What you can see here is not a spade…
In a few seconds spade can be converted to 37mm mortar.
I think that this soviet idea is brilliant!
Do you have any real action photos of that mortar?
Germans used captured ones under designation:
3,7cm Spatengranatwerfer 161 (r)
Cheers,
Lancer44
Russian name: 37 mm spade mortar model 1939
I’m slightly confused here chaps (not an uncommon occurence it has to be said …)
Can it also be used as a spade?
Can it also be used as a spade?
Yes, a heavy one. :roll:
you sure this is going to disable any tank?
??? :?
you sure this is going to disable any tank?
No chance to do that, neither with the mortar shell or with shovel point. 
It might if you were using it inside the tank, especially if you bashed the driver over the head with it.
You’re right. Most probably soldiers hated it and dropped on first occasion.
Possible that we discovered reason why Germans lost the war…
Scenario Part 1:
Soviet soldiers issued wit spade mortars. Because they are heavy and awkward most of them are “lost”. Lack of proper spades prevent soviet entrenching themselves and Germans are driving them to Moscow.
Scenario Part 2:
Germans are finding thousands of spade mortars on their way to Moscow and re-issue to their troops as 3,7 cm Spatengranatwerfers.
German soldiers hates them as well and drops at first occasion. Lack of spades in German army enables soviets to drive Wehrmach right to Berlin and win the war.
Cheers,
Lancer44
All the the standar issue military entrenchment tools are crap, his only advantage is their portability.
Sadly the battered soldiers only had this poor tools to dig in the hard and frozen russian winter soil.
Digging frozen soil with spades is totally impossible. It is like trying to dig in concrete.
Long before WWII soviet forces had good methods of using explosives (TNT) to dig trenches very quickly.
During my national service in the Polish Army (communist this time of course - 1977), I learned how to do it. We had petrol powered portable drills or drills which were mounted at the back of GAZ jeeps.
For different sizes od trenches we had exact schemes with indications how deep drilling have to be and how many cylindrical sticks of TNT should be dropped in.
After explosion, position for AA 57mm gun was nearly perfectly shaped.
The same thing was done with personnell shelter and shelter for armoured transporter.
I believe that this method was widely used in WWII.
Cheers,
Lancer44
i thought its a miniture anti-tank weapon
Digging frozen soil with spades is totally impossible. It is like trying to dig in concrete
Is what I was saying
During my national service in the Polish Army (communist this time of course - 1977)
Born in 1957 maybe…? 
Or 1958 8)
1956, my friends…
Hard to believe how quickly time goes…
Aditional pics of this device.
Once you dig with the spade …
The 37 mm bomb.
Source:
Anyone that has ever had to dig knows what crap spades are as compared with a shovel.
The idea however is brilliant. I know one of the most effective weapons the Japanese employed was their “Knee Mortar,” which helped them compensate for their firepower deficit against US Marines and infantry.
Wich was not suitable for “knee-shooting” as you might know :rolleyes:
Obviously. The “knee” reference was not literal as some unfortunate US servicemen found out, after they either broke their knee or thigh bone trying to fire the damn thing…
But that was the Allied designation…
yeah but you just fire a couple of rounds into where ever you wanted your line to get some holes started…lol…