Hitler's Third Reich and World War II in the News is a daily edited review of WWII news, providing thought- provoking collection of hand-picked WW2 information.

Category: Soviet Tanks : T34  -- See latest WWII news here.

T-34 tank forever - In active use from World War II to 1990s
The T-34 was one of the best WWII tanks. 84,000 were build, 57,000 by the end of WWII, and the rest 1946-1958. The first versions had a 76.2mm gun, but after 1944 all had an 85mm gun. Russia exported over 10,000 T-34s, to at least 40 countries. North Korea used them against U.S. troops during the Korean war - American tank crews were shocked at how maneuverable and fast the T-34 was. In the 1950s, the Soviet Union gave China 1,837 T-34/85 tanks - still in good shape. When the Cold War ended, two dozen nations still had the T-34 in service. The last known combat use was in 1995, when Serbs used one in an attack on UN peacekeepers.     [ strategypage.com :: 2008-09-05 :: Soviet Tanks : T34 ]

Photos: Russian T-34 tank raises from the mud
Photographs of the Russian T34 battle tank, which is salvaged from the marshland - Cherkassy region, Ukraine.     [ reibert.info :: 2008-06-30 :: Soviet Tanks : T34 ]

Four T-34 tanks stolen in Serbia
Unknown thieves stole four T-34 tanks from the Serbian army in the northern Vojvodina province, while the tanks were parked "in an unguarded field". The source said the 32-ton tanks were "most probably cut [up] and taken away. They were old, idle weaponry, used only for military exercises and were not being guarded." An army captain noticed the theft of the tanks and damage done to a fifth. The Serbian Army dropped the use of T-34 tanks some time ago and has since kept them at military polygons where they serve as jet and chopper targets in military exercises.     [ balkaninsight :: 2008-04-25 :: Soviet Tanks : T34 ]

Russian tank hobbyist charged with extremism: Tank has Nazi insignia on its turret
Tank enthusiast Vyacheslav Verevochkin in the Novosibirsk oblast is facing charges of extremism as prosecutors have started a probe into 2 battle tanks he built. The case began after a road-worthiness race between the man's tanks and modern SUVs. One of the tanks had Nazi insignia on its turret. "I restored those tanks that were used during the war. How could there even be mention of any kind of extremism? This is history." Aleksei Voytov, the lead prosecutor, said: "The public display of Nazi symbolism and attributions as an insult to the victims of the Great Patriotic War."     [ theotherrussia :: 2008-04-01 :: Soviet Tanks : T34 ]

Bidders rush on Russian T-34 and German Pz IV Tanks from the WWII
The elements of over 140 firing systems made up of WWII tank parts will be put up to a secret auction - 840 auction papers are sold. The "tank scrap" consists of gun - turrets from Russian Ò-34 tanks and also of 6 German tanks' elements. This World War II military equipment got a huge interest from militaria collectors all around the world. Before restoration the tanks cost 250,000 euros, but after their overhaul they could rise to 500,000. A group of American collectors considered to offer as much as it will take to have this unique and rare military machine.     [ international :: 2008-03-20 :: German Tanks of World War II ]

More information about Bulgarian WW2 tanks and turrets on sale
The interest shown by museums and collectors in the war relics has made the Defence ministry to sell the tanks and other equipment, some made in the Soviet Union, in an auction on March 19 in Sofia. On sale will be four 75 mm turret gun KVK - T-4 (Panzer IV) in Maybach turret (not a full set, gun body missing), two 75 mm T-3 (Panzer III) (not a full set), eighty-two ZiS-S-53/85 mm turret gun with a turret (not a full set), seven ZiS-S-53/85 mm turret guns in a T-34 turret (not a full set), one ZiS-S-54/85 mm tank gun (not a full set), 50 of the ZiS-S -53/85 mm turret gun in a T-34 turret (not a full set).     [ sofiaecho :: 2008-03-14 :: Vintage Military Vehicles (AFV) & Battle Tanks ]

Old Soviet battle tank T-34 still tops for durability
The Soviet T-34 tank, introduced to Stalin by Mikhail Koshkin in 1940, still holds the first place in the Military Channel's Top 10 tanks list. Koshkin, who died in 1940 from pneumonia caught during the tank's test-drive, created a very reliable and simple-to-build design, which balanced the firepower, armor and mobility. In WWII, his concept proved to be victorious. At the first battles with German tanks, the T-34 came as a total shock to the Nazis. A single T-34 could be built in about 40 hours, and it became the most-produced tank of the war. The first time Koshkin, Red Army soldier at the time, saw tanks (british Mk Vs) was in 1919 in Arkhangelsk.     [ masslive :: 2006-12-14 :: Soviet Tanks : T34 ]

WWII T34/76A battle tank Recovered - Photographs
14 Sept 2000, a Komatsu D375A-2 pulled an abandoned tank from its tomb under the bottom of a lake near Johvi, Estonia. The Soviet-built T34/76A tank had been resting at the bottom of the lake for 56 years. From Feb to Sept 1944, heavy battles were fought in the narrow, 50 km-wide, Narva front in the northeastern part of Estonia. Over 100,000 men were killed. During battles in the summer of 1944, the T34 tank was captured from the Soviet army and used by the German army. It is a very rare machine, considering that it fought both on the Russian and the German sides. Plans are under way to fully restore the tank.     [ strategypage :: 2006-11-16 :: Soviet Tanks : T34 ]

How to drive a battle tank - like World War II-era T-34
Someone in Budapest seized a WWII-era battle tank and drove it 100m down the road. It made me wonder how easy they are to drive. Most tanks have a crew hatch for the driver, but in T-34 I climb over the wheels and tracks and haul myself up onto the turret top. I'm thankful of the helmet, as there are lots of sharp switches, ammunition racks and the gun. The 32 tons of metal monster, with the 85mm gun, lurches forward. I hit my head. I can't see behind or to the sides, that's why there's a commander in the turret. I don't know how so many young soldiers managed to cope: T-34s were chilly in winter and hot in summer; if the gun was fired, the inside filled up with fumes.     [ bbc :: 2006-10-27 :: Soviet Tanks : T34 ]

Red Army's war-winning weapons like T-34 tanks are up for sale
Russia is to sell thousands of Second World War tanks, machineguns and cannons in an attempt to raise funds and remind the world of its pivotal role in defeating Hitler. The company is tempting collectors with a selection of weapons that includes Maksim machineguns, 76mm ZiS-3 field guns, PPSH sub-machineguns and T-34 tanks, the backbone of the armoured columns that drove the German army out the Soviet Union in 1944.     [ telegraph :: 2005-02-03 :: Panzers & Armored Divisions & Tank War ]

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