WW2 Daily Pic

Riding on an exposed vehicle in the Russian Winter, here a combination motorcycle, required protective clothing. This Kradfahrer wears a sentry’s fur-lined overcoat, heavy mittens, the fur-lined cap of the reversible winter suit, which is no doubt being worn beneath the overcoat, and a gas-mask for face protection. The air filter canister has been removed from the gas-mask 38. Special extra eyepiece lens were issued for cold weather to prevent fogging by creating an airspace between the two lens.

The German military was the largest employers of motorcycles during World War II 1939-45. On June 22, 1941 Germany launched its Operation Barbarossa, the 3-million-man invasion of the Soviet Union. During the campaigns that followed, the military motorcyclist served a variety of functions including chauffeur service for officers, delivering dispatches, even hot meals, as scouting patrols, as point vehicles taking the brunt of battle, sometimes as specially equipped tank destroyers. As with all motorcyclists, there was a kinship among these soldiers who called themselves “kradmelder” (military motorcycle messenger). They rode exposed without the armor plating of the Panzers, without the safety of hundreds of foot soldiers beside them. Moving targets as it were, sniper magnets, and then there were mine fields, artillery fire, and strafing aircraft to contend with.

The other enemy was the Russian weather. By autumn the roads had turned into nearly impassable bogs, the fields over which the motorcycles traveled turning in to “seas of jelly three feet more deep”. By winter, temperatures fell to -40 degrees Celsius, engine oil and exposed soldiers froze solid. Some German motorcycle riders benefited from special heating systems grafted onto their bikes, including foot and hand warmers. However, by war’s end, many if not most of the motorcycles, along with their riders, never returned home.

Jump back to quoted post2 Aug 2016, 13:20 PMafrrs

translation plz

Jump back to quoted post2 Aug 2016, 15:26 PMDangerous-Cloth

In the next picture we can see the effects of the 152 mm shell versus what I believe to be a Elefant.

Jump back to quoted post3 Aug 2016, 23:02 PMMistah_S

The Cyrilics say "Ferdinand" which was more or less an Elefant
Good find BTW

Jump back to quoted post4 Aug 2016, 09:45 AMDangerous-Cloth

Thanks for the translation! So that must have been during 1943 and around the Operation Citadel time, since that is the only time that Ferdinands were used before they revamped them to the Elefant.

Jump back to quoted post10 Aug 2016, 22:26 PMMistah_S

NWs.
I'm from a Serb background, and dont know much Russian, but alphabet has more ore less same chars.
Looks like the distance that the shot was made from was 1200m... scary!

Jump back to quoted post10 Aug 2016, 22:44 PMDangerous-Cloth

Nice work then! Damn 1200m, sick range..