Soviet M3 ‘Lee’ Medium Tank.
Archive photoOver the course of World War II, the USSR received more than 10,500 tanks from its Western allies as military aid. The Americans supplied about 6,000, with 4,500 supplied by the UK and Canada.
Western machinery couldn’t become the Red Army’s main strike force (the USSR produced more than 65,000 T-34 tanks alone). However, it made its contribution to achieving victory over Nazi Germany.
The Infantry Tank Mark II ‘Matilda’ (designed to storm fortified positions) was supplied to the USSR in the amount of 900 units. In its frontal armor, it even exceeded the Soviet heavy KV-2 tank (78-mm compared to 75-mm), which the Germans dubbed the “Russian monster”.
Soviet tankmen valued this British tank for the reliability of its diesel engine and transmission, as well as for its comfort and ease of operation. Although, far from all Red Army soldiers were satisfied with it.
“Matilda was just a giant target!” tank crew member Nikolai Zheleznov complained. “It had thick armor, but its gun’s caliber was only 42-mm, with an ancient sight to boot. In general, the tank was clumsy, unmaneuverable… it barely managed to move 25 km/h and only on a highway – even slower on a dirt road!”
By the beginning of 1943, it became clear that ‘Matilda’ didn’t meet modern requirements anymore; the USSR stopped importing them. ‘Matildas’ were still used during the Battle of Kursk and the following large-scale operations, but, the following year, there were almost none left in Soviet tank units.
The British Infantry Tank ‘Valentine’ became the most mass-supplied armored vehicle from the British Isles to the USSR. The Red Army had more than 3,300 of these tanks in eight different modifications.
The first ‘Valentines’ appeared in the Red Army at the end of 1941 and participated in the Moscow counteroffensive, doing well in Russian winter conditions. During the ‘Battle of the Caucasus’, these stocky British tanks became one of the main forces among Soviet troops – facilitated by the proximity of the front line to the Iranian route along which military aid from the Allies came.
“Its engine is quiet – if you put your hand on the hull you won’t hear it working,” tank crew member Mikhail Kotlov remembered. Some Soviet soldiers believed that it was due to its quietness that ‘Valentine’, armed with a 57-mm gun, could sneak up to the German Tiger undetected and penetrate its side.
In total, over the years of the war, the UK sent more than three hundred Mk.IV ‘Churchill’ infantry tanks to the USSR; however, only 253 made it to their destination. Others sank in the waters of the Arctic Ocean, along with the Allies’ transport ships.
The tank stood out for its thick, up to 102-mm, frontal armor (up to 152-mm in later modifications), but it was still a work in progress. Soviet specialists had to fix a range of significant defects of the engine and its main gun, as well as to adapt it to winter conditions, to which the tank appeared to be completely unprepared.
Nonetheless, Churchill became one of the main heavy tanks of the Red Army during the Battle of Kursk; it participated in the liberation of Ukraine, the Soviet Baltic republics and in the battles with the Finnish army in Karelia. By the end of the war, only three such tanks remained in active army units.
Named in honor of a general of the U.S. Civil War era, J.E.B. Stuart, the M3 ‘Stuart’ tank was superior to many Soviet light tanks. Nonetheless, this armored vehicle didn’t really enjoy wide popularity in the Soviet Army.
“It was uncomfortable for the crew, first of all, due to the fact that it was very cramped inside, that was a bother in a fight,” tank crew member Nikolai Vershinin remembered. “If the tank commander took his place, it was impossible for me as a gun turret operator to even turn, so it was decided to put the crews in without commanders.”
The USSR received more than 1,200 ‘Stuarts’. They were deployed to almost all parts of the Soviet-German front, proving especially effective during the ‘Battle of the Caucasus’.
The British Army used the Light Tank Mk.VII ‘Tetrarch’ during their Madagascar landing in May 1942 and in Normandy in June 1944. The seven-ton combat machine was delivered with the help of military gliders like ‘Hamilcar’.
In the Soviet Union, ‘Tetrarchs’ didn’t stand a chance to participate in airborne operations. Two dozen of these tanks were used in a limited fashion during the ‘Battle of the Caucasus’; then they were involved in escorting convoys and protecting bridges. Due to their weak armor (up to 16-mm) Mk.VII was not considered a valuable combat unit in the Red Army.
“This is the best American tank that participated in the war. It had a good engine, good armor and a good weapon,” Soviet tank crew member Pyotr Kurevin said about the Medium Tank M4 Sherman. The USSR received about four thousand of these combat vehicles, mostly in its diesel M4A2 modification.
Named in honor of the U.S. Civil War general William Sherman, the tank became one of the most beloved in the Red Army, not least for its high levels of comfort. “In our tanks, we had to do everything manually: turn the gun turret, aim the gun; in the ‘Sherman’, everything was done electrically,” tankman Vladimir Golovachev stated.
In its combat characteristics, this American tank, equipped with a 76-mm gun (M4A2(76)W modification), approximately corresponded to the famous Soviet T-34-85. With luck, it could penetrate the armor of the heavy German Tiger, even at long distances. The height of the tank was its disadvantage, which made it an easy target.
‘Shermans’ participated in the military operations of 1944-1945 of utmost importance, including the Battle of Berlin. After the victory in Europe, these “Americans” went to the Far East to fight Japan’s Kwantung Army.
The Red Army received almost no British cruiser (designed for a swift breakthrough to the enemy’s rear) tanks. Only six Mk.VIII Cromwell tanks arrived in the USSR.
The tank tests, conducted in Moscow Region in Fall 1944, showed that the British tank was inferior to the ‘Sherman’ in almost everything. Aside from that, Soviet specialists had a range of questions about the construction of its hull and its gun turret. The latter, surprisingly, turned out to be extremely uncomfortable for the crew.
In the end, the USSR decided to stop the import of the combat vehicle named after a prominent member of the English Revolution.
The American M3 ‘Lee’ Medium Tank arrived in the USSR in spring 1942. In total, Soviet troops received about a thousand of these armored vehicles.
In the Red Army, this tank, named in honor of famous American Civil War general Robert Lee, was in high esteem for its high levels of comfort – a crew of six or seven people could comfortably fit inside. The engine fan created a comfortable temperature and maintained clean air circulation. The M3 was easy to operate and was distinguished for its smooth ride.
However, all its advantages ended there. ‘Lee’ felt unstable on narrow roads, often sliding into ditches. It had two guns (75-mm and 37-mm), but their position was more suited for self-propelled artillery, which was supposed to solve other types of problems. The tank’s armor was also of a low quality and couldn’t withstand the opponent’s high-caliber guns.
“These tanks, of course, were tall, mounted on rubber-metal tracks. These tracks were almost silent, but as soon as there’s open ice or frozen ground – that’s it, the tank is skidding and swaying. Its other disadvantage was its petrol engine that worked with M-70 petrol with the addition of an ethyl liquid – meaning these tanks burned easily,” tank crew member Nikolai Klimov said.
Dubbed “mass graves for seven” by Soviet tank crews, the M3 ‘Lee’ operated on the Eastern front up until the end of 1943, until they were entirely replaced by ‘Shermans’.
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