German Intel: Polish Tanks

Unlike the Red Army, which got sketches and dry statistics, the Polish get photographs of their vehicles and even a bit of a text blurb, even if they are mostly laconic.

Carden-Loyd type tankette (TK)

"Polish: czolg rozpoznawczy = reconnaissance tank.

Most tank battalions are composed of this tank. They are to be replaced with the improved TKS or TKF models.

Produced in Poland at: state Engineering Works."

TK (F or S) (improved Carden-Loyd TK3)

"Made in Poland. 

The most common small tank in Poland."

Light Renault tank mod. 1918 FT

"This tank is only present in a few battalions and only used for training purposes."

Renault NC27

"Improved light tanks used in Poland, could be replaced with Vickers-Armstrongs."

Vickers Armstrong's 6 ton tank type A

"License-built Polish tank built with modifications based on the English tank described in Heigl's book. This model was allegedly not kept, and the type B (single turret) is preferred."

Vickers Armstrong's 6 ton tank type B

"Polish license-built."

TP 7

"This tank is similar to the Vickers Armstrong type B, but has an improved turret."

Citroen armoured car, Kegresse mod. 1927

"This model is obsolete and will be used up by the troops."

Peugeot armoured car

"French armoured car, obsolete but still down in parades."

"Ursus" armoured car

"Produced in Poland"

CAMD RF 500-12451-251

Odd Recognition

Tank identification posters are nothing new. Every army needed some kind of quick guide to let their troops figure out what kind of tank they saw. Here is one such poster.

Seems good at a glance, right? Well, aside from the fact that soldiers were unlikely to see a T1 Heavy tank in combat and by the time this poster was circulated, odds are that there were no T-35s left at all. The Nb.Fz. (here labelled as PzKw V) was also probably not something that soldiers would have to worry about.

What is most interesting to me is that while the authors managed to identify the KV-1 correctly (it was very often called simply KV, due to the tiny amount of any other kind of KV tank), they seem to have had trouble with the KV-2, as it is simply labelled "T". 

German Intel: Red Army Tanks

Naturally, before you invade a country, you need to be aware of what their army is like. This is a German intelligence bulletin listing the tanks that were known to be in the Red Army. Black rectangles mark especially vulnerable areas.

"BA Ford" armoured car

This is a BA-10 armoured car. The German document correctly identifies it as being armed with one 45 mm gun and two machineguns, although the hull MG is very much overexaggerated in the drawing. The armour is also listed correctly (6-10 mm). The speed is a little low (50 kph instead of 52). The mass is listed as 5-7 tons, which is also a bit high (actual mass was 5.1 tons). The vehicle is shown to be vulnerable to armour piercing bullets at 250 meters and 20 mm shells at 700 meters.

Amphibious Tank T-37

The T-37 is correctly named, but its armour is overestimated (10 mm instead of 8) and so is the speed (45 kph instead of 40), but the rest seems about right. The vulnerability of the vehicle is the same as the BA-10.

Amphibious tank T-38

The data on the T-38 is largely the same as on the T-37, except it's 100 kg lighter (it was actually heavier, at 3.3 tons). The armour is still listed as 10 mm, even though it's still thinner (9 mm). Vulnerability is, naturally, the same.

Vickers-Armstrong's T-26A tank

This is the two-turreted T-26 mod. 1931 or 1932. The document can't decide, ascribing the tank an armament of one 37 mm gun and two machineguns, whereas in reality tanks with two turrets had either two machineguns or one 37 mm gun and one machinegun. The armour is listed as 14 mm, which is in between the mod. 1931's 13 mm and mod. 1932's 15 mm. The mass (8.55 tons) is more than either of the modifications (8 and 8.4 tons respectively). This tank is listed as invulnerable to armour piercing bullets, but still vulnerable to 20 mm shells at a range of 550 meters.

Vickers-Armstrong's T-26B Tank

This is the most common T-26, T-26 mod. 1933. Armour is too thin (14 mm instead of 15 mm) and mass is a bit high (9.55 tons instead of 9.4). Vulnerability is the same as the above tank.

Vickers-Armstrong's T-26B Flamethrower Tank

This is a KhT-130 chemical tank, the Red Army's most common flamethrower tank on the T-26 chassis. Data is the same as on the "T-26B".

Vickers-Armstrong's T-26C Tank

This is the last model of the T-26, T-26 mod. 1939. The mass is too low again (9.7 tons instead of 10.25), armour is still too thin at 14 mm. The armament is identified correctly. The vulnerability of the tank is the same as above.

BT (Christie tank)

Despite the Germans being aware that there are different kinds of BT tank, they are all rolled into the one BT entry. The mass is listed as 10.5 tons to 12 tons, and is a little off again, as the BT-2 weighed in at 11 tons and the BT-7 went up to 13.9 tons. Armour is listed as 6-16 mm; too thin for the BT-7, which went up to 22 mm. Armament is listed for all BT models, including the BT-7 with a 76 mm gun. The vehicle is vulnerable to 20 mm shells at 400 meters. 

T-28 Medium Tank

Here we have the classic T-28 with a KT-28 gun. Unlike with the T-26, there is only one T-28 model listed in the guide. The mass is a bit too high (28 tons vs. 25). Vulnerability is listed as 300 meters with the 20 mm gun, 700 meters with the Czech 37 mm gun, 450 meters with the German 37 mm gun, 1400 meters with the 50 mm tank gun, and 1500 meters with the 50 mm AT gun. The side is vulnerable at 500 meters to the 20 mm gun and at any range to any other gun.

T-35A Heavy Tank

The drawing might not look like it, but yes, this is the T-35. Armament is identified correctly, even though the drawing seems to be missing three turrets. Vulnerability is the same as in for the T-28.

T-35C Heavy Tank

The SMK (the only new Soviet tank the Germans seemed to be aware of) has been rolled into the T-35 family, which is not too absurd if you don't have very good intel. The drawing is of the early SMK with the T-35 suspension, but the tank already lost its third turret. This information is likely based on the SMK that was bogged down in Finland, as there was not much opportunity to examine the other two prototype heavy tanks.

The vulnerability of the tank is not too shabby either: impervious to bullets or 20 mm shells, vulnerable to 37 mm guns at 100 meters, and to 50 mm guns at 450 meters. The Germans bust out the heavy artillery here, noting that the tank is vulnerable at 500 meters to the 105 mm mod. 1918 cannon firing mod. 1939 shells.

And that's it, no T-34, no KV-1 or KV-2. Those tanks were indeed surprises for the German intelligence.

Russians through French Eyes

It appears that there were enough Soviets rooting around Berlin in 1946 that the French needed to make an identification book. Clearly the artist that was given the task had some fun with it. Let's start with a fairly ordinary one.

10 - Lieutenant Tanker

Indeed, that is a Senior Lieutenant, dressed rather reasonably. His rank and file subordinate is rather... different.

14 - Tanker

The uniform isn't completely wrong, but the facial expression and Akimbo style pistols makes it look like he just walked into the wrong saloon in the Wild West.

8 - Female Auxiliary

While the artist may have seen a Soviet tank crewman from a distance, he almost certainly has never seen a woman, as this is quite obviously Severus Snape from the Harry Potter movies in drag.

11 - Red Army Female Auxiliary

While the previous woman was at least clothed in a Red Army uniform, nothing except the caption implies that this is one is associated with the Red Army at all and is not, in fact, a 19th Century poet.

You can see the entire booklet here.

Cheating at Statistics 10: Liars at Lisow

There is a Russian saying, "fear has large eyes", meaning that when you are already afraid, everything you see becomes even more fearsome. MS-1s become T-34s, BT-7s become T-34s, T-26es become KVs. During the Vistula-Oder Offensive, a similar event happened. First, the German version of events, from Schneider's Tigers in Combat:

"13 January 1945: New direction of attack is Lisow.
...
The battalion is ambushed by Josef Stalin tanks and hidden antitank guns in Lisow and is almost completely destroyed. The battalion commander's tank is also knocked out. The desperately fighting Tigers destroy 50-60 enemy tanks on that day."

At least three whole regiments of IS-2 tanks plus a hidden battery of AT guns! That is definitely a fearsome force required to completely destroy a battalion of Tiger IIs. However, seeing as how this is part 10 in this series of articles, it's a bit premature to take these figures as gospel truth. Let's take a look at Aleksei Isayev's lecture on the Vistula-Oder Offensive. He covers this episode starting at 21:10.

"Isayev: ...there was an episode where a heavy tank battalion armed with King Tigers attacked at Lisow. They were stopped by a tank brigade with T-34-85s. Practically all T-34 tanks by the start of the Vistula-Oder operation were armed with 85 mm guns and could face German heavy tanks almost as equals. There was a paradoxical situation where the Germans thought they were fighting IS tanks, Joseph Stalin, and destroyed 50 IS tanks, and the Soviet tank brigade, Fomichev's brigade, thought they were fighting not heavy tanks, but normal Panthers. In the after action reports...

Varshavchik: So one side overclaimed and the other underclaimed?

Isayev: Yes, it turns out that the Germans, who performed poorly, as their heavy tank battalion was destroyed, they overclaimed, told a tale of 50 destroyed IS tanks, but in reality they destroyed maybe 20-30 T-34-85s. The Soviet side, having destroyed a fresh heavy tank battalion, just wrote "some Panthers attacked us, we shot them up, we kept driving further.""

A Soviet tank brigade in 1945 consisted of 65 T-34-85 tanks. As far as the artillery battery the Germans envisioned, a brigade only carried 4 45 mm guns and 6 82 mm mortars, hardly a powerful adversary for Tiger tanks. The fresh German battalion (the diary lists its numbers at 51 operational tanks on December 21st, and does not list any losses until January 13th) was destroyed by a T-34-85 unit with a negligible numerical advantage that did not even realize what they were fighting.

Super-heavy Tanks in Combat

Things like "heavy" are quite relative when talking about tanks. For instance, the Germans considered their 20-ton PzIV a heavy tank because of its gun caliber, and this classification of enemy tanks migrated into Soviet reports. Of course, when the Tiger hit the battlefield, there was some nomenclature confusion.

Via Yuri Pasholok

"The 2nd tank battalion and their motorized infantry dealt the following damage to the enemy while in his rear: destroyed two tanks (1 super heavy and one medium), 1 SPG, 4 AT guns, 8 dugouts and pillboxes, up to a battalion of soldiers and officers, and captured two."

Yuri Pasholok attributes this report to the 122nd Tank Brigade, dated March 30th, 1943. This places them at the Mga river, where s.Pz.Abt 502 was fighting at the time. As it was still partially equipped with PzIIIs, it's quite likely that the battalion could encounter a "super heavy and medium tank" together.

Battle at Volhov River

Portrait caption: "Martynov, Aleksandr Maksimovich"

Photograph caption: "KV tank commander Lieutenant Martynov and enemy tanks captured at the village of Zhubkino"

"Battles at the Volhov River

In the region of villages Nikiforovo, Zhubkino, Zadnevo, Andreevo

The enemy was stopped at Mga, but, at the end of October, made an attempt to break through to Lake Ladoga from the south, and take the large railroad station Volhovstroy. 

The tank brigade, with assistance from the 6th Naval Brigade, received an objective: stop the enemy's progress on the right and left shores of the Volhov river.

During the end of October, the brigade was sent out from Apraksin-Gorodok, and concentrated in the region of Veltsy, from where scouts were sent to Zamoshye, Zarechye, and Dunyakovo. The scouts established that the village Dunyakovo is occupied by the enemy. Bridges at Chernorechye and Zadnevo are destroyed, bridges at Nikiforovo, Zarechye, and Zamozhye are old, and cannot carry much weight. Tanks cannot pass there. The terrain left and right of roads is a swampy forest, making deploying tanks difficult. 

On November 1st, two T-34 tanks and one BA-20 armour car were sent in the direction of Volhov, Vyndin Ostrov, and Cherentsovo, under the command of Captain Kudryavtsev, subordinate to the commander of the 331st Infantry Division with the objective of supporting the division in the attack on Andreevo. 

As a result of the battle, the enemy was knocked out of Andreevo on November 2nd, the objective was completed, and the tanks were transferred to the region of Gatika and Pankovo, where the enemy was threatening to encircle the 285th Infantry Division. Thanks to the tanks, elements of the 285th Infantry Division took Olomne by 18:00 on November 3rd, 1941."

Portrait caption: "Senior Mechanic-Driver of Martynov's KV, Senior Sergeant Serov"

Painting caption: "Lieutenant Martynov's engagement with a company of German tanks."

"Tank crews took out 1 AT gun, 2 mortars, 1 machine gun, and up to 150 enemy soldiers and officers.

On November 5th, 1941, the same two tanks covered the retreat of infantry units for three and a half hours, while holding the village of Narostynya. In this battle, the tanks destroyed 4 AT guns, a company mortar, 2 hand machine guns, and up to 50 soldiers of the enemy.

At the same time, a second group of tanks under the command of Captain Yurenkov, supported by infantry from the 6th Naval Brigade, entered Nikiforovo on November 4th, destroyed a group of enemy submachinegunnners, and took up defensive positions north of Zamoshye. Tanks were buried into the ground and fired while stationary. In this battle, Lieutenant Antonyuk destroyed two enemy tanks and one armoured car. 

On November 8th, 1941, an enemy battalion with mortar support and a tank company occupied Zhubkino, and started moving south-west. Two infantry companies from the 6th Naval Brigade with the support of one KV tank and two T-26 tanks counterattacked, dealt significant damage to the enemy, and threw them back to initial positions. 

Lieutenant Martynov's KV crew distinguished themselves in this battle, fighting a German tank company for two and a half hours, destroying 5 enemy tanks and capturing 3 intact. 

For this, Lieutenant Martynov is awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The few tanks that remained worked with infantry in small groups in the region of Zhubkino, Nikiforovo, Zadnevo, Kukol', and Bor.

Meanwhile, MSPb protected the village of Zarechye, covering the retreat of elements of the 6th Naval Brigade, in the direction of Moiseevo. In the morning of November 4th, 1941, the task was completed, and the battalion, in full numbers and organized fashion, broke out of encirclement, and subsequently defended Zamoshyevo, Panevo, and even advanced in the region of Slavkovo, but due to a lack of ammunition and supplies, combined with a complete lack of roads, had to withdraw to the region of Beltsy, where it joined up with Major General Martyanov's forces, and was sent to the region of Vyachokovo in order to capture it. 

The commander of the 5th Army personally issued thanks to the MSPb for successfully capturing Vyachkogo."

I'd like to focus on that episode that earned Martynov his Gold Star. To the archives!

"On November 8th, 1941, his tank engaged 8 fascist tanks in battle. Despite being outnumbered, Martynov demonstrated bravery, tactical cleverness, and, as a result, destroyed 5 enemy tanks with precise gunfire, and captured 3 for his unit. In that battle, comrade Martynov also destroyed 50 soldiers and officers, and 7 ammunition transports."

Seems that the two T-26es that accompanied Martynov didn't participate in the tank battle. Let's see what the Germans have to say about the battle.

The documents match up. The Germans lost 5 Pz 38(t) tanks, as well as 1 man dead and 4 wounded. However, according to them, there were several heavy tanks. It appears that either the KV cloned itself when no one was looking, or the T-26 tanks count as heavies when it's convenient. 

Allied Tank Identification

Seems like a pretty standard report. The 296th Infantry Division spotted three new American tanks being used by the Soviets. Let's take a look at these three new tanks.

No mystery here, those are the Stuart (Soviet designation M3 light) and Lee (M3 medium). Seems pretty normal so far, as the Soviets started receiving Lees and Stuarts in 1942. What's the third tank, you may ask? A reasonable guess would be the M4 Sherman, but reality isn't quite as reasonable.

It's a T-60! Sorry, comrade Astrov, looks like your work goes unappreciated. 

The Germans also came up with an amusing way to help their soldiers identify Allied tanks.

Food! A Valentine's turret is shaped like a pie, a KV-1's turret is shaped like a Bundt cake, a Sherman turret is shaped like a Melon (or a Jewish hat), and the Cruiser III's turret is shaped like a mushroom. 

T-34 Panic

A number of sources describe a "Tiger panic", where any German tank (especially the later PzIVs with armour screens) was called a Tiger by the Allies. However, the Tiger wasn't the only tank considered omnipresent by its enemies.

The picture is captioned "Dug-in T-34 on the outskirts of Siverskaya". However, the tank in the picture is just an MS-1 converted into a bunker.

Hetzer? I hardly know 'er!

If you ask a lot of people what a Hetzer is, they will show you a Jagdpanzer 38(t). These people include even the knowledgeable folks at Wargaming. However, it appears that neither the Germans nor the Czechs called it "Hetzer".

"December 10, 1945

To Deputy Chief of the Eastern Europe Directorate of the USSR NKVT, Comrade Vozzhov

The provided report on tanks manufactured at the Skoda factory states that 1200 "G-13" tank destroyers are incomplete. 150 of these tanks can be assembled from existing parts, while 1050 tanks are 45-60% complete.

To complete the 1050 tanks, there are 78 guns available. The remaining guns and mechanisms would have to be manufactured.

I do not think that it is reasonable to complete the manufacture of these tanks.

Chief of the Head Tank Directorate of the Red Army, Lieutenant-General of the Tank Forces, Vershinin."

CAMD RF 38-11355-3015

As for the Germans, a translated copy of their plans for March-August 1945 (CAMD RF 38-11355-2725) lists a "hunter tank 38" and "hunter tank 38 D", which are obviously "Jagdpanzer 38(t)" and "Jagdpanzer 38(d)", respectively.

What's in a Name?

As if there weren't already enough names for the King Tiger, Tiger II, Tiger B, PzVIB, Major General Deane decides to add a brand new one. Conveniently, this document is in English, so I don't even have to translate it.

Through what was most likely a translation error, the Tiger Imperial is born.