What do you think a German / Russian Veteran soldier should look like?

[Oldih]

Gas mask canister was also relatively popular place to store food in despite being this and that and that and this and [insert plethora of regulations and counterarguments here even when it makes perfect sense, it's the only (almost) waterproof thing a landser would have on the field and do you want to eat wet food? ]

 

[-Barbarossa-]

He doesnt look like he is afraid of the Germansiki tanks.^^
No idea how many, but I bet he saw battle.

 

[Actin]

The beards make methink of Medal of honour...
Medal of honour, you squashed the awesomeness of beards!!!!

 

[Welcome_To_Hell]

Yes the armor is real and was actually used in combat.

The type of "body armor" mentioned in the above photos is a not so far relative of a cavalry cuirass (i belive from french cuirasse). These were issued to saper and engineers only. Were used through the war by sturm saper-engineer units.
Model SN-42 (russian is CH-42). 42 goes for the year. Front & back plate, 2mm. Weight is not clear as various sources quote smth ~12kg. Did hold a 9mm from MP-40 at 125-150m. Sure, was helpless against Kar.98.
Yet, I heard that their were models used even in the war between Finland and Russia in 1940.

That body armour is for close in fighting. It is intended to protect the wearer from shell fragments (mostly from hand grenades) and pistol rounds either from pistols or SMGs. It is not thick enough to stop any rifle bullets of the period. It was mostly used in fighting in cities and all the photos I have seen of it are in that setting.

 

[Unus Offa Unus Nex]

That body armor looks very uncomfortable to wear, and I'm wondering what good it would've done in street fighting where the most common range is 50 meters or less - at which range a 9x19mm Parabellum will most likely punch through it. Also against their own PPSH it would be even worse, as the 7.62x25mm Tokarev round actually possessed a slightly better penetration capability than the 9x19mm.

Also I should add that by 1942 onwards the Germans were issuing 9x19mm S.m.E. ammunition on a large scale, which seated a 9mm bullet with a mild steel core, instead of the std. lead core, for increased penetration performance. Now with this ammunition an MP40 would rip through body armour like the above at pretty much any practical range, I don't even think 200 m would've been a safe range.

 

[Sir Roderick]

I like the part were you suggest to get rid of the insignia because snipers can spot them and then almosy immediately say he should have medals

I can agree with most of the rest.

 

[Alexander Ostmann]

I like the part were you suggest to get rid of the insignia because snipers can spot them and then almosy immediately say he should have medals

I can agree with most of the rest.

Most of the German medals are either silver or some other less valuable medal. I'm not sure on the content of the German medals whether the silver ones were actually pure silver or not, but they are not that shiny. They dull extremely fast. The paint used for decals are a lot shinier that the medals a German soldier would wear.

 

[Grabbed_by_the_Spetsnaz]

Yes the armor is real and was actually used in combat.

Must admit that would be pretty interesting for uniforms

 

[Actin]

And a flamethrower in the pictures
Or he's a firefighter, can't tell

 

[jalex3]

And a flamethrower in the pictures
Or he's a firefighter, can't tell

As you can clearly see it is firing a laser.

 

[sturmfuhrer]

Thing is,

Who is more of a 'Hero'? A soldier going into battle with all the body armour, helmet protection, best weaponary and the most practical and protective uniform....Or a soldier going into battle with no gloves, no helmet only a thin scrap of uniform to protect him from the extremities, an old rifle with a handful of ammunition to which he must face tanks, machine guns and mortars?


However a Hero is very different to a veteran and thus my first post basically outlines what I believe would need to be implemented in order to distinguish a battle hardened soldier from any other soldier.

Just because your in the SS or wear body armour dosent mean to say youve seen a lot of combat, or if so maybe you shyed away from the fiercest fighting and hid in a shell hole only to re-emerge after the battle to be awarded a bravery award for what the rest of your company achieved.

Sturm

 

[Citadell]

Like the stuka siren?

Yes, a bit so. Likewise the Stuka siren was not only psychological, it warned the pilot when they got to close to the ground (or had a to steep angle or something like that).

 

[Derpus]

Soviet heroes should all have Lenin's goatees and German heroes should all be blond Ubermensch.

And shirtless.

 

[magicdutchmen]

Yes they are. After the Polish and French campaigns, the Germans made extensive notation of the problem with the decals. They are incredibly shiny and they eventually were stopped being applied to helmet. Future helmets lost their gloss finish because of the amount of risk they put soldiers at. This happened by the time Stalingrad came around. Although some helmets were put to the front with one decal, soldiers often removed them by scratching them out, etc.

Since I am a helmet nut I will specify this:

- In March of 1940, the National Colors decal was discontinued through order of the German High Command. Service decals remained on the left side of the German helmets until August of 1943. In 1943 decals thus no longer applied to new helmets and existing helmets with decals were ordered to have the decal removed for better camouflage. Of course not every one followed the order.

- Not only future helmets but also alot of "old" helmets were reissued giving them a rough paintjob either in the field or back in the factory.

 

[Q800]

I have to say, this made me laugh quite abit

If a high caliber bullet hits your helmet, the strap will be the least of your worries

Jumping into the water with a helmet strap can be dangerous though, depending on how fast you're going when you hit the water.

I agree with you on high caliber bullet. But sudden change of air pressure (read: explosion) directed (like nade, mine) upwards could do the harm. You could be lucky enough to not get hit by the shrapnels, or just only loose a leg but pressure could break ur neck. Front service for soldier is minimalising the risk of death, and soldiers from this period are known to not wear straps. But probably most of them just wanted to look cool

 

[johncage]

There isn't enough distance between the head and helmet to cause any damage. The person isn't wearing a parachute strapped to his head.

If you're close enough for pressure from an explosion to snap your neck, you're close enough to get riddled with shrapnel. You die or are incapacitated either way.

No one actually unhinges their helmet strap for "safety reasons".

 

[Nylle]

15.) BEARD!!!!!!!

Ofcourse!
I like all of them ideas of yourse! Yar!

 

[Zoring]

I'm sure a new soldier would also appreciate rolling up his sleeves if it was hot 6 Months into the campaign the old hands get all the surviving recruits into a circle and show them where the button on the cuff is. The soldiers in Poland and France did draw remarks because they had their sleeves rolled up, which was rather an innovation for military clothing at the time, oddly enough.

Rather then saying what a 'Vet' should look like here is some photos of what are most likely experienced soldiers, they don't have to be filthy and crusty to be vets necessarily, in Germany to this day a beard is considered 'un-soldierly' even if they are permitted. (from what i have read) even the vets would shave when they had a chance during the war.

In this photo of captured Germans from Stalingrad you'll notice they are beardless if stubbly.

Chinstrips, mm in the majority of cases you will see even the most veteran soldiers with them on, German helmets have vent-holes so there is little chance of a blast breaking your neck (something you hear, but I would like to see that tested on mythbusters or something). Although I have included a photo of a chinstrap up German.

Tried to get a sample of people clearly with some combat behind them. Quite a range from dirty/clean and rugged to tidy.

Russkis

 

[Q800]

Great photos! Where did you get them?

 

[NoxNoctum]

Yes the armor is real and was actually used in combat.

very interesting... thanks :IS2: