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Will Deep Snow Weaken Arty Fire?


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GQ,

Yes. Generally, deep snow causes the projectile to detonate below the snow mass, attenuating the blast

and greatly slowing down or even totally stopping many shell fragments. I seem to recall combat accounts showing that 81mm mortars were rendered all but useless. I believe the Germans found that 105mm artillery and 120mm mortars were the minimum

calibers for effective winter combat. The U.S. also learned some harsh lessons when it encountered

snow suited Chinese in Korea, snow suits which acted like body armor against grenade and other light fragment threats.

Regards,

John Kettler

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Originally posted by vondeath:

How were the mortar rounds so effective in the Bulge then? I recall reading in "Band of Brothers" that they believed the Germans had set the mortars to go off in the trees. Do they have timed fuses?

I don't think that there was "deep snow" during the battle of the bulge (i.e., snow up to your hips or shoulders). It was really really cold, and rivers froze, but there wasn't a huge amount of precipitation. The ground also froze solid, and you hear a lot of complaints about the difficulty of digging foxholes.

Hard frozen ground can make artillery slightly more effective because the shell will hit the ground and explode on the surface, throwing more fragments around. If the ground is softer, the shell usually sinks in some before exploding, somewhat reducing its effectiveness.

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