What comes across is that the Germans had not prepared for the very harsh winters and could not find cover or warmth when winter came. This when the most complaints came about their equipment not working in the cold and 1941 was a particularly harsh winter, with some temperatures reported as -40 degrees. One can see this as the book mentions that the German organisation included one trained company of skiers in each battalion and one platoon, but this was not actually put in to practice being that the Germans had few skiers and the few they did have were poorly trained. Whereas the Russians were used to skiing.

This book offers the contrast between the Germans and the Russians, from dealing with the weather to the equipment and tactics used. What comes across that the German command thought that they would be able to defeat the Red Army in a matter of weeks and would never have to plan for fighting in the cold, snow and mud.

This is a great book in that through the fine editing it brings to life the harshness of the weather, the failure of equipment and it is not the voice of historians telling the story but the Wehrmacht. This is an important edition in English to the story of the War on the Eastern Front.… (more)