Lucky13
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Which one would you say was the toughest on men and material?
Theater of operations....
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FLYBOYJ
"THE GREAT GAZOO"
ETO - Russian Front hands down...
Catch22
Major
Agreed. The extreme temperatures -hot and cold- just ravaged anything they touched. A close second in my books is the PTO, because you had monsoons, hurricanes etc as well as extreme heat and nasty jungle diseases.
Agreed with FBJ. Russian Front of the ETO for reasons that I stated in another thread just like this one.
syscom3
Pacific Historian
CBI, because of the climatic effects on the men and material, its being then end of a very long logistics tail, and it not being in the public eye.
renrich
Chief Master Sergeant
CBI, read John Masters' "Road Past Mandalay" He was one of the Chindits. My father in law was Chief of Surgery for the US army in CBI and he said the diseases over there were horrendous not to mention the climatic conditions. Had a friend that flew in that theatre and he said they were forced down and in two days they were all anemic from the leeches feeding on them.
pbfoot
1st Lieutenant
Still prefer that weather to -20 no trees to stop the wind as it comes over the steppes. On a side note I've been trying to find out what the temp was in the Battle of the Bulge and from what i can see it wasn't at all that cold like the Eastern front or the Choisin Resovoir
Catch22
Major
It WAS cold, but they weren't there for 3 winters, nor was it quite as cold.
renrich
Chief Master Sergeant
Yes and the weather in Russia was cold but that was only part of the year. The weather in the CBI was bad all the time and the diseases were omnipresent.
syscom3
Pacific Historian
More than one allied or Japanese soldier broke down mentally from the heat, humidity, mud, insects and above all.... the rain!
Sometimes in the monsoon season (and especially in the mountains of the SW Pacific), it could rain continually for days......constant rain, never ending.....
Sometimes in the monsoon season (and especially in the mountains of the SW Pacific), it could rain continually for days......constant rain, never ending.....
FLYBOYJ
"THE GREAT GAZOO"
Folks I could tell you first hand. I worked on aircraft in the extreme heat and humidity - Okinawa, Thailand (2 times once during the rainy season), Mojave Airport (the 2nd hottest place on earth) and Bermuda Dunes (The hottest place on earth) Botswana (I was there in the "winter, it was pretty mild) and in the bitter cold (here in Colorado, PEI, Winnipeg and in the Sierra Nevadas) and although my stints were relatively short and I was in a civilian peacetime atmosphere, the cold by far is the worse to work on aircraft in, especially if you're trouble shooting something that requires you to be outside next to the aircraft while its turning.
syscom3
Pacific Historian
The cold could be brutal.... but its nothing compared to being tormented by hordes of disease carrying insects, and parasites in your gut.
FLYBOYJ
"THE GREAT GAZOO"
I think I'd take malaria over frostbite...
I would to (and I have had malaria)...
The Eastern Front for me as well the combination of the hot summer and cold winters (as well as the mud in the spring thaw) just combines to make it the worst for me.
trackend
Chief Master Sergeant
Eastern front is my choice just surviving in the winter was a nightmare the other thing I would not be to keen on was the vast expanse that was covered much of it on foot.
I agree with what you are saying but the Russian front had all of the above plus extremes on both ends of the climate scale...
You get that in the summer time in Russia too. Have you ever been to Russia during those time periods. Can be pretty brutal when your living in a remote airfield.
I have worked on aircaft in 125 F and in -20 F before. I would much rather work in the 125 F and take my Malaria pills than have to work on an aircraft that if you touch it with your bare hands will take the skin right off.
Take it from someone who has worked in both kind of environments.
In Russia you had:
Spring: Mud, Snow, Rain, Warmth and lot of mosquitos with malaria and parasites.
Summer: Very Hot, Rain, Mud, and lots of mosquitos with malaria and parasites.
Fall: Cool, Mud, Rain, and lots of mosquitos with malaria and parasites.
Winter: Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow, Ice, Ice, Ice and Frozen Mud that you could still sink into.
Russia was much more harsh than the pacific.
lesofprimus
Brigadier General
Gotta agree with Adler and folks... I too have operated in all sorts of climates for extended periods of time, and the brutal, mind numbing, cut right through u cold is by far the worst, especially back then....
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Lucky13
Forum Mascot
Same here.... Mind numbing cold below -30, GOD I hated those exercises(?). Building your tents, guard duties, out scouting in several feet of snow and it goes on and on. 
What it must have been like when it's the real thing.
What it must have been like when it's the real thing.
