tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50651698518155984.post5499309080871369998..comments2024-01-21T03:20:50.351-07:00Comments on World War II in Pictures: Captured Weapons Put to UseUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50651698518155984.post-88475833880006014902015-08-21T01:12:41.460-06:002015-08-21T01:12:41.460-06:00The Wehrmacht could not have pulled off its succes...The Wehrmacht could not have pulled off its successes in Poland, the Low Countries, France, and even in Russia ("Barbarossa" period) w/o the considerable amount of Czech 35(t) and 38(t) tanks to augment their Panzerwaffe. The Czech 38(t) was developed into several iterations of self-propelled guns and howitzers, which themselves often proved to be effective tank killers, and finally ended up in the Jagpanzer Hetzer...which was still used as the model G13 by the Swiss until 1974!<br /><br />Yes, the Germans did consider copying the T-34, but it wasn't parochialism that persuaded them not to proceed with a Damlier-Benz design which was fairly much a copy (there were prototypes that had a diesel and another a gasoline engine). The T-34 used a two-man turret which Guderian ruled as unacceptable, the DB design couldn't be modified to accept a three-man turret (unlike what was done later with the T-34 resulting in the T-34/85), let alone they were unimpressed with the poor reliability and service life of the T-34's V2 diesel engine and it's clunky gearbox (had to be shifted on the go with a hammer). The MAN design met the German requirements far better, though as the Panther it was a far cry from the original VK30.02 (45 tons versus 30 tons) and suffered from 'design creep'. The Germans suffered from many of the technical and managerial issues that plagued the Soviets with their T-34 designs...they were breaking new ground and didn't have time to refine the designs, they had to put into mass production what they had.<br /><br />The Soviets liked the Pz III and Pz IV tanks and their StuG and JagPz variants, and even produced spare parts for what they captured (like at Stalingrad). They even modified some PzIIIs with the older L/42 5 cm gun (it was rather puny) into a self-propelled gun with their home-grown 76mm gun (which the Germans themselves used a great deal of captured examples and even developed a line of ordnance for) as the SU-76i. As for the Panthers and Tigers, they derided their 'poor' reliability but that didn't stop them from translating the humorous tank manuals ("Pantherfibel' und "Tigerfibel") into Russian. The Soviets also used whatever was sent to them by the UK and USA under Lend-Lease, they especially liked the diesel-engined M4 Shermans (Nicknamed "EmCha" which is how "M4" is pronounced in Russian). The Soviet M4s were actually prioritized for their several "Guards Armored' divisions, being considered a better tank than their own T-34, though to say so publicly wasn't a formula for a long life under "Uncle Joe" Stalin.<br /><br />It's interesting that Germans and Russians had a passion for using each others small arms. The Germans even produced the ammo for the "Pe-Pe-Shaw" as it was so popular with the troops. However, contrary to what many think, the later AK-47 is NOT a direct copy of the StG 44 (named an "assault rifle' by Hitler himself) though Mikhail Kalashnikov was inspired by many of the German assault rifle's features. Contrary to popular notion, a cut-down battle rifle using an intermediate cartridge was NOT a new idea, a Russian named Federov had devised one in 1912 using the Japanese 6.5mm Arisaka cartridge. The Russians were very impressed by what they saw in the StG44, hence they curtailed production of the SKS carbine (which uses the same round as the AK-47) and went with Kalashnikov's new toy.Doug the Ex-Fat Guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10449770493587344595noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50651698518155984.post-72296925912631163932015-07-30T15:14:42.816-06:002015-07-30T15:14:42.816-06:00That's a shame, that's a great shot. Unfor...That's a shame, that's a great shot. Unfortunately, these kinds of fakes are more and more common, especially staged photos of German atrocities and such which are done to "make a point" about this, that and the other thing. Anyway, thanks for the ID, I think you're right and I pulled it. James Bjorkmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14749118745932210527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50651698518155984.post-43495389737730395132015-07-30T14:28:22.598-06:002015-07-30T14:28:22.598-06:00I seriously doubt that the last photography is aut...I seriously doubt that the last photography is authentic, it looks very much like a movie still (very sharp, very well lit scenery, no stains on the clothes and no scratches on the weapons etc.). And why should the dead (or dying) German soldier hold his Sturmgewehr 44 at the barrel? No, this picture is definitively a staged one and as such no source of any historical value...zonebattlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02757444127674786359noreply@blogger.com