UDC

94(47).084.8

DOI

10.37482/2687-1505-V242

Authors

Aleksandr V. Khatanzeyskiy
Russian Arctic National Park; nab. Severnoy Dviny 36, Arkhangelsk, 163069, Russian Federation;
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7823-9578 
e-mail: hav@rus-arc.ru

Abstract

This article dwells on the role of armoured vehicles obtained under the Lend-Lease agreement in the Byelorussian offensive operation (Bagration) in the summer of 1944. The author examines the use of foreign armoured vehicles in combat operations as part of tank, mechanized, and cavalry units of the Red Army and evaluates their quantity and quality. The Lend-Lease armoured vehicles participated in combat operations on all four fronts involved in Operation Bagration. Primarily, these were British Valentine Mk III and American M4A2 Sherman tanks. However, a significant contribution was also made by the SU-57 and M10 self-propelled artillery, as well as by the M3A1 Scout Car. In addition, the troops continued to use a certain number of M3 Medium and M3 Light tanks left over from the previous periods of the war. In 1944, they were no longer supplied. Foreign vehicles showed a good performance both in terms of reliability and combat qualities, in particular manoeuvrability, armour protection and firepower. Importantly, it was in the units advancing in the main direction that the number of Lend-Lease tanks was the largest (in the 1st Mechanized (100 %) and 3rd Guards Mechanized (91 %), in the 3rd Guards Cavalry (82.5 %) and in the 8th Guards Tank (59 %) Corps). In smaller numbers, foreign tanks were also available in the line units of all fronts involved in the operation (1st, 2nd and 3rd Byelorussian and 1st Baltic Fronts). In total, foreign tanks accounted for about 1/3 of the entire Soviet tank fleet in the Byelorussian offensive operation.

Keywords

Great Patriotic War, Lend-Lease, armoured vehicles, Operation Bagration, year 1944

References

1. Kolomiets M.V., Moshchanskiy I.B. Tanki “Valentayn” v chastyakh Krasnoy Armii [Valentine Tanks in the Red Army Units]. M-Khobbi, 1999, no. 6, pp. 30–37.
2. Kolomiets M., Moshchanskiy I. “Matil’da” v Krasnoy Armii [The Matilda in the Red Army]. TankoMaster, 1999, no. 6, pp. 30–41.
3. Kolomiets M.V., Moshchanskiy I.B. Tanki lend-liza. 1941–1945 [Lend-Lease Tanks. 1941–1945]. Moscow, 2000. 72 p.
4. Moshchanskiy I.B. M4A2 “Sherman” v SSSR [M4A2 Sherman in the USSR]. TankoMaster, 2004, no. 4, pp. 12–25.
5. Moshchanskiy I.B. Universal Carrier na Vostochnom fronte [Universal Carrier on the Eastern Front]. TankoMaster, 2004, no. 4, pp. 26–45.
6. Baryatinskiy M.B. Tanki lend-liza v boyu [Lend-Lease Tanks in Combat Operations]. Moscow, 2009. 288 p.
7. Svirin M. “Tetrarkh” [The Tetrarch]. TankoMaster, 1999, no. 4, pp. 26–41.
8. Talanov V. Bronetekhnika lend-liza [Lend-Lease Armoured Vehicles]. Bronekollektsiya, 2009, no. 3. 32 p.
9. Uchaev A.N. K voprosu o primenenii pekhotnykh tankov “Valentayn” v SSSR v gody Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyny [On the Use of Valentine Infantry Tanks in the USSR During the Great Patriotic War]. Doklady Akademii voennykh nauk, 2005, no. 3, pp. 116–121.
10. Uchaev A.N. Spetsifika ekspluatatsii kanadskikh modeley tanka “Valentayn” v RKKA vo vremya Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyny [Specifics of Exploiting the “Valentine” Tank Canadian Models in the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army During the Great Patriotic War]. Istoricheskie, filosofskie, politicheskie i yuridicheskie nauki, kul’turologiya i iskusstvovedenie. Voprosy teorii i praktiki, 2016, no. 3, pt. 2, pp. 180–181.
11. Uchaev A.N. Klyuchevye tendentsii i osobennosti razvitiya voenno-promyshlennogo kompleksa Kanady v gody Vtoroy mirovoy voyny [Key Trends and Features of the Canadian Military-Industrial Complex During the Second World War]. Vestnik Baltiyskogo federal’nogo universiteta im. I. Kanta. Ser.: Gumanitarnye i obshchestvennye nauki, 2017, no. 3, pp. 54–65.
12. Zaloga S.J. Soviet Lend-Lease Tanks of World War II. Oxford, 2017. 48 p.
13. Samsonov P. “Shermany” v “Avgustovskoy groze” [Shermans in the August Storm]. Available at: https://warspot.ru/17802-shermany-v-avgustovskoy-groze (accessed: 2 September 2022).
14. Samsonov P. “Sherman” dlya russkikh i anglichan [Sherman for Russians and the British]. Available at: https://warspot.ru/15856-sherman-dlya-russkih-i-anglichan (accessed: 2 September 2022).
15. Samsonov P. Sherman Tanks of the Red Army. The American Vehicles in Soviet Service. Horncastle, 2021. 123 p.
16. Velikaya Otechestvennaya voyna 1941–1945 godov. T. 4. Osvobozhdenie territorii SSSR. 1944 god [The Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. Vol. 4. Liberation of the USSR. Year 1944]. Moscow, 2012. 864 p.
17. Velikaya Otechestvennaya. T. 5-4. Stavka VGK. Dokumenty i materialy. 1944–1945 [The Great Patriotic War. Vol. 5-4. Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. Documents and Materials. 1944–1945]. Moscow, 1999. 368 p.
18. Velikaya Otechestvennaya voyna 1941–1945 gg. Kampanii i strategicheskie operatsii v tsifrakh [The Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. Campaigns and Strategic Operations in Figures]. Vol. 2. Moscow, 2010. 784 p.
19. Central Archives of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (CAMDRF). Coll. 3468. Inv. 1. Fol. 43 (in Russ).
20. CAMDRF. Coll. 3428. Inv. 1. Fol. 83 (in Russ).
21. CAMDRF. Coll. 3468. Inv. 1. Fol. 104a (in Russ).
22. CAMDRF. Coll. 332. Inv. 4948. Fol. 189 (in Russ).
23. CAMDRF. Coll. 442. Inv. 8465. Fol. 116 (in Russ).
24. CAMDRF. Coll. 307. Inv. 4148. Fol. 1 (in Russ).
25. CAMDRF. Coll. 460. Inv. 5047. Fol. 544 (in Russ).
26. CAMDRF. Coll. 3563. Inv. 1. Fol. 142 (in Russ).
27. CAMDRF. Coll. 404. Inv. 1. Fol. 329 (in Russ).
28. CAMDRF. Coll. 3272. Inv. 1. Fol. 12 (in Russ).
29. CAMDRF. Coll. 3347. Inv. 1. Fol. 1 (in Russ).
30. CAMDRF. Coll. 3334. Inv. 1. Fol. 5 (in Russ).
31. CAMDRF. Coll. 3345. Inv. 1. Fol. 4 (in Russ).
32. CAMDRF. Coll. 402. Inv. 9575. Fol. 483 (in Russ).
33. CAMDRF. Coll. 3470. Inv. 1. Fol. 9 (in Russ).
34. CAMDRF. Coll. 4325. Inv. 206429s. Fol. 2 (in Russ).
35. CAMDRF. Coll. 398. Inv. 9308. Fol. 812 (in Russ).
36. CAMDRF. Coll. 325. Inv. 4570. Fol. 313 (in Russ).
37. CAMDRF. Coll. 3470. Inv. 1. Fol. 284 (in Russ).
38. CAMDRF. Coll. 3423. Inv. 1. Fol. 81 (in Russ).
39. CAMDRF. Coll. 237. Inv. 2410. Fol. 45 (in Russ).
40. CAMDRF. Coll. 3407. Inv. 1. Fol. 130 (in Russ).
41. Russian State Archives of Economics (RSAE). Coll. 413. Inv. 9. Fol. 542 (in Russ).
42. CAMDRF. Coll. 4412. Inv. 88450s. Fol. 2 (in Russ).
43. CAMDRF. Coll. 4412. Inv. 88450s. Fol. 5 (in Russ).
44. CAMDRF. Coll. 4325. Inv. 191021s. Fol. 2 (in Russ).
45. RSAE. Coll. 413. Inv. 9. Fol. 547 (in Russ).
46. Losik O.A. (ed.). Stroitel’stvo i boevoe primenenie sovetskikh tankovykh voysk v gody Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyny [Construction and Combat Use of Soviet Tank Troops During the Great Patriotic War]. Moscow, 1979. 414 p.
47. Sovetsko-amerikanskie otnosheniya vo vremya Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyny, 1941–1945: Dokumenty i materialy [Soviet-American Relations During the Great Patriotic War, 1941–1945: Documents and Materials]. Vol. 1. 1941–1943. Moscow, 1984. 510 p.
48. Krivosheev G.F. (ed.). Rossiya i SSSR v voynakh XX veka. Poteri vooruzhennykh sil: statisticheskoe issledovanie [Russia and the USSR in 20th-Century Wars. Military Casualties: A Statistical Study]. Moscow, 2001. 608 p.