T-34 - USSR: boeken - historie, typen en techniek (1/2)

Er ist der meistgebaute Kampfpanzer während des Zweiten Weltkriegs. Als die Sowjetunion den T 34 gegen die Achsenmächte ab 1941 ins Feld führte, war er all ihren Panzern überlegen. Später, als die Deutschen mit Panther, Tiger und Königstiger Gleichwertiges entgegensetzen konnten, war immer noch seine schiere Zahl erdrückend.
Auch nach dem Krieg wurden die Warschauer Pakt-Staaten mit weiterentwickelten T-34 ausgerüstet.

Wolfgang Fleischer beleuchtet den legendären russischen Kampfpanzer von allen Seiten: seine Konzeption, seine Entwicklung und Technik und nicht zuletzt seinen Einsatz im Grossen Vaterländischen Krieg.

The T-34 was one of the most remarkable tanks of the Second World War. Although the Red Army suffered continual heavy tank losses, the rugged and reliable T-34 was an immense success story and was ultimately instrumental in turning the tide of the war.

This photographic history follows the story of this exceptional armoured vehicle from its disastrous first action during Operation Barbarossa to its miraculous defence of Moscow, its envelopment of the Axis forces at Stalingrad and victory at Kursk, and finally, the advance to the gates of Warsaw then on to Berlin.

Packed with a wealth of images, including rare archive photographs and photographs of surviving examples, this is an extraordinary record of both the tank and its personnel. The accompanying text features an in-depth technical evaluation outlining the differences in the myriad of models, including detailed plans of each type, alongside a gripping breakdown of the tank's entire operational history.

The Soviet T-34 was the most produced tank of the Second World War and its revolutionary sloping armour became a major influence on future tank design. With its combination of heavy firepower, mobility and protection, the T-34 gave the Red Army a war-winning weapon with which to break the German Army on the Eastern Front.

A mainstay of the Soviet armoured divisions, it was widely exported after the war and in 2017 it remains in frontline service with many third world countries.
Author Mark Healy combines a detailed technical examination of the T-34 with its legendary combat history.

It could be said that the T-34 was the tank that won the Second World War. In total 57,000 were produced between 1941 and 1945. Stalin's tank factories outstripped Hitler's by a factor of three to one, and production of the T-34 also exceeded that of the famed American M4 Sherman.

Not only did this output swamp German panzer production, the T-34 was a robust no frills war-winning design - easy to manufacture and reliable. Its sloping armour was innovative at the time and its wide tracks suited it to off-road warfare.
Crucially it required little maintenance in comparison to German tanks, and its chassis was used as the basis for a range of assault guns, the SU-85, SU-100 and SU-122.

Anthony Tucker-Jones's photographic history of this exceptional armoured vehicle follows its story through the course of the war, from its combat debut against the Wehrmacht during Operation Barbarossa, through the Red Army's defeats and retreats of 1941 and 1942 to the tide-turning victories at Stalingrad and Kursk and on through the long, rapid Soviet advance across Ukraine and Byelorussia to Berlin.

As well as a range of rare archive photographs and photographs of a surviving example of the T-34, the book features specially commissioned colour illustrations.

Von Kleist, one of Hitler s best panzer leaders, described the T-34 as The finest tank in the world. There could have been no finer accolade from a commander whose panzer divisions experienced the full fury of its devastating attacks on the Eastern Front.

Without doubt, the T-34 was one of the best tanks of all time, and in this volume in the TankCraft series Robert Jackson tells its story. He describes its conception in the 1930s, its development during the Second World War, and its post-war deployment to over thirty countries within the Soviet sphere of influence.

His book is an excellent reference work for the modeller, providing details of available kits, together with artworks showing the colour schemes applied to the T-34 by its operators throughout the world. Photographs, many in colour, illustrate the T-34 in action and there is a section dealing with the range of armoured vehicles that were built using the T-34 chassis.

When the German army launched Operation Barbarossa - the invasion of the Soviet Union - on June 22, 1941, it was expecting to face and easily defeat outdated and obsolete tanks and for the most part it did, but it also received a nasty shock when it came up against the T-34.

With its powerful gun and sloped armour, the T-34 was more than a match for the best German tanks at that time and the Germans regarded it with awe. German Field Marshal von Kleist, who commanded the latter stages of Barbarossa, called it 'the finest tank in the world'.

Using original wartime documents author and historian Peter Samsonov, creator of the Tank Archives blog, explains how the Soviets came to develop what was arguably the war's most revolutionary tank design.

"T-34 on the battlefield 2" is Neil Stokes' second on this Russian tank for PeKo Publishing. 105 large-format black & white photos, primarily from private sources. Perfect for the model-maker! The book covers all types of T-34 tanks used in World War 2.