Trophy armored vehicles of the Wehrmacht. USSR

After the end of World War II, many trophies were taken from occupied Germany to the USSR. Various art objects, military equipment and much more became trophies. This post will introduce us to the most interesting trophies of the war.

"Mercedes" Zhukov

At the end of the war, Marshal Zhukov became the owner of an armored Mercedes, designed by Hitler's order "for the people necessary for the Reich." Zhukov did not like Willys, and the shortened Mercedes-Benz-770k sedan turned out to be most welcome. The marshal used this fast and safe car with a 400-horsepower engine almost everywhere - he refused to go in it only to accept the surrender.

"German armor"

It is known that the Red Army fought on captured armored vehicles, but few people know that it did this already in the first days of the war. So, in the "journal of combat operations of the 34th Panzer Division" it is said that on June 28-29, 1941, 12 German tanks were captured, which were used "to fire from a place on enemy artillery."
During one of the counterattacks on the Western Front on July 7, military engineer Ryazanov on his T-26 tank broke into the German rear and fought the enemy for 24 hours. He returned to his own in the captured Pz. III".
Along with tanks, the Soviet military often used German self-propelled guns. For example, in August 1941, during the defense of Kyiv, two fully serviceable StuG IIIs were captured. Junior Lieutenant Klimov fought very successfully on self-propelled guns: in one of the battles, while in StuG III, in one day of the battle he destroyed two German tanks, an armored personnel carrier and two trucks, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Star. In general, during the war years, domestic repair plants brought back to life at least 800 German tanks and self-propelled guns. Armored vehicles of the Wehrmacht came to court and were operated even after the war.

"U-250"

On July 30, 1944, the German submarine U-250 was sunk by Soviet boats in the Gulf of Finland. The decision to raise it was made almost immediately, but the rocky shallows at a depth of 33 meters and German bombs greatly delayed the process. Only on September 14 the submarine was raised and towed to Kronstadt.
During the inspection of the compartments, valuable documents, an Enigma-M encryption machine, as well as T-5 homing acoustic torpedoes were found. However, the Soviet command was more interested in the boat itself - as an example of German shipbuilding. The German experience was going to be adopted in the USSR. On April 20, 1945, the U-250 was added to the composition of the USSR Navy under the name "TS-14" (captured medium), but it was not possible to use it due to the lack of the necessary spare parts. After 4 months, the submarine was excluded from the lists and sent for scrap.

"Dora"

When the Soviet troops reached the German test site in Hilbersleben, many valuable finds awaited them, but the super-heavy 800-mm Dora artillery gun, developed by Krupp, attracted the attention of the military and Stalin personally.
This gun - the fruit of many years of searching - cost the German treasury 10 million Reichsmarks. The gun owes its name to the wife of chief designer Erich Müller. The project was prepared in 1937, but only in 1941 did the first prototype come out.
The characteristics of the giant are amazing even now: “Dora” fired 7.1-ton concrete-piercing and 4.8-ton high-explosive shells, its barrel length is 32.5 m, weight is 400 tons, vertical guidance angle is 65 °, range is 45 km. The striking ability was also impressive: armor 1 m thick, concrete - 7 m, hard ground - 30 m.
The speed of the projectile was such that first an explosion was heard, then the whistle of a flying warhead, and only then did the sound of a shot reach.
The history of the Dora ended in 1960: the gun was cut into pieces and melted down in the open-hearth furnace of the Barrikady factory. The shells were blown up at the Prudboy training ground.

Dresden Gallery

The search for paintings in the Dresden Gallery was like a detective story, but ended successfully, and in the end, the canvases of European masters arrived safely in Moscow. The Berlin newspaper Tagesshpil then wrote: “These things were taken as compensation for the destroyed Russian museums in Leningrad, Novgorod and Kyiv. Of course, the Russians will never give up their booty.”
Almost all the paintings arrived damaged, but the task of the Soviet restorers was facilitated by the notes attached to them about the damaged places. The most complex work was produced by the artist of the State Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin Pavel Korin. We owe him the preservation of the masterpieces of Titian and Rubens.
From May 2 to August 20, 1955, an exhibition of paintings by the Dresden Art Gallery was held in Moscow, which was attended by 1,200,000 people. On the day of the closing ceremony of the exhibition, an act was signed on the transfer of the first painting to the GDR - it turned out to be Dürer's "Portrait of a Young Man". A total of 1,240 paintings were returned to East Germany. It took 300 railway wagons to transport paintings and other property.

Troy Gold

Most researchers believe that the most valuable Soviet trophy of the Second World War was the "Gold of Troy". The Treasure of Priam (as the “Gold of Troy” was originally called) found by Heinrich Schliemann consisted of almost 9 thousand items - gold tiaras, silver clasps, buttons, chains, copper axes and other items made of precious metals.
The Germans carefully hid the "Trojan treasures" in one of the towers of the air defense system on the territory of the Berlin Zoo. Continuous bombing and shelling destroyed almost the entire zoo, but the tower remained unscathed. On July 12, 1945, the entire collection arrived in Moscow. Some of the exhibits remained in the capital, while others were transferred to the Hermitage.
For a long time, "Trojan gold" was hidden from prying eyes, and only in 1996 the Pushkin Museum staged an exhibition of rare treasures. The “Gold of Troy” has not been returned to Germany so far. Oddly enough, but Russia has no less rights to him, since Schliemann, having married the daughter of a Moscow merchant, became a Russian subject.

color cinema

A very useful trophy was the German color film AGFA, on which, in particular, the Victory Parade was filmed. And in 1947, the average Soviet viewer saw color cinema for the first time. These were films from the USA, Germany and other European countries brought from the Soviet zone of occupation. Stalin watched most of the films with a translation specially made for him.
The adventure films The Indian Tomb and The Rubber Hunters, biographical films about Rembrandt, Schiller, Mozart, as well as numerous opera films were popular.
The cult film in the USSR was Georg Jacobi's The Girl of My Dreams (1944). Interestingly, the film was originally called "The Woman of My Dreams", but the party leadership considered that "dreaming about a woman is indecent" and renamed the tape.

During the hostilities of the Second World War, German troops captured a significant number of various armored vehicles in the occupied countries, which were then widely used in the Wehrmacht field troops, SS troops and various kinds of security and police formations. At the same time, some of them were reworked and re-equipped, while the rest were used in the original version. The number of armored combat vehicles of foreign brands adopted by the Germans varied in different countries from a few to several hundred.

Appendix to the magazine "MODEL CONSTRUCTION"

By May 1940, the French army had 2,637 tanks of the new type. Among them: 314 tanks B1,210 - D1 and D2, 1070 - R35, AMR, AMC, 308 - H35, 243 - S35, 392 - H38, H39, R40 and 90 FCM tanks. In addition, up to 2,000 old FT 17/18 combat vehicles (of which 800 were combat-ready) from the period of the First World War and six heavy 2Cs were stored in the parks. 600 armored vehicles and 3,500 armored personnel carriers and tracked tractors supplemented the armored armament of the ground forces. Almost all of this equipment, both damaged during the hostilities and absolutely serviceable, fell into the hands of the Germans.

We can safely say that never before has any army in the world captured so much military equipment and ammunition as the Wehrmacht during the French campaign. History knows no example that captured weapons in such a large number were adopted by the victorious army. The case is undeniably unique! All this also applies to French tanks, the exact number of which is not even given by German sources. Repaired and repainted in German camouflage, with crosses on the sides, they fought in the ranks of the enemy army right up to 1945. Only a small number of them, who were in Africa, as well as in France itself in 1944, were able to again stand under the French banner. The fate of the combat vehicles, forced to operate "under a false flag", developed in different ways.

Some tanks captured in serviceable condition were used by the Germans during the fighting in France. The bulk of the armored vehicles, after the completion of the "French campaign", began to be brought to specially created parks, where they underwent a "technical inspection" in order to find out faults. Then the equipment was sent for repair or re-equipment to French factories, and from there it entered the German military units.

However, things did not go further than the formation of four regiments and headquarters of two brigades in the winter of 1941. It soon became clear that units armed with French armored vehicles could not be used in accordance with the tactics of the Wehrmacht tank troops. And mainly because of the technical imperfection of captured combat vehicles. As a result, already at the end of 1941, all regiments that had French tanks were re-equipped with German and Czechoslovak combat vehicles. The released captured equipment was used to equip numerous separate units and subunits, which carried out mainly security services in the occupied territories, including SS units and armored trains. The geography of their service was quite extensive: from the islands in the English Channel in the west to Russia in the east and from Norway in the north to Crete in the south, a significant part of the combat vehicles were converted into various kinds of self-propelled guns, tractors and special vehicles.

The nature of the use of captured vehicles was most directly influenced by their tactical and technical characteristics. Directly as tanks it was supposed to use only H35 / 39 and S35. Apparently, the decisive factor was their higher speed than the rest of the machines. According to the original plans, four tank divisions were to be equipped with them.

After the end of hostilities in France, all serviceable and defective R35 tanks were sent to the Renault factory in Paris, where they underwent revision or restoration. Due to its low speed, the R35 could not be used as a battle tank, and the Germans subsequently sent about 100 vehicles to carry out security service. 25 of them took part in the battles with the Yugoslav partisans. Most of the tanks were equipped with German radios. The domed commander's cupola was replaced with a flat double hatch.

The Germans handed over part of the R35 to their allies: 109 - Italy and 40 - Bulgaria. In December 1940, the Berlin company Alkett received an order to convert 200 R35 tanks into self-propelled guns, armed with a Czech 47-mm anti-tank gun. As a prototype, a similar self-propelled gun was used on the chassis of the German tank Pz.l. In early February 1941, the first self-propelled gun based on the R35 left the factory floor. The gun was installed in a cabin open at the top, placed in place of the dismantled tower. The frontal cutting sheet had a thickness of 25 mm, and the side ones - 20 mm. The vertical pointing angle of the gun ranged from -8° to +12°, the horizontal was 35°. A German radio station was located in the aft niche of the cabin. The crew consisted of three people. Combat weight - 10.9 tons. In experimental order, one self-propelled gun of this type in 1941 was armed with a German 50-mm anti-tank gun Rak 38.

Of the 200 ordered vehicles, 174 were made as self-propelled guns, and 26 as commanders. On the latter, the gun was not installed, and its embrasure was absent in the front sheet of the cabin. Instead of a cannon, a MG34 machine gun was mounted in a Kugelblende 30 ball mount.

The rest of the R35 tanks, after the dismantling of the towers, served in the Wehrmacht as artillery tractors for 150-mm howitzers and 210-mm mortars. The towers were installed on the Atlantic shaft as fixed firing points.

As mentioned above, the Hotchkiss H35 and H39 tanks (in the Wehrmacht they were designated 35H and 38H) were used by the Germans as ... tanks. They also mounted double-leaf tower hatches and installed German radios. The vehicles converted in this way entered service with the German occupation units in Norway, Crete and Lapland. In addition, they were intermediate weapons in the formation of new Wehrmacht tank divisions, for example, the 6th, 7th and 10th. As of May 31, 1943, 355 35N and 38N tanks were in operation in the Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe, SS troops, etc.

15 machines of this type were transferred to Hungary in 1943, another 19, in 1944, to Bulgaria. Several 38H received Croatia.

In 1943-1944, 60 chassis of the Hotchkiss tanks were converted into a 75-mm self-propelled anti-tank gun. Instead of the removed turret, an impressively open cabin was mounted on the tank hull, in which a 75-mm Pak 40 cannon was installed. With a crew of four, the combat weight of the vehicles was 12.5 tons. The conversion of tanks into self-propelled guns was carried out by the Baukommando Becker enterprise (apparently, an army repair plant).

At the same enterprise, 48 "Hotchkiss" were converted into self-propelled guns armed with a 105-mm howitzer. Outwardly, it was similar to the previous car, but its wheelhouse housed a 105-mm howitzer leFH 18/40. The gun pointing angles vertically ranged from -2° to +22°. The crew consisted of five people. 12 self-propelled guns of this type entered service with the 200th assault gun battalion.

For units armed with self-propelled guns based on Hotchkiss tanks, 24 tanks were converted into advanced artillery observer vehicles, the so-called grosser Funk-und Befehlspanzer 38H (f). A small amount of 38N was used for training purposes, as tractors, ammunition carriers and ARVs. It is interesting to note an attempt to increase the firepower of the tank by installing four launch frames for 280- and 320-mm rockets. At the initiative of the 205th tank battalion (Pz. Abt. 205), 11 tanks were equipped in this way.

Due to their small number, the FCM36 tanks were not used by the Wehrmacht for their intended purpose. 48 vehicles were converted into self-propelled artillery mounts: 24 - with a 75-mm Pak 40 anti-tank gun, the rest - with a 105-mm leFH 16 howitzer. All self-propelled guns were made in Baukommando Becker. Eight anti-tank self-propelled guns, as well as several 105-mm self-propelled howitzers, entered service with the 200th assault gun battalion, included in the 21st tank division. Part of the self-propelled guns received the so-called Fast Brigade "West" - Schnellen Brigade West.

The few medium tanks D2 that they inherited were not used at all by the Germans. It is only known that their towers were installed on Croatian armored trains.

As for the SOMUA medium tanks, most of the 297 units captured by the Germans under the designation Pz.Kpfw.35S 739 (f) were included in the tank units of the Wehrmacht. SOMUA have undergone some modernization: German Fu 5 radio stations were installed on them and the commander's turret was equipped with a double-leaf hatch (but not all vehicles underwent such alteration). In addition, a fourth crew member was added - a radio operator, and the loader moved to the tower, where there were now two people. These tanks came mainly to equip tank regiments (100, 201, 202, 203, 204 Panzer-Regiment) and individual tank battalions (202, 205, 206, 211, 212, 213, 214, 223 Panzer-Abteilung). Most of these units were stationed in France and served as a reserve for replenishing the tank units of the Wehrmacht.

For example, at the beginning of 1943, on the basis of the 100th Tank Regiment (armed mainly with S35 tanks), the 21st Tank Division was re-formed, completely defeated near Stalingrad by the Red Army. The revived division was stationed in Normandy, in June 1944, after the Allied landing in France, it took an active part in the battles.

As of July 1, 1943, in the active parts of the Wehrmacht (not counting warehouses and parks) there were 144 SOMUA: in Army Group Center - 2, in Yugoslavia - 43, in France - 67, in Norway - 16 (as part of 211- th tank battalion), in Finland - 16 (as part of the 214th tank battalion). On March 26, 1945, the German tank units still had five 35S tanks operating against the Anglo-American troops on the Western Front.

It should be noted that the Germans used a number of SOMUA tanks to fight partisans and protect rear facilities, 60 units were converted into artillery tractors (the turret and the upper front part of the hull were dismantled from them), and 15 vehicles entered service with armored trains No. 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30. Constructively, these armored trains consisted of a semi-armored locomotive, two armored platforms open on top for infantry and three special platforms with ramps for S35 tanks.

The tanks of the armored train No. 28 took part in the assault on the Brest Fortress, for which they had to leave their platforms. On June 23, 1941, one of these vehicles was hit by hand grenades at the North Gate of the fortress, and another S35 was damaged by anti-aircraft fire there. The third tank broke into the central courtyard of the citadel, where it was hit by artillerymen of the 333rd Infantry Regiment. The Germans managed to evacuate two cars immediately. After the repair, they again participated in the battles. In particular, on June 27, the Germans used one of them against the Eastern Fort. The tank fired at the embrasures of the fort, as a result, as stated in the report of the headquarters of the 45th German infantry division, the Russians began to behave more quietly, but the continuous firing of snipers continued from the most unexpected places.

As part of the mentioned armored trains, the S35 tanks were operated until 1943, when they were replaced by the Czechoslovak Pz.38 (t).

After the occupation of France, the Germans repaired and returned to service 161 B1 bis heavy tanks, which received the designation Pz.Kpfw in the Wehrmacht. B2 740(f). Most of the vehicles retained standard weapons, but German radio stations were installed, and the commander's cupola was replaced with a simple hatch with a double-leaf cover. Turrets were removed from several tanks and all weapons were dismantled. In this form, they were used to train driver mechanics.

In March 1941, the Rheinmetall-Borsig company in Düsseldorf converted 16 combat vehicles into self-propelled guns, mounting an armored cabin with a 105-mm leFH 18 howitzer, open at the top and rear, in place of the previous weapons and turrets.

On the basis of French heavy tanks, the Germans created a large number of combat flamethrower vehicles. At a meeting with Hitler on May 26, 1941, the possibility of arming captured B2 tanks with flamethrowers was discussed. The Fuhrer ordered the formation of two companies equipped with such machines. The first 24 B2s were equipped with flamethrowers of the same system as on the German Pz.ll (F), which ran on compressed nitrogen. The flamethrower was located inside the hull, in place of the removed 75-mm gun. All tanks were sent to the 10th battalion, formed by June 20, 1941. It consisted of two companies, each, in addition to 12 flamethrower vehicles, had three support tanks (linear B2, armed with a 75-mm cannon). The 102nd battalion arrived on the Eastern Front already on June 23 and was subordinated to the headquarters of the 17th Army, whose divisions stormed the Przemysl fortified area.

On June 24, 1941, the battalion supported the advance of the 24th Infantry Division. On June 26, the attacks were continued, but this time in conjunction with the 296th Infantry Division. On June 29, with the participation of flamethrower tanks, the assault on Soviet pillboxes began. The report of the commander of the 2nd battalion of the 520th infantry regiment allows us to reconstruct the picture of the battle. On the evening of June 28, the 102nd battalion of flamethrower tanks reached the indicated initial positions. At the sound of tank engines, the enemy opened fire from cannons and machine guns, but there were no casualties. With a delay caused by dense fog, at 5.55 on June 29, 8.8 cm Flak opened fire at direct fire on the embrasures of the pillboxes. Anti-aircraft gunners fired until 7.04, when most of the embrasures were hit and fell silent. Using a green rocket, the 102nd battalion of flame-thrower tanks went on the attack at 07:05. Engineering units accompanied the tanks. Their task was to install high-explosive charges under the enemy's defensive fortifications. When some pillboxes opened fire, the sappers were forced to take cover in an anti-tank ditch. 88-mm anti-aircraft guns and other types of heavy weapons returned fire. The sappers were able to reach their assigned targets, lay and detonate high-explosive charges. The pillboxes were badly damaged by 88 mm guns and fired only intermittently. Flamethrower tanks were able to get close to the pillboxes, but the defenders of the fortifications put up desperate resistance, knocking out two of them from the 76-mm cannon.

Both cars burned down, but the crews managed to leave them. Flamethrower tanks did not manage to hit the pillboxes, since the combustible mixture could not penetrate through the ball mounts. The defenders of the fortifications continued to fire.

On June 30, the 102nd battalion was transferred to the direct subordination of the headquarters of the 17th Army, and on July 27 it was disbanded.

Further development of German tank flamethrowers took place using the same Pz.B2. For new types of weapons, a pump was used, which was powered by a J10 engine. These flamethrowers had a firing range of up to 45 m, the stock of a combustible mixture made it possible to fire 200 shots. They were installed in the same place - in the building. The combustible mixture tank was placed on the back of the armor. At Daimler-Benz, they developed a scheme for improving the armor of the tank, at Kebe, a flamethrower, and at Wegmann, the final assembly was carried out.

It was planned to convert ten B2 tanks in this way in December 1941 and the next ten in January 1942. In reality, the production of flamethrower machines was much slower: although five units were ready in November, only three were produced in December, three more in March 1942, two in April, three in May, and, finally, in June - the last four. The further progress of the work is unknown, since the order for the alteration was sent to French enterprises.

In total, in 1941 - 1942, about 60 B2 (FI) flamethrower tanks were manufactured. Together with other B2s, they were in service with quite a few parts of the German army. So, for example, as of May 31, 1943, the 223rd tank battalion had 16 V2s (of which 12 were flamethrowers); in the 100th tank brigade - 34 (24); in the 213th tank battalion - 36 (10); in the SS mountain division "Prince Eugene" - 17 B2 and B2 (FI).

B2 were used in the Wehrmacht until the end of the war, especially in the troops stationed in France. In February 1945, there were still about 40 of these tanks here.

As for the French tanks of other brands, they were practically not used by the Wehrmacht, although many of them received German designations. The only exception is perhaps the light reconnaissance tank AMR 35ZT. Some of these vehicles, which had no combat value, were converted into self-propelled mortars in 1943-1944. The turret was dismantled from the tank, and in its place they built a box-shaped cabin, open at the top and behind, welded from 10-mm armor plates. An 81-mm mortar Granatwerfer 34 was installed in the wheelhouse. The crew of the vehicle was four people, the combat weight was 9 tons.

A story about the use of captured French tanks in the Wehrmacht would be incomplete without mentioning the FT 17/18. As a result of the 1940 campaign, the Germans captured 704 Renault FT tanks, of which only about 500 were in good condition. Some of the vehicles were repaired and under the designation Pz.Kpfw. 17R 730 (f) or 18R 730 (f) (tanks with a cast turret) was used for patrol and security service. Renault also served to train drivers of German units in France. Some of the disarmed vehicles were used as mobile command and observation posts. In April 1941, a hundred Renault FTs with 37 mm guns were assigned to reinforce armored trains. They were attached to railway platforms, thus obtaining additional armored cars. These armored trains patrolled the roads along the English Channel coast. In June 1941, a number of armored trains with Renault were allocated to fight partisans in the occupied territories. Five tanks on railway platforms were used to protect roads in Serbia. For the same purpose, several Renaults were used in Norway. Captured Renaults and the Luftwaffe were constantly exploited, which used them (about 100 in total) to guard airfields, as well as to clear runways. For this, bulldozer blades were installed on several tanks without towers.

In 1941, 20 Renault FT turrets with 37 mm guns were installed on concrete bases on the English Channel coast.

After the defeat of France, a significant number of French armored vehicles also fell into the hands of the Germans. However, most of them were outdated designs and did not meet the requirements of the Wehrmacht. The Germans hurried to get rid of such machines and handed them over to their allies. As a result, only one type of French armored car was used in the German army - AMD Panhard 178.

More than 200 of these machines under the designation Pz.Spah. 204 (f) entered the field troops and SS units, and 43 were converted into armored tires. On the latter, a German radio station with a frame-type antenna was installed. On June 22, 1941, there were 190 Panhards on the Eastern Front, 107 of them were lost by the end of the year. As of June 1943, the Wehrmacht still had 30 vehicles on the Eastern Front and 33 on the Western. In addition, some of the armored cars by this time were transferred to security divisions.

The French Vichy government received permission from the Germans to keep a small number of armored vehicles of this type, but at the same time they demanded that the standard 25-mm guns be dismantled. In November 1942, during the invasion of the Nazis into the “free” zone (the unoccupied south of France), these vehicles were captured and used for police functions, and in 1943, the Germans armed some of the Panhards that did not have towers with a 50-mm tank gun.

The Germans also actively used a large fleet of French artillery tractors and armored personnel carriers, which included both wheeled and tracked, and half-tracked vehicles. And if the half-tracked Citroen P19 vehicles were operated in the West brigade without any major alterations, then many other models of equipment underwent significant changes.

So, for example, the Germans used French all-wheel drive two- and three-axle specialized army trucks Laffly V15 and W15. These machines were operated in various parts of the Wehrmacht, mostly in pristine condition. However, in the West brigade, 24 W15T trucks were converted into mobile radio stations, and several vehicles were equipped with armored hulls, turning them into wheeled armored personnel carriers.

Since 1941, in the German troops stationed in France, as an artillery tractor for 75-mm anti-tank guns, 105-mm light field howitzers and mortars, a transporter for transporting personnel, an ambulance and a radio vehicle, a carrier of ammunition and equipment, a captured Unic half-track tractor was used P107 - leichter Zugkraftwagen U304(f). Only in the West brigade there were more than a hundred such vehicles. In 1943, some of them were equipped with an armored hull with a body open on top (for this, the chassis frame had to be lengthened by 350 mm) and reclassified into armored personnel carriers - leichter Schutzenpanzerwagen U304 (f), close in size to the German Sd.Kfz.250. At the same time, some of the machines had open, and some had closed cases. Several armored personnel carriers were armed with a 37 mm Pak 36 anti-tank gun with a standard shield.

A number of tractors were converted into semi-armored SPAAGs armed with a 20-mm Pak 38 anti-aircraft gun. An even larger series (72 units) at Baukommando Becker produced an armored ZSU with similar weapons. These vehicles also entered service with the Zapad brigade.

The heavier semi-tracked tractors SOMUA MCL - Zugkraftwagen S303 (f) and SOMUA MCG - Zugkraftwagen S307 (f) were used as artillery tractors. Some of them were also equipped with an armored corps in 1943. At the same time, they were supposed to be used both as armored tractors - mittlerer gepanzerter Zugkraftwagen S303 (f), and as armored personnel carriers - mittlerer Schutzenpanzerwagen S307 (f). In addition, combat vehicles were created on their basis: m SPW S307 (f) mit Reihenwerfer - self-propelled multi-barreled mortar (36 units were manufactured); in the stern of the vehicle, on a special frame, a two-row package of 16 barrels of French 81-mm mortars was mounted; 7.5 cm Pak 40 auf m SPW S307(f) - self-propelled 75 mm anti-tank gun (72 units manufactured); armored ammunition carrier (48 units manufactured); an engineering vehicle equipped with special walkways to overcome ditches; 8 cm Raketenwerfer auf m.gep.Zgkw. S303(f) - a rocket launcher with a package of guides for launching 48 rockets, copied from the Soviet 82-mm BM-8-24 launcher (6 units were made); 8-cm schwerer Reihenwerfer auf m.gep Zgkw. S303(f) - self-propelled multi-barrel mortar (16 units manufactured) with a package of 20 barrels of captured French Granatwerfer 278(f) mortars.

Of the purely tracked French combat vehicles captured and widely used by the Germans, the Renault UE multi-purpose transporter (Infanterieschlepper UE 630 (f) should be mentioned first of all. Initially, it was used as a light tractor for transporting equipment and ammunition (including on the Eastern Front ).With an armored cab and armed with a UE 630 (f) machine gun, it was used for police and security functions.In parts of the Luftwaffe, several vehicles were equipped with one or even two wheelhouses with MG34 machine guns and used to guard airfields, several hundred were converted into anti-tank installations for infantry parts - 3,7 cm Cancer 36 (Sf) auf Infanterieschlepper UE 630 (f). At the same time, the upper machine and the gun shield remained unchanged. Another 40 conveyors were equipped with a special armored cabin located in the aft part, where the radio station was located. They were used in as communication and surveillance vehicles in units armed with captured French tanks.

Several tractors were converted into cable layers. In 1943, almost all vehicles that had not been modified earlier were equipped with launchers for heavy rocket mines - 28/32 cm Wurfrahmen (Sf) auf Infanterieschlepper UE 630 (f).

At first, 300 captured Lorraine 37L tracked armored personnel carriers-tractors were not actively used in the Wehrmacht. An attempt to use them for the transportation of various goods was not very successful: with a mass of 6 tons, the tractor's carrying capacity was only 800 kg. Therefore, already in 1940, the first attempts were made to convert these vehicles into self-propelled guns: 47-mm French anti-tank guns were mounted on several tractors. The mass conversion of tractors into self-propelled units began in 1942. Three types of self-propelled guns were manufactured on the Lorraine 37L chassis: 7.5 cm Cancer 40/1 auf Lorraine Schlepper(f) Marder I (Sd.Kfz.135) - a self-propelled 75-mm anti-tank gun (179 units were manufactured); 15 cm sFH 13/1 auf Lorraine Schlepper(f) (Sd.Kfz. 135/1) - self-propelled 150 mm howitzer (94 units manufactured); 10.5 cm leFH 18/4 auf Lorraine Schlepper(f) - 105 mm self-propelled howitzer (12 units made).

All these self-propelled guns were structurally and outwardly similar to each other and differed from each other mainly only in the artillery system, which was located in the box-shaped cabin located at the stern of the vehicle.

Self-propelled guns on the Lorraine chassis were also used by the Germans on the Eastern Front and North Africa, and in 1944 in France.

One of the German armored trains included self-propelled guns on the Lorraine Schiepper (f) chassis, in which the Soviet 122-mm M30 howitzer was installed in the regular wheelhouse.

On the basis of the Lorraine tractor, the Germans created 30 fully armored observation and communication vehicles.

The crew of the Panzerwaffe on the Soviet tank KV-1 (Klim Voroshilov)

The same KV-1. Captured? Or...

And these are our T-26s. They successfully fought even in Africa, like the Soviet ZIS-2 guns

And this is the tractor "Komsomolets"

Another "Komsomolets" pulls out a bogged down headquarters "Mercedes"

Quite a curiosity. Soldiers of the Red Army returned the Soviet BA from captivity.

Again our T-26

And this is the legendary "thirty-four"

BT-7. A high-speed tank, created by Soviet designers specifically for combat operations in Europe. It is clear, however, that in Russia there was no place to accelerate. As it is now, however.

Do you recognize? This is our BA-10

Another T-26

The most massive and most reliable T-34 in the world. Longevity record holder. Not a single tank has ever been in service for such a period. The last car left the assembly line in 1958. It is in service in some countries to this day.

Another Klim Voroshilov - 1

And he is again!

52-ton monster, pillbox killer Klim Voroshilov - 2

Another KV-1. A very popular car among the Fritz! And now we have: - "Black booumer, black booumer ..."

And this BA from the Waffen-SS stable

The legendary "Drying" - self-propelled gun SU-85

It's just a masterpiece! After tuning, the T-26 is simply unrecognizable!

More KV-2

A strange cross on the T-34, are there any sanitary tanks?

T-34 again

And again he is born ...

And it's him again!

It may seem that the Germans had very few of their own tanks!

And this is him. Obviously, the Germans used our equipment more than once, and this raises a lot of questions. It is clear even to a non-specialist that the equipment requires maintenance and repair. Well, at least just an oil filter, where to get the equipment of the enemy? In the store "Auto parts for foreign cars"? What about ammunition? Yes, at least the same tracks are tracked, they are also required during operation. Has he set up the production of consumables and spare parts?

Again BT-7.

And printing houses in Germany produced cardboard toys "Do it yourself" - copies of the KV-1. And the prankster tankers themselves just got out of this tank and started doing nonsense. If only they would send them coloring pages ...

We study the materiel T-34

And KV-1 toy gluing was released. I have something that does not fit with reality.

Normal such German KV-1. And there is also evidence that our light mortars were produced in Germany. And they copied them so carefully that they even left the letter "Zh" in the markings on the barrel.

KV-1 took a run, wanted to jump over, but... didn't jump.

And again T-26

Well, without the "thirty-four" nowhere already ... And what was the situation with captured aircraft?

Fine. It was not enough to capture aircraft, but our I-16s were also in the Luftwaffe ranks.

And this is already thought provoking. The caption under the illustration in Russian reads: - "We have a swarm of such tanks." So they captured such a huge number? In principle, the number of losses in the first weeks of the war was announced more than once. Yes, many were captured by our technology. But the number of Panzerwaffe tanks that entered service is simply amazing. After all, it is more logical to assume that light small arms were captured by a million-strong army! Where is it? There is. There is. But a little.

And here, by the way, is the mortar crew next to the "thirty-four"

Summing up the first part, I will explain why the title contains a portrait of Joseph Vissarionovich. There really is a serious jamb - the word Motherland with a small letter, but the essence is clear. The USSR made money by importing finished products. Not oil and gas, as our rulers, but products created at high-tech enterprises. Now you will be surprised, but I will tell. The Soviet car "Moskvich 408" was recognized in the UK as the car of the year, and became the leader in sales. Its production was established in Belgium, and it was the first people's car of the British. Do you still want to spit in the Soviet auto industry?
I am developing an idea. What do you think Russia could trade before 1941? No need to immediately rush to "google". In open information, only grain, legumes, manganese, phosphates and all kinds of ores. And the volume of foreign trade is simply amazing. Who did you trade with? With Germany, of course. What did they buy? Machine tools, pipes, high-grade steel, etc. Ie. it is clear that the economies of our countries were simply interdependent. And what about our equipment and weapons? You can't search. The data is classified to this day. What...didn't Russia sell weapons? Have mercy! When was that? Only in the troubled times of the breakup of the Russian Empire, when the Deputy Minister of Defense was sent to hard labor for life, who on the eve of World War I sent wagons of "obsolete" rifles and revolvers for remelting. Now the same thing is happening, like a blueprint. Submachine guns and rifles, revolvers and pistols are being pressurized by wagons in Nizhny Novgorod. Only the feldfurniture Taburetkin, instead of hanging on the gallows in the middle of Red Square, moves to Latvia for permanent residence.
Now let us recall the military-technical cooperation between the USSR and Germany. Contrary to popular belief, I come to the conclusion that it was not Ferdinand Porsche who taught us to produce trucks and armored vehicles in Gorky. On the contrary, we raised the German auto industry. Who now remembers that the Soviet engineer was the general designer of all MAN and Daimler automobile engines? But know! Write down the name of the creator of the legend of the world automobile industry - Lutsky Boris Grigoryevich.
In the meantime, take a look at how the German T-34 was pulled out of the lake in Estonia. Rumor has it that this tank is now on the move, in excellent condition, ready for battle!

Not only small arms Soviet weapons succumbed to the ranks of the German army. The Germans also turned tanks against the Soviet troops, including the legendary KV-2 and "thirty-four" - also distinguished themselves in the service of the troops of the Third Reich.

But the T-34 with crosses on board looks at least strange and unusual. However, there were a sufficient number of such tanks in the German troops, sadly. Along with them, heavy tanks KV-1 and KV-2 turned against the Soviet troops, surpassing German armored vehicles in firepower.

It is worth noting that for their combat characteristics, "KVshki" were quite popular with the Germans. True, it is not very clear where the Germans took spare parts for the repair of T-34s and Klimov Voroshilovs damaged in battles. And a lot of equipment was captured. Only by the end of the summer of 1941, more than 14 thousand Soviet tanks became the prey of the Germans. More often, due to the lack of spare parts, damaged "thirty-fours" and KVs left the service, and suitable parts were used to repair other tanks.

In 1943, the Germans set up a repair shop in Kharkov on the territory of a tractor plant. Here, Soviet T-34s damaged in battles were repaired and modified.

According to one version, the Germans got the Soviet tanks not only as war trophies, but also as a banal commodity - in the pre-war period. It is no secret that until 1941 the USSR had diplomatic relations with Nazi Germany.

Like it or not, but the fact is that in the same row as part of the SS division "Reich", German PZ.IVs and Soviet T-34s went to fight against the allied forces. By the way, the Germans used the towers of the latter to create an armored car - Panzerjagerwagen, a formidable anti-tank weapon.

During the war years, not only KV and T-34 were “lit up” in the ranks of the Wehrmacht troops. In the service of the Germans, there were also less famous examples of heavy equipment from the country of the Soviets, such as the T-26, BT-7, T-60 and T-70 Komsomolets tractor, the BA armored car and even Po-2 aircraft. The Germans used against the Soviet troops and our howitzers and self-propelled guns.

But, in fact, the number of Soviet armored vehicles in the service of the Germans was not so great, on the scale of the war. From June 1941 to May 1945, about 300 Soviet tanks took part in the battles against the Red Army.

Let's talk about the trophies of the Red Army, which the Soviet victors were taking home from defeated Germany. Let's talk calmly, without emotions - only photos and facts.

A Soviet soldier takes a bike from a German woman (according to Russophobes), or a Soviet soldier helps a German woman
align the steering wheel (according to Russophiles). Berlin, August 1945.

Whatever happens in this famous photo, we will never know the truth anyway, so why argue? But the truth, as always, is in the middle, and it lies in the fact that in abandoned German houses and shops, Soviet soldiers took everything they liked, but the Germans had quite a bit of brazen robbery.
Looting, of course, happened, but for him, it happened, and they were judged by the show trial of the tribunal. And none of the soldiers wanted to go through the war alive, and because of some junk and another round of the struggle for friendship with the local population, go not home as a winner, but to Siberia as a convict.
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Soviet soldiers buy up on the "black market" in the Tiergarten garden. Berlin, summer 1945.

Although junk was appreciated. After the Red Army entered the territory of Germany, by order of the NPO of the USSR No. 0409 dated 12/26/1944. all servicemen of the active fronts were allowed to send one personal parcel to the Soviet rear once a month.
The most severe punishment was the deprivation of the right to this parcel, the weight of which was established: for privates and sergeants - 5 kg, for officers - 10 kg and for generals - 16 kg. The size of the parcel could not exceed 70 cm in each of the three dimensions, but in various ways they managed to transport large equipment, carpets, furniture, and even pianos home.
When demobilized, officers and soldiers were allowed to take away everything that they could take with them on the road in their personal luggage. At the same time, bulky items were often taken home, fastened to the roofs of the wagons, and the Poles left the craft to pull them along the train with ropes with hooks (grandfather told me).
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Three Soviet women deported to Germany carry wine from an abandoned liquor store. Lippstadt, April 1945.

During the war and the first months after it ended, soldiers mainly sent non-perishable provisions to their home fronts (American dry rations, consisting of canned food, biscuits, egg powder, jam, and even instant coffee, were considered the most valuable). Allied medicines - streptomycin and penicillin - were also highly valued.
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American soldiers and young German women combine trading and flirting on the "black market" in the Tiergarten garden.
The Soviet military in the background in the market is not stupid. Berlin, May 1945.

And it was possible to get it only on the "black market", which instantly arose in every German city. You could buy everything at flea markets: from a car to women, and tobacco and food were the most common currency.
The Germans needed food, while the Americans, the British and the French were only interested in money - Germany then circulated Nazi Reichsmarks, the occupation stamps of the winners, and foreign currencies of the allied countries, on whose courses a lot of money was made.
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An American soldier is trading with a Soviet junior lieutenant. LIFE photo from September 10, 1945.

And the Soviet soldiers had funds. According to the Americans, they were the best buyers - gullible, badly traded and very rich. After all, since December 1944, Soviet military personnel in Germany began to receive double salaries in rubles and in marks at the rate (this system of double pay will be canceled much later).
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Photos of Soviet soldiers trading at a flea market. LIFE photo from September 10, 1945.

The salary of Soviet military personnel depended on the rank and position held. So, a major, deputy military commandant, in 1945 received 1,500 rubles. per month and for the same amount in occupation marks at the exchange rate. In addition, officers from the position of company commander and above were paid money to hire German servants.
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For pricing information. Certificate of purchase by a Soviet colonel from a German car for 2,500 marks (750 Soviet rubles)

The Soviet military received a lot of money - on the "black market" an officer could buy anything his heart desires for one month's salary. In addition, the servicemen were paid debts for monetary allowances for the past, and they had plenty of money even if they sent home a ruble certificate.
Therefore, it was simply stupid and unnecessary to risk "falling under the distribution" and be punished for looting. While there were certainly plenty of greedy marauding fools, they were the exception rather than the rule.