Captured Armour

Frequently. This is why captured equiment is almost always covered with several large examples of national insignia (or giant kangaroos in the case of the Aussies ). German policy for using T-34s etc on the Eastern Front was to use them in the very front of the action, to minimise the risk of friendly fire.

 

Got some info on the Italians (i have the impression that they got underrepresented on this forum).
Seems the Italians captured some Marmon Herrington and manneged to equip them with some of their own material like a Breda machinegun, 20mm kanon, 47mm Böhler anti tank gun and a French 25mm Hotchkiss.t

Or they managed to produce spare parts or they captured a lot of those armoured cars

 

Pzkfw II in the US Army

 

M3 in DAK

 

Königtiger, 44. sept. near Aachen, Patton's third army

 

sdkfz250(? or whatever) in us service (Patton's 3rd also)

 

A Russian T-34 in Italian service !

 

Sd.Kfz.251. Nice picture!

And also - Tiger II in American service. I didn't think they'd go that far, the thing must have eaten fuel like nothing else they had...

 

its more likely a trophy than anything else.

 

Yeah I think so too. The bow MG seems to be removed.

Very nice pictures though!
Can anyone guess what the strange additions to the Sd.Kfz.251 side skirts maybe? My guess is it's a stripped Wulframen-version. Any thoughts?

 

Yes, i think that too, but I'm not sure. I remeber so, that the wulfr. has three bases, not two...

 

It's not a wulf..its a bridgelaying (dunno in english) afv.

 

Where in hell did the Italians get a T-34?

 

From the Russians, I imagine, - the Italian army served on the Eastern front as did other of Germany's Axis allies.

PS. Does that sound right "Axis" allies ...

:-?

 

I had no idea the Italians were on the Eastern Front.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_war_in_Soviet_Union,_1941-1943

 

Probably because all evidence of their existence there was erased...
I.e. they didn't perform too well


Is there any particular reason why Romania and Hungary were such strategically helpful allies to Germany, and Italy wasn't? AFAIK, those two countries were not better trained nor armed than Italy was... Worse if anything...

 

Possibly because they were, at least in part, fighting to keep the Soviets away from their own borders, as were Finland and Bulgaria - the Eastern front was uncomfortably close to home for them (Finland had already been invaded by the Russians a couple of times) whereas the Italians were a long way from home and out on a limb by comparisson. The eastern Axis armies more or less all got destroyed when the Soviets broke out and most of their nations spent the next few decades under the Soviet heel - y' lie down with dogs y' get fleas.

 

itie russo front badge

rubbish metal.

 

Germany also needed the materials and oil of its eastern Europe allies.