German captured equipment, which was popular in the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War

During any major armed conflict, the warring parties receive enemy equipment as trophies. Then this weapon, if it can be restored, turns against its former owners.

Naturally, the Great Patriotic War was no exception, during which the soldiers of the Red Army managed to capture hundreds tanks, self-propelled guns of other enemy armored vehicles. At the same time, according to some reports, Soviet enterprises managed to restore about 800 units of enemy equipment.

If we consider all the trophies in terms of popularity, then the medium tanks of the Wehrmacht Panzerkampfwagen III were in the greatest demand among the soldiers of the Red Army. Soviet tankers especially appreciated the simplicity of this vehicle, high-quality observation devices, a walkie-talkie and a good speed, which reached 60 km / h.

The second line of the rating, so to speak, was occupied by the StuG III self-propelled guns. However, it is possible that the self-propelled gun would have “surpassed” the Panzerkampfwagen III, but it was extremely rare as a trophy.

The third most popular was the Panzerkampfwagen IV. Tellingly, in operation this medium tank was even simpler than its predecessor, but for some reason did not take root in the Red Army.

Finally, the "Tigers" and "Panthers" close the rating. These captured vehicles were used mainly for defense and as "tank destroyers". For offensive operations by the Soviet troops, they were not used because of their "sluggishness" and "gluttony".

After the war, captured German equipment was used mainly for training and as targets. In total, the Red Army had 533 of these machines at its disposal - by the end of the war.

However, already in the spring of 1946, all German equipment captured during the war was decommissioned.

Comments

[Nexcom]

Why only about tanks then? Opel Blitz was even respected by Soviet drivers as a trophy. True, Studer US6 was loved more - throughput and high-torque - even dragged overload and did not show off.

I won’t even talk about the rifleman - the MG 42 has always been a coveted trophy - it was never considered superfluous. It was easier for Maksimka to carry everything in different ways. German pistols also loved to trophy.

[Catfish]

Our fighters also treated the German machine guns with respect.

[hohol95]

Near Stalingrad, Italian "Breds" were used!
If there are few machine guns of your own, and the enemy also "left" cartridges - why not use it!

[Catfish]

True, but the machine gunner was much worse than the German ones, but without fish ...

[hohol95]

Czechoslovak "products" were also in "demand" among the soldiers of the Red Army!

[Catfish]

Well, the Czechs are a well-known thing, there was a demand for them and all over the world, they bought, stole, copied ...
ZB-30 (ZB-26)

[Altmann]

In 1938, the Czechoslovak army was ready for battle. We had good weapons and we wanted to fight. France and England betrayed us, and we capitulated or were forced to capitulate by the Munich Agreement. Only the USSR was ready to come to our aid. However, the Poles prevented this.

[Catfish]

I have no doubt that if it were not for the betrayal, everything would have been different. Russia remembers General Ludwig Svoboda and the battle path that the 1st Czechoslovak Separate Infantry Brigade passed under his command.

I don't want to talk about the Poles, hyenas or jackals, one word - scavengers.

[Nikolaevich I]

Duc and German artillery were respected by the "Red Army"! Especially anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft guns! And in the first post-war years, they were in service, and the "allies" were supplied!

[t200404]

The issue of trophies is always a matter of spare parts, and with them the Germans were not very different from the same lend-lease.

[ved_med12]

And the most popular were probably "shmasser"!

[Nexcom]

if you are talking about MP38-MP40, then no. On the contrary, the German did not disdain our PPSh. Here is the Stg.44 - a completely different class of weapon - one of the first under an intermediate cartridge.

[agoran]

In the old days in Koenig, I had a Stg.44 found without a shutter.
As it seemed to me at the time very heavy.

[mat-vey]

Quote: agoran

As it seemed to me at the time very heavy.

It didn't seem...

[mat-vey]

Quote: Nexcom

one of the first under an intermediate cartridge.

But with cartridges, there were just problems ... They didn’t have time to make them, they were often in short supply ..

[Strannik96]

Schmeisers were banned, my father told me, he was in front-line reconnaissance, they were comfortable, clips fit into boots with difficulty, but the sound knocked ours, the Fritz thought somewhere nearby. the Fritz had specially bell-shaped boots for clips

[Catfish]

Boots with wide tops were by no means sewn in order to carry spare magazines for submachine guns in them, there were special pouches for magazines, and there was only one P / P for an infantry platoon, a non-commissioned officer.

[tihonmarine]

Quote: Sea Cat

Boots with wide tops were by no means sewn in order to carry spare magazines for submachine guns in them.

Good evening Konstantin.
The boys have seen enough of our films about the Germans, where the stores are behind the tops. I think if I ran a couple of kilometers, my legs would fall off.

[Catfish]

Good evening, Vlad.

The boys have seen enough of our films about the Germans

Precisely, this is just some kind of scourge, many people judge books by the films on which these films are staged. Yes, even a TV ... In short, "Cinema and the Germans."

[solar]

More like four or five. The commanders of squads, the castle platoon and the platoon commander himself could have.

[Catfish]

It’s quite possible that you need to look at the staff and weapons in different years of the war, but you don’t feel like climbing, this is generally a topic for a separate article, so you would do it, Sergey.

[seacap]

It also depended on the type of troops paratroopers, fleet, tankers, etc. As for the store behind the top, you just need to turn on your head, try to put a few kilograms of angular and dangling pieces of iron into your boots, run at least 100 m, you will be in the medical unit at the finish line, and by the evening, by decision of the military field court, you will be shot for self-mutilation, at best at the stage in the penal battalion.

[tihonmarine]

Quote: Sea Cat

there were special pouches for shops

This is what the pouches looked like:

[vova1973]

you shove something in the top of your boot and walk around - an epic storyteller

[mat-vey]

Quote: Strannik96

the Fritz had specially bell-shaped boots for clips

Extended tops of marching boots for quick donning on alarm..

[solar]

Many write that some pistols were valued as a trophy - the "officer Walther" Walther P38, for example. Sometimes Walter PPK also came across, also a welcome thing.
Those who dealt with the Italians liked the Beretta (then Semyon Semenych Gorbunkov wore this :))

[Aviator_]

that as a trophy, some pistols were valued - "officer Walther" Walther P38,

My father did not have to choose - for a navigator, the Parabellum was not bad either. The German, whom he shot while clearing a farm near the airfield, tried to hit him from Parabellum. But PPSh turned out to be better in this situation. My father threw the trophy into the mouth of the Amur even before I was born.

[solar]

And Parabellum is pretty good. For a pistol, there was little need for cartridges, it was easier to hide (it was required to hand over). Grandfather brought a German dagger from the front. Unfortunately, he buried it somewhere, without telling anyone where, in Soviet times there could be problems with this.

[hohol95]

"The Panzerkampfwagen IV became the third most popular. Tellingly, this medium tank was even simpler than its predecessor in operation, but for some reason did not take root in the Red Army."
Veterans who served in the crews of captured Pz.IVs noted difficulties with refueling the tank and uncomfortable working conditions for the driver !!!
And the most unpleasant were the shelling from their own troops !!!
At the same time, the cars were painted in Soviet green with large red stars for identification.

[solar]

There were also problems with the shelling of tanks delivered under lend-lease, especially if the neighbors were not warned about this in advance. They fired at an unfamiliar silhouette.

[hohol95]

And everyone fired at the familiar silhouettes and with joy ...
The "Tiger" shot the "Panther", the Soviet artillery shot their own tanks at the "Khalkhin Gol" - friendly fire has survived to this day ...

[veteran tanker]

After the war, captured German equipment was used mainly for training and as targets. In total, the Red Army had 533 of these machines at its disposal - by the end of the war.
However, already in the spring of 1946, all German equipment captured during the war was decommissioned.

This is not entirely true, after the war, most of these tanks were transferred to the Armed Forces of such countries as: Syria, Israel, Bulgaria, France, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Iran, Iraq.
These tanks were used in the Middle East conflicts, often on both sides, and in the former Yugoslavia until 2000.

[Catfish]

These tanks were used in the Middle East conflicts

Quite right, they have been used with great success.

Here is a very famous photo, although for some reason the BTR-152 was cut off here.

[Mavrikiy]

The third most popular was the Panzerkampfwagen IV. Tellingly, in operation, this medium tank was even simpler than its predecessor, but for some reason it didn't stick in the Red Army.

Was captured without service regulations?

[solar]

After the war, captured German equipment was used mainly for training and as targets.

It's a pity. Filmmakers would be very useful, they would not have to sculpt plywood.

[Catfish]

But who thought about it then, but now the devils hang crosses on what.

And not only with us.

[TIR]

More often, German tanks were molded from the T-54. It was especially ridiculous to deal with rollers, when they tried to make Tigers and Panthers with their chess suspension out of their dear T-54

[agoran]

I read the memoirs of a motorist officer. There was a lot of captured equipment from different countries.
They used different ones, but the drivers, if there was a choice, took German trucks. With normal maintenance, they served without failures, and spare parts could be obtained. There was something interesting in one of the stories: next to one of the farmsteads (this is a type of a separate estate / farm) there was a broken German truck, the driver looked - dismantled, went to the burgher and exchanged a carburetor for the truck for a can of stew.,

[Losyara]

Interestingly, are there any surviving reviews on aircraft? I once read the memoirs of a fighter veteran, he spoke very positively about the Fokker 190. He wrote that ours did not really like to mess with them in battle, compared to Be109. Why is this remembered?

[Aviator_]

Interestingly, are there any surviving reviews on aircraft?

There is. So in the memoirs of polar pilots A.A. Lebedev and I.P. Mazuruk is about the emergency landing of the captured Condor on drifting ice near Baydaratskaya Bay in 1948.

[Illanatol]

The third most popular was the Panzerkampfwagen IV. Tellingly, in operation this medium tank was even simpler than its predecessor, but for some reason did not take root in the Red Army.

By that time, there were enough of their medium tanks. But in the initial period of the war, the German T-3 was really in demand.

[Illanatol]

Quote: ved_med12

And the most popular were probably "shmasser"!

No, messers . And German PPs are farts, by and large. PPSh or PPS - definitely cooler.

[TIR]

PPS was better than PPSh. But my grandfather was a submachine gunner in a tank regiment. Stalins were the main tanks in the regiment. It seems like the regiment was directly subordinate to the headquarters and had its own infantry cover. It was at the beginning of the war that in the tank units there were no infantry of their own at all. That's why our tanks got there. And at the end of the Second World War, motorized infantry already appeared in tank units. They didn't move on foot. Everything was in transport. Especially the supply was well established

[t200404]

Well, the article. There is a book of trophies of the Red Army, like a Kolomiyets, for all the time there may have been one tiger, and then in question, and where does voracity come into play ????? Laugh ! If the author is serious about the issue, then it was necessary to mention the su 76 and as an example of the most massive use of German materiel