Photos WW2 Soviet Forces

[Иван Феоктистов]

Soviet soldiers ferry a 122-mm howitzer M-30 model 1938 across the Sivash Bay (the so-called "Rotten Sea") on a pontoon. November 1943

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

The main plot is Budapest after the battles.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Light T-26, Leningrad Front, 1944. Yes, yes, on the Leningrad front (it was cut off from the rest of the country and the fighting there was a little weaker) old tanks like the T-26 and T-28 survived until 1944. In addition, in Leningrad there were very good enterprises for the repair of tanks and the same vehicle could be repaired several times after destruction.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Here is another T-26 from Captain Grechko's detachment (behind the Su-76), in October 1944 they surrounded and destroyed the enemy's grouping south of Usto-Yarvi in Karelia.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

According to statistics, which was conducted from 01.01.1943, after being wounded, 86% of the wounded Red Army soldiers returned to the front (if you count from June 22, 1941, then 76.9%). At the same time, on the other side of the front, in the German army, less than 50% of the wounded returned to the front after treatment. The fact is that the approach to the treatment of the wounded in the Wehrmacht and the Red Army was very different. In the Wehrmacht, doctors first of all tried to treat the bad and hopeless wounded. In the Red Army, first of all, they dealt with those fighters who were guaranteed the opportunity to stand up again. After them, they were treated especially severe. This led to the fact that more soldiers could return to the ranks, first of all, their wounds were healed. It seems that the approach of the Wehrmacht doctors to their wounded seems more humane, but in fact, trying to save the lives of the almost hopeless, the doctors wasted time saving those wounded who, during the waiting time, became hopeless or almost hopeless. ... And light wounds, which were still treated, during this lost time turned into serious wounds and led to disability. It turns out that the seemingly more cruel approach of Soviet doctors was more humane. Although, of course, the hopeless wounded, who were not treated in the first place, died much more often, without even waiting for qualified help.

 

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Valentine tanks in Soviet service. The Valentine was quite well liked. Its top speed was low, but its average speed was comparable to that of other tanks, even on rough terrain. The Valentine also had very good armour for its class. The biggest drawback was the gun: the 40 mm 2-pounder was too weak to deal with German tanks that started appearing after 1942 from the front, and an absence of an HE shell limited its usefulness when supporting infantry.

 

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[Иван Феоктистов]

Valentine tanks in Soviet service. The Valentine was quite well liked. Its top speed was low, but its average speed was comparable to that of other tanks, even on rough terrain. The Valentine also had very good armour for its class. The biggest drawback was the gun: the 40 mm 2-pounder was too weak to deal with German tanks that started appearing after 1942 from the front, and an absence of an HE shell limited its usefulness when supporting infantry.

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I remember reading a Soviet book with the memoirs of tankmen as a child. Unfortunately, I forgot the name, but I remember very much the moment when Soviet tankers from the T-26 were transferred to the Valentines. The tankers were very surprised at how expensive this tank looks from the inside, and after that there was one comical case when the tank commander crushed the tank's armor with an ordinary blow with a sledgehammer.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Destroyed infantry tank Mk.III "Valentine" from the 64th tank brigade, knocked out in May 1942 in the area with. Panteleeva (Red) Beam, Barvenkovsky district, Kharkiv region.

A destroyed Valentine VIIA tank from the 5th Guards Tank Brigade. North Caucasus, November 1942.

Destroyed infantry tanks Mk.III "Valentine".

Destroyed infantry tank Mk.III Valentine.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

It is a pity that only correspondents in the Red Army had cameras. On the one hand, this was a real tactical necessity, but on the other hand, it deprived us of the opportunity to see many of the most interesting moments of the war.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

If interested, by the way, I can later share a large number of frames with the lost Lend-Lease armored vehicles.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Crew member of the T-34 tank "Marshal Choibalsan" from the tank column "Revolutionary Mongolia". 1943 year.

The tank column "Revolutionary Mongolia" was built with funds raised by the inhabitants of the Mongolian People's Republic. The tanks of the column (32 T-34 and 21 T-70) on January 12, 1943 became part of the 112th Red Banner Tank Brigade.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Inspection of the T-34 tank from the convoy "For Soviet Estonia" during its ceremonial transfer to the troops. May 6, 1943. On May 6, 1943, the 221st Tank Regiment, named "For Soviet Estonia", was solemnly transferred to the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps. Inspection is carried out by the chairman of the Presidium of the Estonian SSR Vares (in a hat).

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Tanks T-34 of the tank column "For Soviet Estonia". May 6, 1943. On May 6, 1943, the 221st Tank Regiment, named "For Soviet Estonia", was solemnly transferred to the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps. There were two inscriptions on the tank turrets: above - in Russian “For Soviet Estonia” and below - in Estonian “Noukogude EESTIeest”. The column consisted of T-34 medium tanks of 1941 and 1942, as well as T-70 light tanks.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

F.P. Golovaty transfers the Yak-1 aircraft, built at the Saratov Aviation Plant, to his fellow countryman, pilot B.N. Eremin (Stalingrad Front). [No later than December 23, 1942]

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Guards crew of the Soviet heavy tank KV-1 "Merciless", presented in 1942 to the army by the artists of Kukryniksy, July 1943.

Kukryniksy - a creative collective of Soviet graphic artists and painters, which included full members of the USSR Academy of Arts (1947), People's Artists of the USSR (1958), Heroes of Socialist Labor Mikhail Kupriyanov (1903-1991), Porfiry Krylov (1902-1990) and Nikolai Sokolov (1903-2000).

The tank will die in battle on August 31, 1943

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Transfer of KV-1 heavy tanks to the Red Army in the Dzerzhinsky district of Moscow. June 28, 1942. On June 30, 1942, a message in the Moskovsky Bolshevik newspaper: "In Moscow, a ceremonial transfer of a column of heavy KB tanks built at the expense of the workers of the Dzerzhinsky District to representatives of the active army took place. Each of the five transferred tanks bears the inscription" Dzerzhinets. " 475th separate tank battalion. The tank company was commanded by Hero of the Soviet Union Andrei Mikhailovich Serebryakov. "

"Dzerzhinets" (second column) - in the summer of 1942, residents of the Dzerzhinsky district of Moscow began collecting funds for the second tank column by transferring by January 1943 to the account of the State Bank 6,195 thousand rubles. On January 12, 1943, 21 KV-1s were transferred to the 28th Guards. breakthrough tank regiment.

"Dzerzhinets" (third column) - by August 1942, the Moscow bar association had collected 375 thousand rubles, for which two T-34 tanks were purchased, transferred to the 488th department. tank battalion on August 31, 1942