Far East Variety

As I've written before, the tank fleet of the Far East Front was rather heterogeneous. Large amounts of T-26 and BT tanks were preserved there, since there was little for them to do in Europe. When the war moved over to the Far East, these tanks were ready to spring into action.

"Report on the materiel of the Armoured and Mechanized Forces of the 1st Red Banner Army as of August 8th, 1945

Unit	Authorized strength						Actual strength
	KV	T-34	BT-7	T-26	ISU-152	SU-76	KV	T-34	BT-7	T-26	ISU-152	SU-76
75th Tank Brigade	-	86	-	-	-	-	-	43	-	46	-	-
77th Tank Brigade	-	86-	-	-	-	-	-	42	42	-	-	-
257th Tank Brigade	-	86-	-	-	-	-	-	40	-	46	-	-
48th Independent Tank Regiment	21	-	-	-	-	-	21	-	-	-	-	-
335th Heavy SPG Regiment	-	-	-	-	21	-	-	-	-	-	21	-
338th Heavy SPG Regiment	-	-	-	-	21	-	-	-	-	-	21	-
339th Heavy SPG Regiment	-	-	-	-	21	-	-	-	-	-	21	-
455th SPG Squadron	-	-	-	-	-	13	-	-	-	-	-	13
456th SPG Squadron	-	-	-	-	-	13	-	-	-	-	-	13
457th SPG Squadron	-	-	-	-	-	13	-	-	-	-	-	13
459th SPG Squadron	-	-	-	-	-	13	-	-	-	-	-	13
460th SPG Squadron	-	-	-	-	-	13	-	-	-	-	-	13
466th SPG Squadron	-	-	-	-	-	13	-	-	-	-	-	13
Total	21	258	-	-	63	78	21	125	42	92	63	78

Conclusions:

1. The army's units are fully equipped with armoured vehicles.
2. Instead of the authorized amounts of T-34 tanks, the tank brigades are half full of obsolete T-26 and BT-7 light tanks.
3. The 48th Independent Tank Regiment's KV tanks require medium repairs and cannot participate in the operation."

Interestingly enough, at least one of these BT-7 tanks was a refurbished tank equipped with applique armour.

Via Valeriy Lisyutin.

Flamethrower Tanks

"Order

To the People's Commissariat of Medium Machinebuilding

Moscow

March 15th, 1941

In carrying out the decree of the Council of Commissars and the Central Committee of the VKP(b) issued on March 13th titled "On arming KV, T-34, and T-50 tanks with gunpowder flamethrowers", I order that:

1. Deputy Chief of Special Industry comrade Hlamov, director of factory #174 comrade Markin, and Chief Engineer of factory #174 comrade Ginzburg must work alongside the GABTU, People's Commissariat of General Production (Lubertsy factory), and the designers of factory #183 and Kirov factory to:
1. By March 25th, 1941, test a prototype of the 10 Litre gunpowder flamethrower and present blueprints and technical requirements for approval by the NKSM by April 2nd, 1941, matching tactical-technical requirements in attachment #1.
2. By April 28th, 1941, complete all work on the four flamethrower mounts for the KV-1, KV-3, T-34, and T-50, as well as present technical requirements and blueprints to the NKSM, including corrections made as a result of the trials.

Tankers' Day

"Order of the Minster of the Armed Forces of the USSR #27

July 16th, 1946

Moscow

Order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the establishment of the annual holiday "Tankers' Day"

Considering the special significance of tank and mechanized forces and their achievements during the Great Patriotic War, as well as the achievements of tank builders in equipping the Armed Forces with armoured vehicles, the annual holiday of "Tankers' Day" is established.

"Tankers' Day" will be celebrated annually on the second Sunday of September.

This day will be celebrated in every capital of the Soviet republics, as well as Leningrad, Stalingrad, Chelyabinsk, Gorkiy, Nizhniy Tagil, Sverdlovsk, Kharkov, Omsk, Habarovsk, and Vladivostok by 20 artillery volleys.

Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, N. Shvernik

Secretary of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, A. Gorkin

Moscow, Kremlin

July 11th, 1946"

Via the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

Karabin wz. 35: Secret Weapon of Rzeczpospolita

One of the most popular themes in anti-tank defenses during the interbellum period was the development of anti-tank rifles. Designers had several approaches to this issue. One was the use of "cannon" calibers of 20 mm, or even 24 mm, with a relatively heavy bullet and a lower muzzle velocity. The other approach was to increase the muzzle velocity of a regular 6-8 mm rifle bullet. The wz. 35 anti-tank rifle was a product of the second approach.

What's in a Name?

"Translated from German

General Staff of the Land Army #8/90583/44

February 27th, 1944

Top Secret

Copy #203

Contents: pseudonyms for new types of armament:

On the Fuhrer's directions, the following pseudonyms are introduced:

• Tank type V: Panther
• Tank type VI: Tiger
• 88 mm anti-tank gun on the chassis of the T-IV or T-III tank: Nashorn
• 88 mm assault gun: Elephant
• Radio controlled demolition tankette: Goliath
• Device for demolition of buildings using explosive gas mixtures: Typhoon
• Heavy anti-tank gun on the Tiger tank chassis: Jagdtiger
• Heavy anti-tank gun on the Panther tank chassis: Jagdpanther
• 75 mm anti-tank gun on the Lorraine type chassis: Marder I
• 75 mm anti-tank gun type 40 or 76.2 mm Russian gun on the T-2 tank chassis: Marder 2
• 75 mm anti-tank gun type 40 or 76.2 mm Russian gun on the T-38 Czech tank chassis: Marder 3

The accepted names for heavy artillery such as Bruno or Siegfried remain in force. Other pseudonyms for all types of armament and materiel such as Wespe, Hummel, Grille, Maultier, are cancelled.

Distribute to divisions inclusive.

Translated from German: Captain Bezymenskiy

Approved by the Chief of the 4th Intelligence Department of the 1st Belorussian Front, Colonel Smyslov."

Via Valeriy Lisyutin.

Evac Rewards

"Order of the People's Commissar of Defense #0357

On introducing monetary rewards for evacuation of tanks from the front line and establishing the conditions of rewards for repairing combat or auxiliary vehicles at repair bases

May 7th, 1942

In carrying out of the decree of the State Committee of Defense #1689ss issued on May 3rd, 1942

1. Starting with May 1st, 1942, establish monetary rewards for tank crews and recovery groups for each tank evacuated from enemy territory or no man's land in the following amounts:
1. For a KV tank: 5000 rubles
2. For a T-34 tank: 2000 rubles
3. For a T-60/70 tank: 500 rubles
   For evacuation of other types of tanks, the reward is as follows:
4. For a heavy tank: 5000 rubles
5. For a medium tank: 2000 rubles
6. For a light tank: 500 rubles
   Immediately issue the reward to the crew or recovery group on the unit commander's orders. The expense is charged to section 22 page 88 of the NKO cost sheet.
2. Establish monetary rewards for recovery groups for evacuation of tanks that require repairs to Army or Front level repair bases in the following amounts:
1. For evacuation of at least 10 heavy and medium or 50 light tanks within 10 days: 2000 rubles
2. For evacuation of at least 15 heavy and medium or 75 light tanks within 10 days: 3000 rubles
3. For evacuation of at least 20 heavy and medium or 100 light tanks within 10 days: 5000 rubles
   The reward is to be issued by the deputy commander of the Front or Army Motorized and Armoured Forces and charged to section 22 page 88 of the NKO cost sheet.
3. Introduce the "Decree on monetary reward (bonus) of workers of Armoured and Motorized Vehicle Repair Bases for overfulfilling the objectives for the benefit of the Front" on May 1st, 1942.

Deputy People's Commissar of Defense, Lieutenant-General of the Tank Forces, Fedorenko"

RGVA 4-11-70 pp. 495-496

BT Artillery Tanks

"Report on experimental works for January-April of 1937 at plant 191 (factory #183)

...

4. Trials of BT-7 vehicles with KT-26 turrets

Trials of BT-7 tanks with 76 mm guns began. The vehicle's weight increased to 13,800 kg. The first trials showed that 12 springs installed on the main friction clutch is not enough to provide reliable operation. The clutch slips on grades, turns in sand and on soft earth. Currently, the amount of springs is being increased to 16, after which trials will continue.

...

6. Trials of BT-8 vehicles

Two vehicles are currently undergoing trials: one with a 45 mm gun, one with the KT-26 turret for the 76 mm gun. The BT-8 with a 45 mm gun turret travelled 450 km during trials since December of 1936, and had three cases where the fan motor broke. The motor broke and the vehicle is awaiting a new engine.

The BT-8 with a 76 mm gun turret travelled for 728 km and had two cases of fan breakage. The motor is out of action. Both vehicles had experimental motors that did not go through quality control. 

Presently, a new engine that has been approved by quality control and the military representative has been received and is being installed on the BT-8. During installation it was discovered that the crankcase of the engine is leaking oil. 

..."

RGVA 31811-3-1017 p.82

Cheating at Statistics: Claims at Klepenino

A common excuse for German inflation of claims is that the battlefield is left to their enemy, so there is no possible way to count how many enemy tanks were lost. However, even on the defensive, the Germans seem to manage to greatly overestimate the damage dealt to the enemy. According to the the 1972 edition of the Deutsches Soldatenjahrbuch, the 561st Tank Destroyer Battalion destroyed 34 Soviet tanks, "nearly all heavy and super-heavy" during their defense of Klepenino between January 29th and February 8th of 1942. Let's take a look at what was happening in the area and what these "super-heavy tanks" really were.

"Dachshund" for Assault Artillery

The success of the Semovente M40 da 75/18 caused Italian command to order "the same one, but bigger". The result of that request was the Semovente da 105/25, which was nicknamed Basotto (Dachshund).

In April of 1942, soon after the combat debut of the Semovente M40 da 75/18 in North Africa, the Inspectorate of Artillery of the Royal Italian Army ordered the creation of a more powerful SPG, armed with a 105 mm gun. In response, the Odero-Terni-Orlando conglomerate (commonly known as OTO) proposed the creation of an SPG on the P26/40 tank platform. This vehicle was classified as a heavy tank in Italy, but was in reality a medium tank, as it weighed 26 tons. The chassis could allow for a well protected and mobile SPG, but there was an issue: the P26/40 was still in the prototype stage, and there was no concrete timeline for when it would go into production. Using the chassis of the best Italian tank to build secondary vehicles was also considered a waste.