Soviet Lend-Lease Tanks of World War II

Steven J. Zaloga, Henry Morshead

• Publisher: Osprey Publishing
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781472818133
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781472818157
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

The Red Army suffered such catastrophic losses of armour in the summer of 1941 that they begged Britain and the United States to send tanks.

The first batches arrived in late 1941, just in time to take part in the defence of Moscow. The supplies of British tanks encompassed a very wide range of types including the Matilda, Churchill, and Valentine and even a few Tetrarch airborne tanks. American tanks included the M3 (Stuart) light tank and M3 (Lee) medium tank and the M4 Sherman tank, which became so common in 1944–45 that entire Soviet tank corps were equipped with the type. With these Western tanks, the Soviets were finally able to beat back the German tide in the East.

This study examines the different types of tanks shipped to the Soviet Union during the war, Soviet assessments of their merits and problems, and combat accounts of their use in Soviet service using full colour artwork, contemporary photographs and detailed cut-away illustrations.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table Of Contents
• Introduction
• The Early Shipments
• Initial British Shipments
• The Canadian Valentine
• The Tetrarch Light Tank
• The Lend-Lease Process
• Initial US Tank Deliveries: M3 Light Tank
• The M3 Medium Tank
• Combat In 1942: Operation Blau
• New Arrivals: The Churchill Infantry Tank
• The American Tank Conundrum
• The 1943 Campaign
• Scorned but Redeemed: The M4 Medium Tank
• Tank Destroyers
• Light Armored Vehicles
• Rarities And Late Arrivals
• Final Assessment
• Further Reading
• eCopyright