After the severe tank losses of 1941, the
Red Army relied heavily on captured enemy vehicles and tanks supplied by
Britain and the USA. Most Western tanks were seen as inferior, but were vital
until new Soviet tanks arrived.
The USA, Britain and Canada supplied 22,800
armoured vehicles to the USSR during World War II. Of these, 1981 were lost at
sea on the hazardous Arctic convoys to Murmansk. The shipments that did arrive
were the equivalent of 16 per cent of Soviet tank production, 12 per cent of
self-propelled gun production, and all of the armoured personnel carrier (APC)
production. The first shipment in 1941 totalled 487 Matildas, Valentines and
Tetrachs from Britain, and 182 M3A1 Light Tanks and M3 Medium Tanks from the
USA. A year later, these figures had risen to 2487 from Britain and 3023 from
the USA.
Despite being pressed in North Africa,
Britain committed 14 per cent of her tank production to Lend-Lease supplies.
Though Lend-Lease tanks helped the USSR while it was under serious pressure
between 1941 and 1942 after it had suffered huge tank losses, in the long run,
US trucks were the real war winners. The USA supplied 501,660 tactical wheeled and
tracked vehicles: 77,972 Jeeps, 151,053 1.01 tonne (1 ton) trucks and 200,662
2.03 tonne (2 ton) trucks. These gave the infantry and logistic troops working
with them a tactical mobility. The initials 'USA' stencilled on these vehicles
were in the USSR taken to stand for the slogan' Ubiyat Sukinsyna Adolfa' - .
'Kill that son of a whore Adolf'.
In the Cold War period, it was common for
Soviet historians to denigrate the quality of the Lend-Lease tanks supplied by
Britain and the USA. It is true that their medium tanks did not compare well
against the T-34. However, the M3A1 light tank was comparable or superior to
the T-60 and T-70 light tanks, and the M4A2 Sherman was more durable and
reliable than the T-34. Interestingly, in post-war encounters between the
Sherman and T-34 in Korea and the Middle East, the M4 often came off the
winner, even though it was theoretically an inferior design. The first unit to
go into action with Lend-Lease armour was in the Staraya Russa and Valdai
areas, fielding Valentines, Matildas and captured German tanks.
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