German soldiers?

In: Politics & Gov › Wars & Regional Conflicts

He winter of 1939–1940 was exceptionally cold. One location on the Karelian Isthmus experienced a record low temperature of ?43 °C (?45 °F) on 16 January 1940.[84] At the beginning of the war, only those Finnish soldiers who were in active service had uniforms and weapons. The rest had to make do with their own clothing, which for many soldiers was their normal winter clothing with semblance of an insignia added. Finnish soldiers were skilled in cross-country skiing.[85] The cold, the snow, the forest, and the long hours of darkness were factors that the Finns could turn to their advantage. The Finns dressed in layers, and the ski troopers wore a lightweight white snow cape. This snow-camouflage made the ski troopers almost invisible as the Finns executed guerrilla attacks against Soviet columns. At the beginning of the war, Soviet tanks were painted in standard olive drab and men dressed in regular khaki uniforms. Not until late January 1940 did the Soviets paint their equipment white and issue snowsuits to their infantry.[86] Most Soviet soldiers had proper winter clothes, but this was not the case with every unit. In the battle of Suomussalmi, many Soviet soldiers died of frostbite. The Soviet troops lacked skill in skiing, so soldiers were restricted to movement by road and were forced to move in long columns. Furthermore, the Red Army lacked proper winter tents, and men had to sleep in improvised shelters.[87] Some Soviet units had frostbite casualties as high as 10% even before crossing the Finnish border.[86] The cold weather did confer one advantage: Soviet tanks were able to move more easily over frozen terrain and bodies of water, rather than being immobilised in swamps and mud.[8