Military equipment of Great Britain during the Second World War. "Cromwell": British Army tank from World War II
After the outbreak of the 2nd World War, in 1940, 22 “old” cavalry regiments were supplemented by three “new” regiments (22nd Dragoons, 23rd Hussars, 24th Lancers) and the same number of units in 1941 . (25th Dragoons, 26th Hussars, 27th Lancers).
In addition to these forces, the Reconnaissance Corps was formed in 1940, comprising 23 armored reconnaissance regiments, and then, in 1944, became part of the Royal Armored Corps. In addition, a number of territorial infantry battalions were turned to form tank regiments during the war. A total of 44 such regiments were created, bearing separate numbering from 1st to 44th.
The tank units of the British Expeditionary Force, which arrived in France in September 1939, were consolidated into two light reconnaissance brigades. In addition to them, the 1st Army Tank Brigade, equipped with infantry tanks, was delivered to the mainland. Around this time, the 1st Armored Division was formed in Great Britain. In February 1940, in Egypt, on the basis of units of the so-called Mobile Division, the famous 7th Panzer Division was created, which later fought the entire African campaign; its tankers received the nickname “desert rats”.
In the Far East, the Royal Tank Corps in 1941 was represented by only two tank regiments - the 7th Hussars and the 2nd Royal. Stationed in Singapore, they were transferred to Burma after its capture by the Japanese. Two more tank regiments subsequently arrived there from the metropolis. In addition to the British, Australian and Indian tank units took part in the fighting in Southeast Asia.
During the war, the pace of formation of armored formations increased slightly. By the fall of 1941, 5 armored divisions and 5 separate armored brigades were formed.
By April 1942, Great Britain (together with the dominions) already had 12 armored divisions and 9 separate armored brigades. 6 armored divisions and 9 separate armored brigades (including two Canadian ones) were deployed in the metropolis. 6 armored divisions and 2 armored brigades were located in other theaters of operations: 3 armored divisions and 2 armored brigades in Africa, the Near and Middle East, 2 armored divisions in India and Burma, 1 armored division in Australia. The command of the armed forces reorganized the armored divisions, increasing their power and mobility.
By April 1943, the British army itself consisted of 9 armored divisions and 11 separate tank brigades. Each tank division consisted of 13,235 people. personnel and 230 tanks, in a tank brigade - 202 tanks. Some armored divisions and brigades had up to 430 tanks.
Thus, the basis of the British armored forces in World War 2 were tank brigades and tank divisions. Moreover, there were two types of brigades: tank and army tank. The latter were intended to interact with infantry formations and were equipped with tanks.
In total, during the years of World War 2, 11 tank divisions and 30 brigades were formed in Great Britain. There were no larger tank formations, although in some cases army corps consisted of tank divisions, as was the case at El Alamein and Caen (1942 - 44). In these cases, the 10th and 8th Army Corps each had three tank divisions.
In most cases, when a prepared defense was broken through, tank divisions were in the second echelon of the corps and were brought into battle to complete the breakthrough of the enemy’s main line of defense.
The British command sought to centralize the use of its tank formations. The division, as a rule, operated in two directions in a zone of 4–8 km. In the presence of weak enemy resistance, it could attack in 3–4 directions in a strip of up to 12 kilometers or more. The operational density in some cases reached 100 or more combat vehicles and 1 km of front. It should be emphasized that aviation, interaction with which was well established, actively supported the actions of tank units.
In amphibious landing operations, tank units were used to reinforce the infantry divisions of the 1st and 2nd echelons. For example, during the Normandy landings, each infantry division of the 1st echelon was reinforced by two tank regiments.
During World War II, British tank formations also carried out defensive operations. In this case, the tank divisions were in the 2nd echelon and were used to carry out counterattacks and counterattacks. Sometimes tank formations independently defended important lines. At the same time, in their 1st echelons there were motorized infantry units, reinforced with tanks and self-propelled guns.
In general, the offensive actions of British tank formations and units were characterized by methodicality, a desire for a frontal offensive, and a lack of maneuver. In defense, they launched counterattacks and counterstrikes, and in some cases were used to independently hold important lines and areas. As they gained combat experience, the interaction of tank units with other branches of the military, primarily with infantry and aviation, became increasingly clear and streamlined.
In Great Britain, great importance was attached to the training of tank troops. As a result, the level of combat training of British tank crews was very high, not inferior to German and significantly superior to Italian. Human losses were also relatively low.
During the war, British tank forces acquired a wealth of experience in combat operations in the desert, as well as participation in landing operations. The experience of combat operations in the Central European theater of operations was clearly insufficient.
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Initially, the British military wanted to have armored vehicles at their disposal to transport soldiers. But very quickly the implementation of this idea turned out to be impossible. The cramped conditions of the Mark I tank and especially the release of carbon dioxide and cordite fumes threatened the lives of the soldiers on board. Often crew members became victims of intoxication and were carried out of their cars in an unconscious state. Each new soldier who got into the tank only made the situation worse. Although the infantrymen could approach the enemy unharmed, when leaving the tank they were completely unfit for combat for several minutes. The Mark V Star tank, which entered service in 1918, is a Mark V tank lengthened to carry personnel. In 1917, Lieutenant G. R. Rackham was appointed to develop an armored vehicle for transporting infantrymen. But the British military did not have enough experience to determine the technical requirements for such a vehicle and, as a result, it was decided to develop a vehicle equipped with a gun.
Thus, if the Mark VIII tank, which was still in development, failed to fulfill its purpose, the Mark IX could be converted into an armored personnel carrier, which became the first "tank" (from the English "tank" - "reservoir"). The military ultimately decided to abandon the “backup” tank, which was both a tank and a transporter, and development of the tank began
Mark IX. The tracks were supported by a lengthened, reinforced chassis and an extended body of the Mark V tank, thanks to the use of fans the ventilation system was improved... Everything unnecessary was removed inside, which made room for a maximum of 30 people. The Mark IX was equipped with two machine guns and eight vision slits that gave men the opportunity to shoot. The engine was moved forward, the gearbox was left behind, the space reserved for the soldiers was crossed by a long transmission shaft with a scale. The thickness of the armor did not exceed 10 mm, and in the stowed position the weight reached 27 tons. The crew consisted of four people: a commander, a driver and two machine gunners. Due to the shape of the tracks and external resemblance, the car received the nickname “The Pig”.
The prototype was approved by the General Staff, which handed over an order to representatives of the military industry for the production of 200 copies of the armored personnel carrier. By the time peace was signed on November 11, 1918, only 35 vehicles had been assembled. After the war, one of them began to be used by the medical service, and the second turned into an amphibious tank.
TANK VICKERS MARK E |
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The lessons learned from World War I were clear: countries capable of producing adequate armored forces had to invest in research and development and an armored vehicle production system. But in 1920, tank production was very expensive. People survived a four-year bloody war, a period of disarmament began, the state of public finances in different countries was depressing. Military budgets were insignificant, and the need for weapons immediately fell into the zone of special attention in the event of an order for mass production. The defense industry has sought ways to develop low-cost but reliable weapons and equipment without attracting attention. ![]() The British company Vickers-Armstrong took a huge risk when, on its own initiative, it decided to design a new tank without any ministerial support and without an advance payment for development costs. The development of the “six-ton tank” was undertaken by famous engineers and tank designers John Valentine Carden and Vivian Lloyd. An experimental model appeared in 1928 and was named “Mark E”. The vehicle seemed impressive: the thickness of the frontal armor was 25 mm, and on the turret, in the rear and on the sides - 19 mm; petrol engine power 98 hp. With.; excellent tracks on which the tank could travel up to 5000 km. Two versions of the Vickers Mark E tanks were produced: Model A with two turrets, each equipped with a Vickers machine gun, and Model B with one double turret equipped with a 47 mm cannon and one machine gun. But after various stages of testing, ultimately, the British army abandoned the tank due to insufficient reliability of the suspension. Although the hopes of the Vickers company did not come true, it did not abandon its project and tried its luck on the international market. This decision paid off. In the late 1920s, the Vickers tank became the main weapon of many tank armies in Europe and around the world. These tanks were in service in the armies of Bolivia, Bulgaria, China, Greece, Finland, Portugal and Thailand. In addition, the light tank was quickly copied by foreign engineers. The characteristics of the tank made such a deep impression on the Soviet military that they bought a license from Vickers to produce their own version - the T-26 tank, which was slightly different in armament and armor shape. In the period from 1931 to 1941, from the assembly lines of Soviet factories At least 12 T-26 LLCs of all modifications were produced. |
British heavy tanks
As already mentioned, the immediate predecessor of the British tanks was the “Big Willie”. This vehicle, made of ordinary non-armored steel, was tested in February 1916 and was soon put into service under the brand name Mk I. Unlike the “Big Willie”, its body was made of rolled armor plates. They assembled it like this: sheets of mild steel were cut, then holes were drilled into them for rivets, then they were hardened and fastened to a frame made of angles and strip steel.
26 support, unsprung rollers of small diameter were placed, as if in a cage, between the outer (solid) and inner (outside the frame box) side sheets; drive wheels, idlers and onboard gearboxes were installed between them.
The 520 mm wide track consisted of 90 flat tracks made of armored steel. On solid soil, the specific pressure reached almost 2 kg/cm 2 , which was too big. Therefore, British tanks had low maneuverability. The upper part of the caterpillar slid along a special rail, covering the body. Every third support roller was equipped with a flange to guide the ridges of the tracks.
The Daimler gasoline engine and transmission were located inside the tank, as were the fuel tanks, which flowed by gravity to the engine. Often, at the most crucial moment, when the tank lifted its nose to overcome an obstacle, the engine stalled due to a cutoff in the gasoline supply. The Mk I did not have a muffler on the exhaust pipe, and at night the rumble and sparks gave the tank away to enemy observers.
The transmission consisted of a two-speed gearbox, a worm gearbox and a differential, the output shafts of which were connected to two additional final drives. The rear drive wheels were driven using a chain drive, but it was made open and quickly became clogged with dirt.
Controlling the tank required significant effort from the driver and commander (the latter was responsible for the track brakes on the right and left sides), as well as two transmission workers working on the onboard gearboxes. The driver gave them commands by voice or gestures. The turn was carried out by braking one track or switching the onboard gearbox to neutral and engaging 1st or 2nd gear on the gearbox of the other side. Then the driver engaged the clutch. After turning, this operation was performed in the reverse order. With the track stopped, the tank turned around almost on the spot.
To adjust the course or turn with a large radius, a pair of steel wheels, reminiscent of carriages, was attached to the rear on a hinge and turned by a cable, which also required a fair amount of effort. It was believed that these wheels would help the car overcome wide ditches, but they were soon abandoned due to their bulkiness and vulnerability.
The combat weight of the Mk I was 28 tons (27 tons for the “female”), speed -4.5 km/h (on the ground - 2 km/h), cruising range - 19 km. Armor protection reached 5-11 mm, armament consisted of two 57-mm cannons and three Hotchkiss machine guns (on the male) or 5 machine guns (on the female) installed in sponsons. Crew – 8 people. There was a wheelhouse in front of the hull for the driver and commander. A net was stretched on the roof of the tank; hand grenades thrown by the enemy rolled down it and exploded on the ground. There were 150 Mk Is in total, an equal number of “males” and “females”.
The Mk II and Mk III (50 units each), which appeared at the beginning of 1917, did not have tail wheels and anti-grenade nets, changes were made to the design of the hatches and inspection slits, and on the Mk III the armor was thickened in places and every sixth track was expanded.
They were followed by the Mk IV, which was ordered on September 19, 1916, immediately after the Battle of the Somme. The intervention of the Prime Minister was required, because the army headquarters canceled the order for 1200 Mk IV (405 “males”, 205 supply vehicles, the rest “females”). Improvements were made to the structure of the tank, dictated by combat experience: the thickness of the armor in the frontal part was increased from 12 to 16 mm, on the sides - from 6 to 12 mm, and on the roof increased to 8 mm, which significantly increased the safety of the crew when firing at the vehicle with armor-piercing bullets. The sponson could slide inside the body along a slide (ramp), which made transportation easier. But sometimes in battle, with a large roll, the sponsons broke off the clamps and, suddenly sliding into the tank, maimed people. On “females” the sponsons were reduced.
The Mk IV was equipped with Lewis light machine guns for the first time, which was a mistake because it required larger embrasures. On vehicles of later brands, this drawback was eliminated by replacing the Lewis tanks with Hotchkiss tank machine guns and using guns with a barrel shortened from 40 to 23 calibers, which did not stick into the ground when rolling and did not touch trees and walls of houses.
MkV in service of the Red Army
English tank Mk V
Fuel tanks were now placed outside the hull, between the rear branches of the tracks, fuel was forcibly supplied to the engines, and a muffler was installed on the exhaust pipe. The chain drive to the drive wheels was covered from dirt, and the tracks were made wider. The driver's viewing device was also improved, now protecting him from lead splashes when hit by bullets - it was a perforated armor plate.
The first Mk IVs arrived at the front in April 1917 and took part in the battle for Messines on June 7. Then they visited the case near Cambrai. Their production ceased in December 1917 with the start of production of an improved modification of the Mk V.
She was very different from her predecessors. It was equipped with a four-speed Wilson planetary gearbox and a special Ricardo tank engine. From now on, only the driver controlled the car - there were no onboard gearboxes. A distinctive feature of the Mk is the tired air intakes of the cooling system, mounted on the sides; the radiator is interlocked with the engine. The commander's cabin was enlarged, and another machine gun was placed in the stern. The first Mk Vs began to enter the army in May 1918, and by the end of the war, 400 were produced (equally “male” and “female”).
The next modification was the extended Mk V* (“with a star”), into the body of which a two-meter section was built. Thus, without compromising the longitudinal rigidity, it was possible to overcome wider ditches, improve the grip of the tracks on the ground and increase the internal volume to accommodate additional supplies or 25 infantrymen. An attempt to land a tank landing was made on August 8, 1918 near Amiens, but it was unsuccessful - due to poor ventilation, the soldiers died. However, 579 of these tanks were converted. 25 Mk V tanks were the same Mk V* tank, but of a special construction.
Until the end of the war, Mk VII and Mk VIII were produced in single copies. The first ones (75 ordered, 3 made) differed from the Mk V in the cooling system and the presence of a hydraulic transmission, in addition, they were equipped with an electric starter. The combat weight reached 37 tons, the armament consisted of two 57-mm cannons and 5 machine guns. The tanks turned out to be easy to control, maneuverable, but expensive.
Standing somewhat apart is the so-called Anglo-American, or “international” Mk VIII, which was destined to become the main heavy tank of the Allies in 1919. Design of the Mk VIII began in the summer of 1917; for mass production, it was planned to build a plant in France that would produce 300 vehicles monthly. The Americans undertook to supply engines, transmissions, and control mechanisms; the British - armor, tracks, rollers and weapons. After the signing of the armistice, the USA and Great Britain produced only a few units. The weight of the Mk VIII reached 37.6 tons, the crew consisted of 8 people, the tank was equipped with two 57-mm cannons and 7-10 machine guns, the armor did not exceed 16 mm. Engine 338 hp (American version) allowed speeds of up to 9 km/h.
The main British tanks of the First World War, Mk IV and Mk V, fought many successful battles; they also entered American troops; 77 vehicles were handed over to the French on November 1, 1918. Captured Mk IVs were in the Kaiser's army, and Mk Vs were in the hands of the British interventionists and the White Guards in Russia. Captured by the Red Army, they were used until 1930 under the name "Ricardre".
The Mk IV and Mk V served in the British army for several years after the war; in addition, several vehicles were each in the armed forces of Latvia, Poland, Japan and Estonia. By the way, the Estonians served their last service in August 1941 during the defense of Tallinn. Member of the Military Council of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, Vice Admiral N.K. Smirnov recalled that in those difficult days he was informed about four Renault tanks found in a warehouse, left over from the army of bourgeois Estonia. However, judging by the description (“each has seven machine guns”), these were Mk V. Hastily repaired, they went into battle and helped the defenders of the city, at least a little.
"International" tank Mk VIII
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The symbol of British tank building in the years between the two world wars was the heavy five-turret tank A T Independent. This vehicle became the object of close attention of specialists from many countries and, without a doubt, served as a prototype for the creation of the Soviet T-35 heavy tank and the German Nb.Fz
As you know, the British began building tanks during the First World War. By its end, they had numerous and organized tank forces - the Royal Armored Corps (RAC) - the Royal Tank Corps.
In the next 20 years, British tank building was almost at the “freezing point”. There were several reasons for this. First of all, in Great Britain the discussion about the role and place of tanks in modern warfare has dragged on. Uncertainty on this issue among the military slowed down the development of appropriate tactical and technical requirements and the issuance of orders to industry. The geographical feature of the state also played a role - the British did not intend to attack anyone, and for a long time they did not have a real enemy in Europe.
This situation led to the fact that during this period of time the British industry produced only a few hundred tanks, the design of which can hardly be called innovative. The most interesting ideas of their creators were either embodied in prototypes and experimental samples that remained unclaimed, or simply did not find application in their homeland.
The end of the debate in the USSR and Germany about the role of tanks and the subsequent massive deployment of tank troops in these countries forced the British military to come out of hibernation. Beginning around 1934, the development of armored vehicles in Great Britain intensified sharply.
By this time, the views of the military leadership on the tactical use of tanks had largely been determined. In accordance with them, tanks in England were divided into three classes: light, infantry and cruising. Moreover, the concept of cruising tanks was formed later than others. At first, their functions were to be performed by light combat vehicles - fast and maneuverable. The main task of infantry tanks was to directly support infantry on the battlefield. These vehicles had limited speed and heavy armor. Sometimes it reached the point of absurdity: the gearbox of the Matilda I infantry tank, for example, had only one speed - it was believed that this was quite enough.
In 1936, the British considered it sufficient to arm tanks only with machine guns. Common sense, however, soon triumphed, and first on cruising and then on infantry vehicles a 2-pounder gun appeared. Its capabilities, however, were very limited - there were no high-explosive fragmentation shells in the ammunition load.
The disaster at Dunkirk forced the British to reconsider their views somewhat. Light tanks were now assigned only reconnaissance functions, and even then, during the war, they were gradually transferred to armored vehicles. The role of infantry tanks, the only ones that had proven themselves well in battles on the continent, remained virtually unchanged, and efforts to improve them boiled down to increasing the power of weapons and armor protection.
At the same time, the unfolding hostilities in North Africa revealed the army's enormous need for a reliable and complete tank for independent armored formations. HVi, one of the cruising tanks then in service with the British Army, did not fully meet these requirements. One can only be surprised that a country that built beautiful ships, planes and cars could not achieve the required operational reliability of tank engines and chassis elements for several years. The British were able to resolve these issues only by 1944. By this time, the importance of infantry tanks and their share in tank units had significantly decreased. The cruising tank increasingly acquired the features of a universal one. Soon after the end of World War II, the British abandoned the division of tanks into classes according to purpose.
Leading developer and manufacturer of armored vehicles in Great Britain in 1930 - 1940. was Vickers-Armstrong Ltd. With her participation, almost half of all British tanks that participated in World War II were created. In the photo - Polish Vickers tanks in the workshop
Assembly of cruiser tanks Mk II in the workshop of the BRCW plant, 1940. In the foreground are stands for assembling turrets
Manufacturing the hull of the Mk V "Covenanter" tank in the workshop of the LMS plant
Cruiser tank Mk V "Covenanter" in
A prototype of the A43 Black Prince tank, 1945. This vehicle, developed on the basis of the Churchill infantry tank and armed with a 17-pounder gun, is an attempt to create a full-fledged English heavy tank
For the 1940s, the design and assembly technology of British tanks cannot be considered progressive. The hulls and turrets (if the latter were not made in one piece) were assembled using bolts on frames or using the frameless method (“Valentine”). Welding was used to an extremely limited extent. Armor plates, as a rule, were located vertically, without any angles of inclination. British tanks, especially in the second half of the war, could not compete with German tanks either in terms of armor protection or firepower.
The pace of tank production on the eve and during the Second World War also lagged behind real needs. For example, by December 1938, the industry was supposed to supply the army with more than 600 cruiser and about 370 infantry tanks. However, only 30 of the former were produced, and 60 of the latter. A year later, only 314 tanks of all types entered the army. As a result, Britain entered the war with just over 600 tanks, more than half of which were light tanks. In total, during the war years the British produced 25,116 tanks, about 4,000 self-propelled guns and self-propelled guns. Moreover, a significant part of the latter were manufactured using the chassis of obsolete and decommissioned vehicles. Speaking about the production of tanks in the United Kingdom, it should be taken into account that a significant part of the combat vehicles produced during the war never reached the front” and were used for training purposes.
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Initially, the British military wanted to have armored vehicles at their disposal to transport soldiers. But very quickly the implementation of this idea turned out to be impossible. The cramped conditions of the Mark I tank and especially the release of carbon dioxide and cordite fumes threatened the lives of the soldiers on board. Often crew members became victims of intoxication and were carried out of their cars in an unconscious state. Each new soldier who got into the tank only made the situation worse. Although the infantrymen could approach the enemy unharmed, when leaving the tank they were completely unfit for combat for several minutes. The Mark V Star tank, which entered service in 1918, is a Mark V tank lengthened to carry personnel. In 1917, Lieutenant G. R. Rackham was appointed to develop an armored vehicle for transporting infantrymen. But the British military did not have enough experience to determine the technical requirements for such a vehicle and, as a result, it was decided to develop a vehicle equipped with a gun.
Thus, if the Mark VIII tank, which was still in development, failed to fulfill its purpose, the Mark IX could be converted into an armored personnel carrier, which became the first "tank" (from the English "tank" - "reservoir"). The military ultimately decided to abandon the “backup” tank, which was both a tank and a transporter, and development of the tank began
Mark IX. The tracks were supported by a lengthened, reinforced chassis and an extended body of the Mark V tank, thanks to the use of fans the ventilation system was improved... Everything unnecessary was removed inside, which made room for a maximum of 30 people. The Mark IX was equipped with two machine guns and eight vision slits that gave men the opportunity to shoot. The engine was moved forward, the gearbox was left behind, the space reserved for the soldiers was crossed by a long transmission shaft with a scale. The thickness of the armor did not exceed 10 mm, and in the stowed position the weight reached 27 tons. The crew consisted of four people: a commander, a driver and two machine gunners. Due to the shape of the tracks and external resemblance, the car received the nickname “The Pig”.
The prototype was approved by the General Staff, which handed over an order to representatives of the military industry for the production of 200 copies of the armored personnel carrier. By the time peace was signed on November 11, 1918, only 35 vehicles had been assembled. After the war, one of them began to be used by the medical service, and the second turned into an amphibious tank.
TANK VICKERS MARK E |
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The lessons learned from World War I were clear: countries capable of producing adequate armored forces had to invest in research and development and an armored vehicle production system. But in 1920, tank production was very expensive. People survived a four-year bloody war, a period of disarmament began, the state of public finances in different countries was depressing. Military budgets were insignificant, and the need for weapons immediately fell into the zone of special attention in the event of an order for mass production. The defense industry has sought ways to develop low-cost but reliable weapons and equipment without attracting attention. ![]() The British company Vickers-Armstrong took a huge risk when, on its own initiative, it decided to design a new tank without any ministerial support and without an advance payment for development costs. The development of the “six-ton tank” was undertaken by famous engineers and tank designers John Valentine Carden and Vivian Lloyd. An experimental model appeared in 1928 and was named “Mark E”. The vehicle seemed impressive: the thickness of the frontal armor was 25 mm, and on the turret, in the rear and on the sides - 19 mm; petrol engine power 98 hp. With.; excellent tracks on which the tank could travel up to 5000 km. Two versions of the Vickers Mark E tanks were produced: Model A with two turrets, each equipped with a Vickers machine gun, and Model B with one double turret equipped with a 47 mm cannon and one machine gun. But after various stages of testing, ultimately, the British army abandoned the tank due to insufficient reliability of the suspension. Although the hopes of the Vickers company did not come true, it did not abandon its project and tried its luck on the international market. This decision paid off. In the late 1920s, the Vickers tank became the main weapon of many tank armies in Europe and around the world. These tanks were in service in the armies of Bolivia, Bulgaria, China, Greece, Finland, Portugal and Thailand. In addition, the light tank was quickly copied by foreign engineers. The characteristics of the tank made such a deep impression on the Soviet military that they bought a license from Vickers to produce their own version - the T-26 tank, which was slightly different in armament and armor shape. In the period from 1931 to 1941, from the assembly lines of Soviet factories At least 12 T-26 LLCs of all modifications were produced. |