High Tech German military

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Yeah, really I was just joking, but my nephews have horses, and you are right! Horses require an amazing amount of attention, feed and upkeep!
I'm wondering with the amount of money spent on feed and shoes and such, if they even were shod, how that compares to vehicles! I'll bet it's not that far apart as one might think!

 

Those wagons don't look the least bit modern, even as wagons go, hrmm :eh:

 

No they don't do they? LOL. IIRC too that the Germans took over alot of the Soviet horse drawn vehicles when they could.

 

Not really lol. Vehicles need to be fed and kept warm and shod too LOL. Though you can't eat a vehicle either LOL.

 

Due to their function, Gulaschkanone were essential vehicles of the wartime Wehrmacht. In fact, each army division had not only a set of mobile kitchen units, but also own baking and butcher companies.
It is perhaps strange that despite all the innovations in the field of mechanization, German industry could never supply enough vehicles (or fuel) to motorize the whole army, and horse drawn vehicles and guns were used right up to the last days of the war. The Tamiya kit represents the Grosse Feldkuche Hf.13, a two-wheeled field kitchen with wooden iron-clad wheels, looking more as a relic from the era of trench warfare rather than Blitzkrieg.

The main (rear) carriage of the kitchen was essentially a moving stove, housing a 200-litre soup pot, 90-litre coffee maker with tap dispenser and a stove plate used to cook potatoes and sausages. The separate front carriage served as a seat for the coachman and the cooking crew and had a food storage space below the seats.
A single field kitchen unit could feed up to two hundred men."

Guten Apetit!

 

Guess it was a good thing they where a horse drawn army...for it took the British Empire, USA, Russia, 4 years and millions of life's to defeat an army of horses pulling weapons...imagine if they where full mechanized????had the manpower pool the allied nations could draw from, and unhindered/bomb free factories...we should toss in practically no navy of significance other the u-boats, and a lack of quality pilots/air-cover to boot.

 

You bet!! They were totally awesome!!!! Too bad they started to lose the war just a coupla of years into it and were beaten huh? Jeez. For the most part of the war they were on the defensive. Hell of alot easier to defend then it is to be on the offensive. And even then they were desperate. BTW the Russians were not totally mechanized and still were able to kick the German's butts.

 

You're right on bf109, not to mention the 15,000 planes, 7000 tanks (ok they were crappy US tanks but still) and 375,000 trucks plus much much more shipped to the Soviets by the US. If the Germans had only a fraction of such massive aid they would have won the war by 42. Besides they didn't really start to loose till mid 43 and even after that, with all the odds against them, inflicted way more casualties than they received.

Actually, the real fault lay with the Nazi leadership, whose bungled industry did not kick into gear until 44 (when it was way too late). The German soldier, too, was a victim of a regime that lied to him and in the end, deserted him. Very sad.

 

Yeah I didn't think of that!

And no, I don't think Germany could have won, even if they did have the equipment you speak of.

 

After embarrassing defeats in 1941, millions more men, and twice as many tanks and planes >.<

 

Ahem. The Sherman was superior to the Panzer III and IV.

 

And even they still used alot of horses towards the end of the war.
And most of the infantry were good ol footsloggers.

 

Yep so crappy that they stayed in service for decades. Regardless this has be discussed over and over and have no bearing on the subject of how the German military was not as "modern" nor mechanized as some of the posters here think. The Germans relied on countless numbers of horse drawn equipment from the beginning to the end.

 

But you must consider that some Euro. countries used horses as well.

I recall in my book: Waffen-SS Hitler's Black Guard At War, that while making a push to Warsaw; SS troops were attacked by Polish Cavalry who were using Sabers.

 

Yes some did. But for not as long as the Germans nor as many.

 

I don't know the Soviets used a lot of horses as well.

 

Once again. Not to the extent of the Germans. The Soviet Army fielded at least 82 cavalry divisions at one time. And used differently. The Germans came to rely more and more on horse drawn vehicles. As the war progressed the Soviets became more mechanized and the Germans less so. The Soviets didn't use them because that had to like the Germans did.

 

Everybody seems to miss the point here.

The point of this thread was to recall that the commonly held view (or the rose-tinted glasses view) that the German Armed Forces were made up of supermen armed with Wunderaffen all over, riding extremely sophisticated Panzers and Schütenpanzerwagens, having all manner of high efficient trucks to carry everything to the moon and back, is simply another myth.

instead of being highly mechanised or motorised, units of this sort were few and far between, even if operationally important, and even that at diminishing efficiency as the war progressed and resources became tight.

All the rest of the infantry and logistics had to rely on the poor horse. It is well to remember that the only two armies that started the war entirely motorised were the US and British armies (with specialised horse units when the terrain mandated so). All other armies in that war depended on 'other means', namely boots and hooves.

So there you are, it started as a fun poking exercise but at a point someone took it seriously.

 

Thanks Za!!!!! At least you got it along with a couple of others . My point exactly.