COLD WARFAR
Discover the events of history’s wintery wars, where the weather was the most lethal weapon
Words by Ailsa Harvey
DID YOU KNOW? With 20,000 US troops dying at the Battle of the Bulge, it’s the third-deadliest campaign in American history
© Getty
H
ow do we cope when temperatures fall far below
zero, mighty snowstorms sap our strength and
frost-covered floors knock us from our feet with
surprising ease? Just stepping outside in extreme
weather can feel like a fight in itself sometimes. But how
would you manage if you were forced to spend hours in
these numbing conditions? Physically, the human body
begins to shut down after long periods of time in very
low temperatures, as our internal heat becomes
compromised. In fact, if our core body temperature
drops by just two degrees Celsius, we can begin to
experience early signs of hypothermia.
For those who fought in some of history’s coldest wars,
there was no option to step back indoors. Their lives
were in danger from two major threats. As their bodies
were battered by the frosty conditions, they needed to
retain the strength to dodge the wall of weapons being
launched towards them. The only way to warmth was to
eliminate the human threat before them.
As much as the cold has been a hindrance to some
armies, the changing properties of frozen landscapes
could sometimes be used to their advantage on the
battlefield. For those fighting on their home turf, the
experience of navigating icy ground allowed them to
focus on the fight. In other cases, poor visibility
benefited defence, like a natural smoke bomb. From the
mid-storm scheming of the Middle Ages to the fight
against frostbite in 20th-century warzones, these are
some of history’s most bitterly cold battlefields.