"A Tank from a Former Ally" Topic

"The T-34 was a mystery for the USSR's allies for most of WWII. A sample of the legendary tank was only sent abroad in 1943, but information about an improved variant with a 3-man turret and an 85 mm gun became available soon after. Very little was known about this tank up until the spring of 1945, and with the end of the war the remote possibility of getting a sample vanished altogether. However, the odds of seeing this tank again increased with time. The Korean War broke out on June 25th, 1950. The Korean People's Army (KPA) received aid from the USSR, which included T-34-85 tanks.

According to American sources, the North Koreans crossed the border on June 25th, 1950, with one armoured division consisting of three regiments numbering 160 T-34-85 tanks in total. The 16th and 17th Armoured Brigades joined them by September, and in November the 17th Mechanized Division with 41 tanks and 41st, 45th, and 46th Tank Regiments with 10 tanks each and the 43rd Mechanized Regiment with 13 tanks also crossed the border. According to the Americans, the North Koreans initially built up a force of 320 tanks in total, which was later reinforced by another 250 tanks…"
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Amicalement
Armand

I have read an english report on the t-34 from 1941, which was an engineer report, made to the USSR so that they could improve the design. It was tested somewhere in UK.

ok

Amicalement
Armand

Thanks for that post! Loved reading what the US thought of the captured T-34/85 in 1951. Had not run across those statistics on how enemy tanks were destroyed before either, so added that to my Korean War pile of notes.

Thanks Tango!

More info here … TMP link

A votre service mon ami!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand