T34/76 (with German markings) pulled from Estonian Lake

World War II Russian Military
#21

They rigged up Panthers to look like M10’s

Notice 5th Armored markings:

"Because the false vehicle numbers of the tanks knocked out were B-4, B-5, B-7, and B-10, investigators concluded that at least ten similarly disguised tanks might have been in action.

Inside the one tank which was not blown up too badly to be inspected were found items of U.S. clothing such as a helmet, overcoat, and leggings. To heighten the deception, U.S. stars were painted on both sides and also on the top of the turret, the entire tank was painted O.D., and U.S. unit markings were painted on the false bow and rear."

#22

Can you be shot as a spy for ‘wearing’ and enemy tank?

(I would shoot the dude)

There are reports that in early '42 the Germans put several captured T-34’s on a train headed to the German armaments development center with the message, “give us this”.

It would have been interesting if the Germans had copied most of the T-34’s design and rushed it into production by mid '42. There is an historical precident for this, in WWI both the Eastern and Western armies used the same machine gun, the Maxim.

#23

There was a good chance they were executed, if they survived on the battlefield and actually made it to a POW camp…

There are reports that in early '42 the Germans put several captured T-34’s on a train headed to the German armaments development center with the message, “give us this”.

It would have been interesting if the Germans had copied most of the T-34’s design and rushed it into production by mid '42. There is an historical precident for this, in WWI both the Eastern and Western armies used the same machine gun, the Maxim.

If you look in the German panzer threads, you’ll find the Germans did indeed make a virtual copy of the T-34. But Teutonic engineering pride and some of the lessor sophistication of the features of the T-34 caused them to create the Panther instead, which is basically a copy of the T-34s spec’s with an improvement in technical sophistication somewhat negated by problems in reliability…

#24

Yes, I know the story of the Panther, its troubles and limited production numbers.

The T-34 was the Chevy as the Panther was the BMW, and the Chevy won based on the sheer number of them.

Again, I am playing ‘what if’, as in what if the Germans had been able to copy the T34 and produce them in numbers close to that of the Russians in '42.