Some of them settle on plinths as monuments practically every Belarusian town has one , while some become museum exhibits in Belarus or Russia. It is not easy to sell them abroad. Not every fighting machine can be sold. The sales permit is only issued if there are more than two examples in the country. The BT-7 the team helped bring back to life is the only working specimen in the world.
At the time it was built [] it was the fastest tank. It could fly across bridges. When working for the club, they sold a German armored vehicle, an SdKfz , to a collector in Britain, and a Soviet heavy tank IS-2 went to a private collection in Latvia. This did not make the renovators rich. Vladimir drives an old Soviet Niva four-by-four.
Occasionally they have to fix the car with their own hands; fortunately, they are very good at welding. The biggest number of tanks are left in the Stalin Line museum complex.
Working models live in the repair hangar. When they are not gathering dust they are participating in parades or filming. The developers of the computer game World of Tanks have even visited to record the sounds of different tanks. At least 15 times a year the complex, having built up a collection of working machines from the Second World War, shows battles re-enactments. The restored KV-1 leaves the hangar to take part in a re-enactment.
The team of renovators put on helmets and turn into the tank crew. They take part in the show, too. The re-enactments also include rescued German vehicles, like this Kubelwagen, a German military jeep Credit: Anton Skyba. The performance in the open air shows an episode from the life of a Belarusian village during World War Two. This event is a reenactment of Operation Bagration in , which saw the liberation of what is now Belarus.
The work has not made them rich, but the tank-hunters say their work feels like a holiday Credit: Anton Skyba. But the tank renovators do not play favourites. Many thanks to Tut. See their original story here in Belarussian.
If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc. Lockdown Longreads Weapon. The salvagers who raise World War Two tanks from the dead. Share using Email. By Marina Vorobei 1st July Titanic tank battles were once fought on what is now Belarus. Now, a dedicated team of salvagers scour marsh and forest to find these forgotten reminders of World War Two.
The tankmen tried to pull it out, asked the local villagers for help by putting logs under the caterpillar treads. But the tank was still stuck and they had to blow it up. A powerful blast threw the turret several metres away and it drowned in marshes — but survived to this day.
During its recovery, eight unexploded shells were taken from it. We even ate the German chocolate from this tank - Alexander Mikalutski. The KV-1 that they found needed five months of restoration. Now the KV-1 differs from an original vehicle in only a handful of parts. Tanks are roaring and shooting, though thankfully all the ammunition is blank. T anks must be fast. That, I would say, is the most important lesson of the war in regard to tank design.
The Panther was on the right lines, as a prototype. We used to call the Tiger a 'furniture van' - though it was a good machine in the initial breakthrough.
Its slowness was a worse handicap in Russia than in France, because the distances were greater. The Stalin tank is the heaviest in the world; it has robust tracks and good armour. A further advantage is its low build - it is 51 cm lower than our Panzer V, the Panther. As a 'breakthrough' tank it is undoubtedly good, but too slow. It was at Targul Frumos that I first met the Stalin tanks. It was a shock to find that, although my Tigers began to hit them at a range of 3, metres, our shells bounced off, and did not penetrate them until we had closed to half that distance.
But I was able to counter the Russians' superiority by manoeuvre and mobility, in making the best use of ground cover. Fire-power, armour protection, speed and cross-country performance are the essentials, and the best type of tank is that which combines these conflicting requirements with most success. In my opinion the German Panzer V, the 'Panther', was the most satisfactory of all, and would have been dose to the ideal had it been possible to design with a lower silhouette.
A main lesson I learned from all my experience was that much more importance should be placed on the speed of the tank on the battlefield than was generally believed before the war, and even during, the war. Trucks such as this 2. Most drivers in the convoy were African American, reflecting a segregated military in which black troops were often relegated to non-combat, but essential, roles. M4 Sherman Tank. Gift of the West Bank Optimist Club, More Vehicles.
0コメント