Soviet Lend-Lease Tanks of World War II

by Steven J. Zaloga, Henry Morshead (Illustrator)

Overview

The Red Army suffered such catastrophic losses of armour in the summer of 1941 that they begged Britain and the United States to send tanks. The first batches arrived in late 1941, just in time to take part in the defence of Moscow. The supplies of British tanks encompassed a very wide range of types including the Matilda, Churchill, and Valentine and even a few Tetrarch airborne tanks. American tanks included the M3 (Stuart) light tank and M3 (Lee) medium tank and the M4 Sherman tank, which became so common in 1944–45 that entire Soviet tank corps were equipped with the type. With these Western tanks, the Soviets were finally able to beat back the German tide in the East.

This study examines the different types of tanks shipped to the Soviet Union during the war, Soviet assessments of their merits and problems, and combat accounts of their use in Soviet service using full colour artwork, contemporary photographs and detailed cut-away illustrations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472818157
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	06/29/2017
Series:	New Vanguard
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	48
File size:	18 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Steven J. Zaloga received his BA in History from Union College and his MA from Columbia University. He has worked as an analyst in the aerospace industry for over two decades, covering missile systems and the international arms trade, and has served with the Institute for Defense Analyses, a federal think tank. He is the author of numerous books on military technology and military history, with an accent on the US Army in World War II as well as Russia and the former Soviet Union.
Steven J. Zaloga received his BA in History from Union College and his MA from Columbia University. He has worked as an analyst in the aerospace industry for over three decades, covering missile systems and the international arms trade, and has served with the Institute for Defense Analyses, a federal think tank. He is the author of numerous books on military technology and military history, with an accent on the US Army in World War II as well as Russia and the former Soviet Union.
Henry Morshead is a design consultant in the European automotive and aerospace sectors, with clients including Jaguar, Bentley, Citroën and Airbus. He is also a technical sponsor of the Bloodhound supersonic car, contributing digital surfacing and design services. A former officer in the Royal Engineers and illustrator for Jane's, he maintains a keen interest in the design and use of military land and air vehicles. Johnny Shumate works as a freelance illustrator living in Nashville, Tennessee. He began his career in 1987 after graduating from Austin Peay State University. Most of his work is rendered in Adobe Photoshop using a Cintiq monitor.

Table of Contents

Introduction 4

The Early Shipments 4

Initial British Shipments 6

The Canadian Valentine 11

The Tetrarch Light Tank 12

The Lend-Lease Process 14

Initial Us Tank Deliveries: M3 Light Tank 15

The M3 Medium Tank 18

Combat in 1942: Operation Blau 22

New Arrivals: The Churchill Infantry Tank 24

The American Tank Conundrum 26

The 1943 Campaign 28

Scorned But Redeemed: The M4 Medium Tank 31

Tank Destroyers 36

Light Armored Vehicles 37

Rarities and Late Arrivals 42

Final Assessment 43

Further Reading 46

Index 48