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T-34 in action

"I remember" web site presents a book "T-34 in action" by Artem Drabkin and Oleg Sheremet published by "Pen & Sword" (available from March 2006)

The Soviet T-34 medium tank was one of the most famous and effective fighting vehicles of the Second World War. Along with the German Tiger and the American Sherman, it was a landmark in tank design that changed the course of the conflict. Much has been written about the technical history of the tank and the vital part it played in the huge tank battles on the Eastern Front, but less has been said about the men who went to war in the T-34 - who lived, fought and sometimes died in these remarkable machines. This pioneering book, which is based on extensive interviews with T-34 crews, records their experiences and offers a compelling inside view of armoured warfare in the mid-twentieth century. The reality of combat is invoked here in all its shocking, bloody, often arbitrary detail. There are graphic accounts of participating in tank attacks, of terrifying confrontations with antitank guns and German Panzers, of the perils of close infantry support and bombardment from German artillery and the Luftwaffe. The T-34 veterans give a vivid unsentimental view of what action felt like from inside the hulls their heavily armoured yet vulnerable fighting machines. They also describe the T-34 away from the battlefield, and remember how they coexisted with a roughly built vehicle designed for war not for living or comfort. They recall their training, how they operated the tank, the tricks they learned, the roles and relationships of the crew members and the organization and tactics of Soviet tank forces as they confronted the Germans. There are memorable accounts of daily life under fire and of the collaboration between the tank men and other elements of the Red Army, the infantry in particular. Indeed the breadth of the testimony collected for this innovative book represents a remarkable all-round record of the T-34 and its crews in action.

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Operating the T-34: armour, firepower, crew conditions, communications, maintenance and repair.

3. The Crew: training, responsibilities of crew members, interrelationships, survival chances,

4. Eyewitness Accounts of T-34 of 10 Crew Members (sample Internet version)

Any comments or questions about his book you can send at this address:

125167 Moscow Leningradsky pr-t 60-39 for Artem Drabkin

You can send your comments through e-mail: drabkin@yandex.ru