Many soldiers who had been awarded the winter campaign medal were unimpressed. They referred to it as the ‘Order of the Frozen Flesh’. At the end of January, new instructions had been issued to those allowed home on leave. ‘You are under military law,’ it reminded them, ‘and you are still subject to punishment. Don’t speak about weapons, tactics or losses. Don’t speak about bad rations or injustice. The intelligence service of the enemy is ready to exploit it.’
