"OT-26 Flamethrower Tank " Topic

From Warlord Games…

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Amicalement
Armand

Is this the right tank for Soviet 8th Mechanised Corps (34th Tank Division) during Barbarossa, or should it be a later version?

Hmmm, checking my best reference (Command Decision's Red Steel), it confirms that the 34th Tank Div had a battalion of the famous T-35s (!), 5 battalions of T-26, and one battalion of T-26 flamethrower tanks. The FT battalion would be two companies of FT tanks and a Bn command tank; the FT tanks would be either OT-26, OT-130, or OT-133. Sorry, I can find no more detail than that.

Is this the right tank … during Barbarossa, or should it be a later version?

… the FT tanks would be either OT-26, OT-130, or OT-133.

Tuscaloosa has it about right.

Soviet formations in the pre-war and early war period were typically mixed formations. A T-26 formation might well have had not only versions with early (cylindrical) and later (conical) turrets, but also with 45mm and 37mm guns, and even some very early twin-turreted models! And perhaps even some non-T-26 tanks as well.

So also a flame-thrower tank unit would probably have had a mix of early and later versions. And also might have a few tanks that were not flame-thrower tanks at all, such as older twin-turreted or 37mm-armed T-26s.

The Soviets were obsessed with production figures. They built lots of stuff. But the figures were very often padded, and so when a formation command team showed up at a factory or depot to pick up their vehicles, they often got short-changed on what they were supposed to receive, and had to make due with whatever rebuilds the depot had on hand fill out their ranks.

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)