Russian WW2 interesting stats and facts

I'm surprised that the mechanical breakdown rate is so high in these figures due to the often mentioned reliability of the T-34 series. The Tiger I battalions lost around half or more of their tanks to mechanical breakdown yet these have a lower reliability reputation.

I'm sure that the 1941 skews the figures drastically. Glantz's tables have the complete numbers for every year of the war.

 

" During the last ten days in November 1941 Stalin became increasingly agitated, and, on or about 30 November, occurred the Dedovo-Dedovsk incident when Stalin, under the mistaken impression that the town of Dedovsk, only twenty miles west of Kremlin, had fallen, "lost no time in expressing his anger" and ordered Zhukov, together with Rokossovsky and Govorov, both army commanders, to go to Dedovo and supervise an attack by a rifle company and two tanks to retake the locality. Stalin was deaf to entreaties that it would be ill-advised to leave the front hq at such a time, and became furious when told there had been confusion in place names. The three generals had to goto Dedovo."

Stalin by Albert Seaton

 

"I was horrified when I saw the map. We're quite alone, without any help from outside. Hitler has left us in the lurch. Whether this letter gets away depends on whether we still hold the airfield. We are lying in the north of the city. The men in my unit already suspect the truth, but they aren't so exactly informed as I am. No, we are not going to be captured. When Stalingrad falls you will hear and read about it. Then you will know that I shall not return." Anonymous German soldier stalingrad.....

 

The Battle of Stalingrad

The failure of the German Army was nothing short of a disaster. A complete army group was lost at Stalingrad and 91,000 Germans were taken prisoner. With such a massive loss of manpower and equipment, the Germans simply did not have enough manpower to cope with the Russian advance to Germany when it came.
Despite resistance in parts – such as a Kursk – they were in retreat on the Eastern Front from February 1943 on. In his fury, Hitler ordered a day’s national mourning in Germany, not for the men lost at the battle, but for the shame von Paulus had brought on the Wehrmacht and Germany. Paulus was also stripped of his rank to emphasise Hitler’s anger with him. Hitler commented:

"The God of War has gone over to the other side."​

 

Stalin and German Army Group Centre winter 1941

"...the main charge levelled against Stalin concerned the allocation of the nine reserve armies. Of these, three went to West and two to the Volkhov fronts, and one each to the Kalinin,Bryansk,North-West and South-West fronts. If most had gone to the West Front, Army group Centre might have been destroyed."

Stalin by Albert Seaton

 

Pics....Hope you like them....

 

These were sold in France in 1940 to support Finland in Winter War.

The backside of the badge:

Aijaa.com - 4105014.jpg

 

Paulus and Stalingrad and discipline:

"The quiet, softly-spoken Paulus had 364 of his men shot for cowardice in just one week. 18 more than Field Marshal Haig had executed in the BEF during the whole WW1."

From "Ostfront" by Charles Winchester

 

Great signpost photo.

 

Crosses and dead soldiers- Ostfront

 

"VON " Paulus ,??????"Paulus was also stripped of his rank " ?????

 

Psychosomatic Order?

In the Winter War of 1939-40, nine divisions of the Finnish army, answering an unprovoked onslaught, held off forty-five Soviet divisions for 105 days. The Finns, ultimately crushed, were obliged to sign a punitive treaty in Moscow in March 1940. As the Finnish President Kallio signed, he exclaimed, "Let the hand wither that signs this monstrous treaty!" Incredibly, within a few months his arm had become paralyzed.

 

German troops in Northern Finland,pics:

 

Another set of pics from the Lapland

 

" On January 8, 1945, Molotov had presented to Harriman a request for $6 billion in postwar credits over thirty years at an interest rate of 2,5 %. Morgenthau was in favor of the loan, but Roosevelt stated on January 19 that he did not want to act on the matter of postwar financing until he saw Stalin and discussed the issue with him. For some reason the loan was not discussed at Yalta. The Russians brought the loan request up again in Aug 1945, and on September 17 Stalin told a delegation of congressmen that the Soviet Union wanted to borrow $6 billion from the US. Nothing happened. According to Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., "Washington inexplicably mislaid the request....it did not turn up again until march 1946. Of course this was impossible for the Russians to believe."

From " My Dear Mr Stalin- the complete correspondence of FDR and Stalin" by Susan Butler

 

Problems can be "interesting" sometimes...

"In June 1941 Germany invaded the Soviet Union, and Roosevelt immediately announced the extension of Lend Lease to this new victim of aggression. If Catholics supported this policy, did it mean they were cooperating with Communism, which had been condemned in 1937 in Divini Redemptoris? In a radio address from Washington funded by the State Department, Bishop Joseph Hurley of St. Augustine, a former Vatican official, drew the distinction between cooperation with Communism and aid to the “Russian” people. This created some public controversy among the American bishops, but the Vatican ultimately adopted Hurley’s position as its own."

America Magazine - A Pope in Wartime

 

"My Dear Mr Stalin" by Susan Butler

The complete correspondence of FDR and Stalin

--------

From the president for Mr Stalin.

October 14,1942

In response to your request I am glad to inform you that the items involved can be made available for shipment as follow:

Trucks- 8,000 to 10,000 per month

Explosives- 4,000 short tons in November and 5,000 tons per month thereafter

Wheat- 2,00,000 short tons during the remainder of the protocol year

Canned meats- 10,000 tons per month

Meat- 15,000 tons per month

Lard- 12,000 tons per month

Vegetable oil- 10,000 tons per month

Soap stock- 5,000 tons per month

Roosevelt

---------

Ocotber 19,1942

From Premier Stalin to President Roosevelt

I have received your message. My answer has been delayed because matters connected with the front have diverted my attention. The whole business now a matter of your cargoes reaching the Soviet Union within the time stated.

Stalin

 

Found some more great photos.....

The Battle in Volkhovsky Forest

English Russia » The Battle in Volkhovsky Forest (World War II)

 

Jeez man....you must spend all your time looking far and wide for photos!

Like always...great pictures thank you!

Ilya

 

SS Nord in Oulu Finland...some pics...Looks like Dietl in the second pic series...