► Photothread: German vehicles and "Rasputitsa"

[Sturm78]

Hi all,

A rare vehicle in the mud: Krupp L3H143 Kfz.19

Image from Ebay
Sturm78

[john_g_kearney]

Presumably, the fuel consumption of the vehicles grinding in first gear through the mud must have been vastly in excess of that used by the same vehicles in the Polish and French campaigns. I wonder if this was considered when Barbarossa was being planned? Keeping the vehicles fuelled must have been a constant struggle. I haven't seen any bulk fuel tankers stuck in the mud though - did any such exist, or was all fuel conveyed from the railheads in jerrycans?

John.

[Sturm78]

Hi all,

Another image from Ebay:

Sturm78

[SIS 5]

Hi,

here two pics with two German vehicles (a semi-track tractor and an "Einheitsdiesel) in the "fight" with the Russian "Rasputitsa" (source of the pics: expired ebay auction).

Regards

Bert

[Bill Murray]

Hi John:

I see nobody has answered your question about fuel supply in Russia yet.
This is not my area of research, I concentrate just on the vehicles, not the logistics methodology but I have been looking at photos of the general subject for about 55 years and have some "opinions".

Things to consider:

1. The Germans expected to over run all of European Russia in the first Summer/Fall campaign and did not really anticipate and plan for what actually happened.

2. In part because of this, they used an incredible variety of legitimate German military trucks, impressed German civilian vehicles, captured military vehicles from the Battle of France etc. and tens of thousands of impressed civilian vehicles from all of the conquered territories. Many if not most of these vehicles were poorly prepared to stand the famous Russian Winter.

3. The Russian road network was very poorly developed and as you have seen here and elsewhere in the Fall and Spring the roads were near impassable and only passable in the winter because they froze and in the summer because it was relatively dry.

4. In part because of this, the Russians had developed a pretty decent railroad network that could be used most all year around. Granted they used a different gauge for the tracks than that used in Europe, but the Germans managed to work around that issue pretty well. Thus, the Russian rail system became by far the biggest player in moving supplies, goods, food and fuel from West to East. In the case of fuel, they had far more goods waggons than tank waggons so a lot of the fuel was apparently moved in whatever containers they could find on goods type waggons.

5. As regards dedicated "tankers" mounted on trucks, while it may be that the Army had some, probably 90% of the tanker truck photos I have seen were definitely Luftwaffe controlled. Probably because most of the airfields were away from the front lines and it was way easier to tank a plane from a tanker than from jerricans.

6. To return to the fueling of Army vehicles, I have seen many, many photos of railheads where one can see the fuel being transferred from large bulk containers to thousands and thousands of jerricans which were then loaded onto regular cargo type trucks. I gather these trucks were then sent out into the field to large mobile fueling locations where that was possible or if not to individual units areas where the vehicles needing fuel were gathered for refueling. Further down the "food chain" I have also seen many photos of mules, cows and horses being used to carry jerricans to, I suppose, outlying units in need of fuel.

7. A further method I have seen photos of would indicate the Germans also established a large number of what we Americans would call a "fuel dump". The photos depict a large open field or some such that is covered by hundreds if not thousands of jerricans just sort of sitting there waiting for a "customer" to drop in. Sort of like your local petrol station but without the pumps and attendants.

Well, John, not a real "Historian's Answer" to your question but I think fairly close to the truth on the ground.

Cheers

Bill

[john_g_kearney]

Many thanks for your considered reply, Bill. (Apologies for my tardy response - we have been away.)

I have seen photographs of allied fuel dumps comprising thousands of jerricans, but have not seen the German equivalent.

As it happens, I bought a brand new jerrican a few months ago; it is going rusty already. I hope the German and allied versions were better painted...

John.

[Bill Murray]

Thanks John:

My discourse may not have been 100% accurate but I think at least in the stadium so to say.

BTW, the German fuel dumps looked almost exactly the same as the Allied ones but the rows were straighter

Here, I only buy plastic petrol/jerri cans. I don't know if they are legal in your parts. The metal ones I used to buy also rusted badly within a year or so. I think it had something to do with the additives in modern fuels.

Cheers
Bill

[carius]

image from ebay.de

George

[carius]

image from ebay.de

George

[Sturm78]

Hi all,

SdKfz 7 halftrack:

Image from Ebay
Sturm78

[Jose85]

-from eBay.de

[SIS 5]

Hi alle,

here a pic of the bleak landscape of Russia during the "Rasputitsa". Source of the pic: an expired ebay auction.

Regards

Bert

[kerryboo]

Just seemingly endless mud.
Kerry

[SIS 5]

Hi all,

here a Ford in the Russian mud (source of the pic: an expired ebay auction).

Regards

Bert

[SIS 5]

Hi,

here a field kitchen Hf. 13 in the "Rasputitsa".
(Source of the pic: http://www.re-enactmentforum.nl/forum/t ... eldkeuken/)

Regards

Bert