Snow ghosts, or Why Soviet skiers instilled fear in the Nazis

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The winter of 1941 became a turning point in the course of the Second World War - in the fall, the Nazis stood on the outskirts of Moscow, and the Soviet troops held the defensive, but already at the beginning of December, the spacecraft began a counteroffensive. More than 30 special ski battalions operated near Moscow during the general battle for the capital. In the winter campaigns of 1941-1942, ski formations took part in battles on almost all fronts, except for the Crimean one. They were especially useful on the Leningrad, Karelian, Volkhov, North-West, Kalinin fronts. Ski "cavalry" appeared suddenly where the Nazis least expected an attack. For their speed and stealth, the Germans called them "snow ghosts."

How ski battalions were formed and who was recruited into them

On September 2, 1942, a decree of the State Defense Committee was issued in the USSR on the need to form 67 ski regiments (the total number of fighters in each of them is 3800 people) and the organization of appropriate training of personnel. This decision was made by the country's leadership based on the experience of the Soviet-Finnish war (it was very useful) and the situation at the front. Given Hitler's ambitious plans, the Soviet command immediately understood that the war would be protracted.

The German military leadership planned to take Moscow even before the onset of cold weather. The fascists, who were not accustomed to frost, were clearly afraid of the Russian winter, while for most of our soldiers, cold and snowstorms were commonplace (excluding those from the southern regions). The foresight of the Soviet military paid off in full - the winter of 1941 turned out to be snowy, snowdrifts up to one and a half meters high were a serious obstacle to equipment, and the infantry was stuck in them. And here the ski battalions came in very handy: the snowdrifts were nothing to them, and in terms of speed and range of movement, skiers in the war were comparable to light cavalry.

The ski battalions had to carry out missions in the most difficult conditions, so the recruitment of personnel took place mainly in regions where people were well adapted to severe frosts (mostly in the Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan regions). The preference was given to athletes of hardy and good health - skiers, hunters. The LB fighters were outfitted in quilted jackets, wadded trousers, earflaps, felt boots and white camouflage coats. In addition to skis, they were given sledges and drags for transporting machine guns, and after the battle - the wounded. Great importance was attached to the training of personnel: a large circulation of brochures was published with detailed instructions for training LB fighters, and training bases were urgently created. Before the snow fell, skiing was practiced by laying straw in shallow trenches prepared in advance along the entire route. With the beginning of winter, the training of the Red Army was brought as close as possible to the conditions of war - long transitions in full combat gear, mastering survival skills in practice. The training was designed for five months. The readiness check from the command of the spacecraft was carried out by Marshal K. E. Voroshilov.

For what tasks were the ski teams used

The skiers were sent to the very den of the enemy. They were not unloaded as infantry closer to the front - they had to walk three days from the unloading point. They sometimes left for the rear of the Germans for a long time - for 2-3 weeks at a distance of 200 km, carried out reconnaissance in force, took prisoners "tongues", smashed the garrisons, headquarters and bases of the enemy, seized documents, mined roads, and set up ambushes.

Often they had to be at the forefront of attacks - to make a daring sortie and divert the enemy's attention from the advance of the main forces.

What "snow ghosts" had to face

The LB personnel had to experience enormous stress. Overcoming long distances, most often at night, the fighters could afford a short nap during the day at a halt. There was neither the strength nor the time to equip a place to sleep, at best - a hut made of branches of coniferous trees. It was impossible to make a fire to warm or prepare food. After a long marching throw, the fighters had to go on the attack without rest.

The Wehrmacht special groups hunted for such battalions, trying to track them down the track. The Germans were very afraid of "snow ghosts" - the LB fighters had good physical and combat training, in addition, the surprise factor worked for them. In Karelia and the Leningrad region, the LB had to deal with Finnish "cuckoos" - snipers-skiers, who were fixed on trees with special fasteners and caused great damage to "flying" Soviet troops.

Ski OMSBONS and their contribution to the victory over the Nazis

At the beginning of the war, the NKVD received instructions from the State Defense Committee to organize combat and sabotage activities behind enemy lines. For this, a separate special-purpose motorized rifle brigade was created. It was staffed mainly by students of the higher border school of the NKVD (commanders) and leading athletes (not only skiers, but also boxers, athletes). The OMSBON of the NKVD troops consisted of two motorized rifle regiments, anti-tank and mortar batteries, a communications company, an automobile and airborne company, mobile ski detachments, and logistical support units.

The main tasks of the brigade were: reconnaissance operations, the creation of an agent network in the occupied territories, the organization of guerrilla warfare, and the management of radio games designed to misinform the enemy. OMSBON's efforts inflicted enormous damage on the enemy army: derailed trains with equipment, manpower, ammunition and fuel; destroyed railway and highway bridges, industrial enterprises and warehouses, cables, telephone and telegraph lines; a large number of agents and accomplices of the enemy were eliminated. In winter, the contribution of the ski teams to the fulfillment of the tasks assigned to the OMSBON was very significant. It was thanks to them that daring operations behind enemy lines became possible in the conditions of a harsh and snowy winter.

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