Andreas

Is that the one standing in Bovington next to the SU76 with the slogan: 'If you can read this, fascist, you are too close for comfort and I will kill you' (2nd Ukrainian Front, Iassy, 1944) ?

Well Mr. Smartypants. The existence of the M.3 Fluffy Dice is about as proven as that of welded-on Bren tripods on lend-lease Matildas. Also, I fear that if you don't come out of your SW London hole for a drink someday, I am going to have to sent an NKVD detachment to get you. Budda budda kerching indeed, matey. There are however documented cases of trophy Stugs with nodding dogs and knitted toilet-roll covers on the engine decks. Probably captured from the Germans.

The usual proviso in case of v.M. maybe appropriate here, especially when it comes to later war. From the (equally biased but better informed) memoirs of Soviet officers, it is clear that they had a role in keeping up morale, by providing political education (seen as crucial), being available for individual, sort of counselling sessions, and as representatives of the party in the army. This could also serve as a non-military disciplinary/reward measure, since soldiers/officers who did not perform could be stripped of their party membership, or receive censure by the commitee (Popjel describes an interesting case from the post-Kursk battles). From reading this, it becomes quite clear that the role was indeed quite complex, and probably comparable to the 'Innere Fuehrung' idea of the Bundeswehr to some degree.

There was a T34 version, called the 'Monstertank' with extra high roller-wheels, used by 15th Guards Mech Corps to smash fascist tanks at warbond drives. It was usually shown in re-runs on Soviet cable into the 1970s. The tanks had a red/white colour scheme, and individual slogans on them: 'Eat my shortskys' 'Ossetians do it in the dark' and 'Vrooom vrooom' being the ones I came across.

Well, can you prove that Rattatsky or the Maxim ES did not exist? I am a customer, therefore it must have existed. Why don't you go back to the Peng Thread?

This is how rumours get started, eh? Rumour one, no doubt to be a hard fact in about 2 hours: - there will be no release in Holland to be countered by rumour two, in about three hours: - there will be a release in Holland, but it will be the German language version... Really...

I am quite certain that Amazon.co.uk will ship it to Holland.

Does it have the Rally Stripes of 1019th Rifle Regiment? I would also be particularly interested in Maxim '57', with the black letter on a red background '57', that was operated by Hero of the Soviet-Union 'Pavel Rattatsky' in the Oranienbaum Pocket.

Ah, Stepupovich. Always looked up to, never bested when it comes to this kind of stuff. Does he by any chance have a photo of the Guards ES (Editionsky Spetsialsky) Maxim with aluminium alloy wheels and a second rear mirror? I always looked for one of those.

I think this is very much on the money. Political work ('Agitprop' in German) features very highly in all the Soviet officer memoirs I have read. I am quite sure that this work was not abandoned when the commissars were taken out of the decision-making process sometime after 1942. On the contrary, it seems to become more important.

Justin, personally I think the Maxim wins hands down, because of the shield, which was often used to display personal propaganda messages, thus increasing unit performance. I have just had a look at my copy of Duschwitz 'Obscure propaganda slogans of the Great Patriotic War' Vol. XVII, Berlin, National People's Army Publishing, 1968. Here are some examples: 'Smile, you are in my sights' 1st Belorussian Front, 1944 'My other automatic weapon is a PPSh' Vyazma, 1941 'Honk if you like water-cooled MGs' 2nd Baltic Front, 1945 'The machine-gun in front is a Maxim' Southwestern Front, 1942 'Tune in to 102.4 Stalingrad FM' Stalingrad Front, 1942 'Vorsprung durch Technitsky' 2nd Ukrainian Front, 1943 'My government went to war and all I got was this lousy ATR' 3rd Guards Tank Army, Berlin, 1945 'Recruits on board' Smolensk, 1941 Clearly, the propagandistic value of these slogans had a major effect on Soviet small unit performance. I hope this is interesting.

Wow, I made two sig-files in two days... I am truly impressed with myself (what else is new?)

That's what I thought you meant. Just wanted to make sure you were not talking about the last thrust in the Vistula-Oder operation. While Zhukov certainly was left with egg on his face, at the same time Rybalko's 3rd Guards Tank Army, part of Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front was steam-rolling all over the German 9th Army south of Berlin, and into the city. Ergo one could argue that the operational planning was sound - they got into Berlin quickly on one flank, thereby assisting the other one. Again, I think you are not talking about the same definition of 'operation' as Grisha does. You look at individual operations (e.g. Cobra, Seelower Hoehen), while Grisha's argument as I understand it is exactly that what matters is how you string your operations together to achieve the best outcome. Compare it to playing an instrument, or directing an orchestra.

Small point - Mars was very early (Autumn/Winter 42), before the Soviet operational art matured. Which thrust are you talking about re: Berlin? Comparing the Allied performance in Northern France, I fail to see the integration in operational thinking that the Soviets seemed to possess. There was a lot more opportunism, and while individual operations (e.g. Cobra) went well, their integration (e.g. with Totalize/Tractable/Bluecoat) left a lot to be desired. My understanding of Grisha's line of argument is that in the Soviet case, they would have been properly integrated, with some idea of what to do next - which the western allies certainly failed at, and quite miserably. Just look at the clusterf*ck that was opening Antwerp.

Operations in CMBB have been improved, so that problem should go away.

Thanks, very helpful - that is a very impressive number. I had no idea that the numbers were that high. Do you have figures for tanks too?

Thanks Ari, very interesting figures.

They are German, what do you expect? Apart from that I live by the old adage: surround yourself with really dim people, it makes you look even smarter than you already are. BTW - it is not just me, it is also your mate Warphead who is posting there...

You should be. Have you ever, kind of, thought, that you actually could be, how to put it, WRONG ? </font>

How many Tiger Is were produced between April 1944 and August, when IIRC the production stopped? Were older Tiger Is rebuilt (after destruction on the battlefield) and kitted out with the new sights?

See it that way - analysing the partnership deal with CDV will be what makes your paper worth reading. So you should feel grateful to BTS for doing it

Having taught a bit at Warwick Business School (ranked no.3 in the country), and having personally met a number of the people writing the textbooks, I know who I would trust more - a business student (post- or undergrad) or someone who makes a living out of it (Steve).

Bump

Reading Soviet accounts of the battle for Moscow (including Vyazma), one really gets a sense of the desperation and chaos that reigned after the Germans took up their assault on the capital again (e.g. Zhukov's memoirs and 'The great battle for Moscow', a German language abridged version of the official Soviet history). Cadet school classes thrown in to hold on to the last man, anything really to delay the German advance. It was quite clearly the nadir for the Soviets, and one should not draw any conclusions from these battles on what happened later. That would be the same as basing an analysis of the performance of the Wehrmacht in 1941 on stories from the fighting on the approaches to Berlin in 1945.

Cost is one issue, and ISTR piracy is another.