Waffen SS Im Westen 1941

Dont often see a Broomhandle in the thick of the action...probably not the best weapon of choice ...but none the less it was used...dont often see a bergman either.

Great pics but they seemed to have had a hard time with the eyes when it was printed...some were ok but many almost looked touched up.
 
agalland said:
Dont often see a Broomhandle in the thick of the action...probably not the best weapon of choice ...but none the less it was used...dont often see a bergman either.

Great pics but they seemed to have had a hard time with the eyes when it was printed...some were ok but many almost looked touched up.
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Agalland, one shouldn't forget that in May 1940, when these pictures were taken, the Waffen SS units of the Verfugungstruppe, Germania and Deutschland for example, were not on the top priority list of the German army when it came to equipment and armament deliveries.
It was only in late '43 that the Waffen SS got Panzer Divisions and got top priority in arms and equipment deliveries.
It is also a myth that the German army was better equipped then its adverseries in the 1940 campaign, in many German infantry regiments the soldiers still marched in to combat like the soldiers of Napoleon, the Maxim MG was still standard, horses were used for transport of artillery and supplies and even M16 helmets were still used.
Even in the Panzer divisions that were responsible for the swift victory, a lot of obsolete equipment was still used in May/June 1940.
 
Peter U said:
.....It is also a myth that the German army was better equipped then its adverseries in the 1940 campaign, in many German infantry regiments the soldiers still marched in to combat like the soldiers of Napoleon, the Maxim MG was still standard, horses were used for transport of artillery and supplies and even M16 helmets were still used.

Even in the Panzer divisions that were responsible for the swift victory, a lot of obsolete equipment was still used in May/June 1940.
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^ This. What the Germans lacked in equipment, they more than made up for in tactical innovation, training, discipline, audacity, and balls.
 
Thanks for posting, not a CH rune in any of the pics:laugh: I did like the use of what looked like mud on some of the lids for camo.
 
Peter U said:
It is also a myth that the German army was better equipped then its adverseries in the 1940 campaign, in many German infantry regiments the soldiers still marched in to combat like the soldiers of Napoleon, the Maxim MG was still standard, horses were used for transport of artillery and supplies .
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Very true....and the ultimate irony is that by mid 1944 ,with the gas shortages, the horses had made a return to the transportation of supplies and artillery oft times.
I remember my father telling me how surprised they were to see the use of horses for such things....a sure clue that the end could not be far away.
 
agalland said:
Very true....and the ultimate irony is that by mid 1944 ,with the gas shortages, the horses had made a return to the transportation of supplies and artillery oft times.
I remember my father telling me how surprised they were to see the use of horses for such things....a sure clue that the end could not be far away.
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The German army was never a fully mechanized army such as that of Great Britain or the USA, horses were always used in the German army and they played an important role in the German army.
One of the logistical problems in the Stalingrad/Caucasus offensive (operation blue) was the enormous amount of horse fodder that needed to be transport over huge distances to keep the German army moving and operating.
 
mauser202 said:
Thanks for posting, not a CH rune in any of the pics:laugh: I did like the use of what looked like mud on some of the lids for camo.
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None of those helmets pictured in that book would have made it to "helmet of the year 2007"!
:laugh:
 
Peter U said:
The German army was never a fully mechanized army such as that of Great Britain or the USA, horses were always used in the German army and they played an important role in the German army.
One of the logistical problems in the Stalingrad/Caucasus offensive (operation blue) was the enormous amount of horse fodder that needed to be transport over huge distances to keep the German army moving and operating.
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Quite a dichotomy...the nation that brings to the fore technological innovations like jets and rockets , weapons improvements such as stampings for the likes of the MG42 and the next generation of weapons like the StG 44 was also rooted in the past with equine assistence to move its military.. A military with one foot in the 20th century and one in the 19th...in retrospect it really is amazing .
 
agalland said:
Quite a dichotomy...the nation that brings to the fore technological innovations like jets and rockets , weapons improvements such as stampings for the likes of the MG42 and the next generation of weapons like the StG 44 was also rooted in the past with equine assistence to move its military.. A military with one foot in the 20th century and one in the 19th...in retrospect it really is amazing .
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It was probably due to quantities needed and production volume possibilities, not technology. They had technology, but not enough time to produce quantity.

Jack
 
Supplying the German army was a nightmare.
The German army had big supply problems the entire war, just take a look at the enormous amount of "Beute" equipment which was used.
This went well beyond the odd foreign tank being pressed in to service by a frontline commander, entire Panzer Rgt's were equipped with French tanks, artillery units with all types of foreign guns, a mix of all kinds of trucks both civilian and foreign army captures,....etc, all this put a lot of stress on the supply chain: lots of different types of ammo and spare parts.
 
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