Red Army

In 1941, the Soviet government raised the Red Army’s esprit de corps with propaganda eschewing class struggle for the defense of Motherland and nation. To encourage the initiative of Red Army commanders, the CPSU temporarily abolished political commissars, re-introduced formal military ranks and decorations, and the Guards- unit concept. Exceptionally heroic or high-performing units earned the Guards title; an élite designation denoting superior training, matériel, and pay. Cowards, thieves, and deserters were disciplined with beatings, demotions, undesirable-dangerous duties, and summary execution by NKVD punitive detachments.

British PIAT Anti-Tank

The Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank (PIAT) was a British anti-tank weapon developed during the Second World War. The PIAT was designed in response to the British Army's need for a hand-held infantry anti-tank weapon that was more effective than the current weapons it possessed. It consisted of a steel tube, a trigger mechanism and firing spring, and was based on the spigot mortar system. A large number of PIATs were supplied to the Soviet Union through Lend Lease

TPO-70 Flamethrower

Some Soviet Army flamethrowers had three backpack fuel tanks side by side. Its user could fire three shots, each emptying one of the tanks. The mechanism used to empty the tank was not a pressurized gas cylinder but a black powder cartridge on each fuel cylinder. This type is used in two versions, the "Light Infantry Flamethrower" (LPO-50) and the "Heavy Infantry Flamethrower" (TPO-70), a heavier version dragged on two wheels and remotely triggered.

M 38 Mosin Nagant

The Mosin-Nagant is a bolt-action, internal magazine fed, military rifle that was used by the armed forces of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and various other nations, most of them from Eastern bloc. It gets its name from the Russian Artillery Colonel Sergey Ivanovitch Mosin who designed the bolt and receiver, and the Belgian Emile Nagant, who designed the magazine system. Also known as the Three-Line Rifle, it was the first to use the 7.62x54mmR cartridge. As a front-line rifle, the Mosin-Nagant served in various forms from 1891 until the 1960s in many Eastern European nations.

KV-7 Med Tank

The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. It is widely regarded as having been the world's best tank when the Soviet Union became involved in World War II, and although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the war's most effective, efficient and influential design. First produced at the KhPZ factory in Kharkov (Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR), it was the mainstay of Soviet armoured forces throughout World War II, and widely exported afterwards. It was the most-produced tank of the war, and the second most-produced tank of all time, after its successor, the T-54/55 series. In 1996, the T-34 was still in service with at least twenty-seven countries.

SU-85 Heavy Tank

The Kliment Voroshilov (KV) tanks were a series of Soviet heavy tanks, named after the Soviet defense commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov. The KV series were known for their extremely heavy armour protection, which was capable of resisting all German anti-tank weapons up to 75 mm and 88 mm caliber, both of which were comparatively rare at the time of the initial German invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II. Prior to the invasion, about 500 of the over 22,000 tanks in Soviet service at the time were of the KV-1 type.

Gaz-MM

GAZ or Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod translated as Gorky Automobile Plant, started in 1929 as NNAZ, a cooperation between Ford and the Soviet Union. The factory's name changed when the city was renamed after Maxim Gorky. From 1935 to 1956, the official name was augmented with imeni Molotova (literally, named after Molotov). The GAZ-A was succeeded by the more modern GAZ M1 (based largely on the Ford Model B), produced from 1936 to 1942. The M letter stands for Molotovets ('of Molotov's fame'), it was the origin of the car's nickname..

BA-64 "Bobik" Armored Car

The BA-64 was a 4×4 light armoured car, employed by the Soviet Army from 1942 into the early 1960s for reconnaissance and liaison tasks. The BA-64B was nicknamed 'Bobik' by its crews. High speed, good maneuverability, and high elevation angle allowed BA-64s to be used in urban combat with success against enemy infantry hiding on the upper floors of buildings. BA-64s could return fire to enemy planes. The light firepower of BA-64s was not sufficient for effective destruction of aerial targets, but it limited the enemy's flight freedom and thus helped to reduce the losses of friendly troops.

37mm AA Mk.1939

37 mm automatic air defense gun M1939 (61-K) was a Soviet 37 mm caliber anti-aircraft gun developed during the late 1930s and used during World War II. Guns of this type were successfully used throughout the Eastern Front against dive bombers and other low- and medium-altitude targets. Crews of the 37 mm AD guns shot down 14,657 Axis planes. The mean quantity of 37 mm ammunition to shoot down one enemy plane was 905 rounds.

152mm Mk.1937 ML-20

The 152 mm howitzer-gun M1937 (ML-20), was a Soviet gun-howitzer. The gun was developed as a deep upgrade of the 152-mm gun M1910/34. It was in production from 1937 to 1946. It was officially classified as howitzer-gun: an artillery system which combines characteristics of a howitzer and of a gun and therefore can be used in both roles. This universality was achieved by wide range of elevation angles, using separate loading with 13 different propellant loads, and being fitted with both telescopic sight for direct fire and panoramic sight for an indirect one.

Mikoyan Gurevich MG-3

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. Due to the conditions of battle with the German forces, the MiG-3 was forced into a low altitude and even a ground-attack role, but it was quickly found to be inferior, and withdrawn from this role. The death knell for the MiG-3 was the discontinuation of its AM-35 engine so that Mikulin could concentrate on AM-38 production for the Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik. Even with the MiG-3's limitations, Aleksandr Pokryshkin, the second leading Soviet ace of the war with 59 official victories, recorded most of those victories while flying a MiG-3.

Yakolev Yak-9D

The Yakovlev Yak-9 was a single-engine fighter aircraft used by the Soviet Union in World War II and after. Yak-9 variants carried two different wings, five different engines, six different fuel tank combinations and seven types of armament configurations. Long-range version of Yak-9, fuel capacity increased from 440 l to 650 l giving a maximum range of 1,360 km. Combat usefulness at full range was limited by lack of radio navigation equipment, and a number of aircraft were used as short-range fighters with fuel carried only in inner wing tanks.

Tupolev Tu-2

The Tupolev Tu-2 was a twin-engine Soviet high speed daylight bomber (SDB)/front line bomber (FB) aircraft of World War II vintage.The Tu-2 was tailored to meet a requirement for a high speed bomber or dive-bomber, with a large internal bombload, and speed similar to that of a single seat fighter. Designed to challenge the German Junkers Ju 88, the Tu-2 proved comparable, and was produced in torpedo, interceptor, and reconnaissance versions.

Degtyaryov DP-28

The Degtyaryov hand-held infantry machine gun or DP was a light machine gun used by the Soviet Union starting in 1928. It fired the 7.62x54mmR cartridge and was cheap and easy to manufacture. The DP was especially able to withstand dirt. In tests it was buried in sand and mud and was still capable of firing more than 500 rounds. The magazine was relatively small and continuous fire for long periods could not be relied on as much as contemporary belt fed weapons. However, the DP's lower cyclic rate of fire meant a reduced risk of the barrel overheating.

Machine Gun Nest

Machine gun nests were used by all armies as a way of holding positions, covering paths of enemy advance, and providing friendly forces with suppressing fire. Typically they were not heavily fortified and relied on a combination of improvised cover, camouflage, and temporary, hand-made earthen embankments to protect the gun crews and conceal them.

Pillbox

A military bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks. Dug-in guard posts (with loopholes through which to fire weapons) made from concrete are also known as "pillboxes". The originally jocular name arose from their perceived similarity to the cylindrical boxes in which medical pills were once sold. They are in effect a trench firing step hardened to protect against small-arms fire and grenades and raised to improve the field of fire.

Medical Tent

Combat medics are trained military personnel who provide first aid and frontline trauma care on the battlefield. They are also provide continuing medical care in the absence of a readily available physician, including care for disease and battle injury. They are normally co-located with the combat troops they serve in order to easily move with the troops. In 1864, sixteen European states (referring to themselves as "High Contracting Parties"), adopted the First Geneva Convention to save lives, to alleviate the suffering of wounded and sick military personnel, and to protect trained medical personal as civilians, in the act of rendering aid.

Radio Tent

Communications became more reliable in WW2, as radio receivers, rather than telegraph wires, became more widely used. This allowed for a longer range of communications with scout planes, bombers, and distant units for coordinating mortar and howitzer attacks.

Airfield

WW2 saw the first wide use of aircraft in combat support roles. Airfields were often quickly erected in fields with support buildings made to help effect repairs and protect planes while they were on the ground, as well as provide a base from which scout patrols and air cover could be launched. Air superiority was essential to protect and support ground forces as they advanced.

Barbed wire

Wire obstacles are designed to disrupt, delay and generally slow down an attacking enemy. During the time that the attackers are slowed down by the wire obstacle they are easy to target with machinegun and artillery fire. Wire obstacles may range from a simple barbed wire fence in front of a defensive position, to elaborate patterns of fences, & concertinas hundreds of meters thick. One example is the "low wire entanglement", which consists of irregularly placed stakes that have been driven into the ground with only some 15 cm showing; the barbed wire is then wrapped and tightened on to these. An enemy combatant running through the barrier is apt to trip and get caught.

Dragon Teeth

Dragon's teeth (German: Drachenzähne, literally "Dragon Teeth") were square-pyramidal fortifications of reinforced concrete used during the Second World War to impede the movement of tanks. The idea was to slow down and channel tanks into "killing zones" where they could easily be disposed of by anti-tank weapons. In practice, however, the use of combat engineers and specialist clearance vehicles enabled them to be disposed of relatively quickly, and they proved far less of an obstacle than many had expected.

Hedgehog

The Czech hedgehog was a static anti-tank obstacle made of angled iron used during World War II by various combatants. The hedgehog is very effective in keeping tanks from getting through a line of defence. It maintains its function even when tipped over by a nearby explosion. Although it may provide some scant cover for infantry, infantry forces are generally much less effective against fortified defensive positions than mechanized units. The name refers to the place of origin. The hedgehogs were originally used on the Czech-German border by the Czechoslovak border fortifications - a massive but never-completed fortification system built on the eve of World War II by Czechoslovakia.

Minefield

A land mine is a target operated explosive. Their non-explosive predessors (caltrops, stakes and spikes) have been used on the battlefield since ancient times. Landmines were designed to be used to deter, channel, delay and kill an enemy. Land mines are force multiplier increasing the efficiency a defending force without requiring more personnel. The name originates from the practice of mining, where tunnels were dug under enemy fortifications or forces. These tunnels ("mines") were first collapsed to destroy fortifications above, and later filled with explosives and detonated.