German panzer crew work to free their Panzer III from frozen mud, Ukraine, late 1941. Photographer: Artur Grimm. During the invasion of Russia, the Wehrmacht lacked necessary supplies, such as winter uniforms, due to the many delays in the German army's movements. At the same time, Hitler's plans for Operation Barbarossa actually miscarried before the onset of severe winter weather. Neither Hitler nor the General Staff anticipated a long campaign lasting into the winter. Thus, they failed to make adequate preparations for a possible winter campaign, such as the distribution of warm clothing and winterization of vehicles and lubricants. In fact his eastern army suffered more than 734,000 casualties (about 23% of its average strength of 3,200,000) during the first five months of the invasion before the winter started. On 27 November 1941, Eduard Wagner, the Quartermaster General of the German Army, reported that "We are at the end of our resources in both personnel and material. We are about to be confronted with the dangers of deep winter." Also of note is the fact that the unusually early winter of 1941 cut short the rasputitsa season, improving logistics in early November, with the weather still being only mildly cold.Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Winter
https://www.reddit.com/r/TankPorn/comments/t0pg16/german_panzer_crew_work_to_free_their_panzer_iii/
https://www.warcolorphotos.com/eastern-front
