gunnergoz Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 For those interested in the Eastern Front, I've been reading, and highly suggest, Dmitry Loza's Fighting for the Soviet Motherland: Recollections from the Eastern Front. As the title says, it is a collection of anecdotes from veterans. In the first few chapters it makes some interesting references, here's just a couple: - Loss of raw materials forced production of T-34's with poorly cast armor (absent key metal alloys), with result of greatly increased crew injuries due to spalling even when there was no penetration. Shermans and Matildas were admired for the homogeneity of their armor. - Sherman and Matilda crews faced a great deal of risk from friendly fire as many other Russian units were unfamiliar with their profiles. - Matilda's developed a bad reputation for bogging as their suspension was not optimal in the dense soil and twiggy terrain of Russia. Every 4-5 kilometers the crews dismounted to clean out the suspension. Even I knew in principle of these things probably happening, but it's the first time I've come accross direct references by veterans to these facts. It's easy to see how such little factoids could be integrated in to the formulae for crew injuries in non-penetrating hits, odds of friendly fire occurring against certain vehicles or in the bogging odds calculations. I'm really enjoying this book and recommend it highly. I expect to find a few more gems in it and perhaps BTS's programmers will find it useful as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kipanderson Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 Hi, I have the same book and will now go back and take another look. Thanks for the info. Cheers, Kip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rommel22 Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 thanx, I've just ordered the book, lot of people gave it a very good rating. Can't wait! ------------------ Rommel22s Kampfgruppe site: http://rommel22diarys.homestead.com/MyPage1.html "I saw 5 Germans walking down the side of the road, so I followed them for a few yard to get closer. Then I shot them! Later that day I found out the war has been over for a few weeks." - someone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Michael emrys Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 Originally posted by gunnergoz: - Loss of raw materials forced production of T-34's with poorly cast armor (absent key metal alloys), with result of greatly increased crew injuries due to spalling even when there was no penetration. Somewhere back many years ago in my reading, I came across a comment by someone who had inspected T-34s fresh off the assembly lines that had flaws in their armor big enough that he could put his fist into. I've looked at a lot of pictures of t-34s and other Soviet tanks and seen little to no evidence of this, so I don't think the guy's observation was particularly representative, but it could indicate that they did sometimes have serious production problems resulting from corners cut to keep the numbers up. Just another little factoid... Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andrew Hedges Posted March 14, 2001 Share Posted March 14, 2001 Originally posted by Michael emrys: Somewhere back many years ago in my reading, I came across a comment by someone who had inspected T-34s fresh off the assembly lines that had flaws in their armor big enough that he could put his fist into. I've looked at a lot of pictures of t-34s and other Soviet tanks and seen little to no evidence of this, so I don't think the guy's observation was particularly representative, but it could indicate that they did sometimes have serious production problems resulting from corners cut to keep the numbers up. Just another little factoid... Michael I've encountered that quote too; IIRC, it actually referred to a (one) T-34 at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds that had a flaw big enough you could put your fist into. While it is important to model spall-prone armor realistically, I don't think that most T-34s had fist-sized flaws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grisha Posted March 14, 2001 Share Posted March 14, 2001 If you like Loza's two books, then make sure to read Valera's recent interview with Loza at his russian site ------------------ Best regards, Greg Leon Guerrero Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattias Posted March 14, 2001 Share Posted March 14, 2001 That interview with Semion Aria was a GREAT read too, really a must! M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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