Italian Use of Captured T-34

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pkenny
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Italian Use of Captured T-34

#1

Post by pkenny » 01 Oct 2010, 18:05

Did the Italians have an official designation for the T-34's they captured/used?

Thanks in Advance.

Dubliner
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Re: Italian Use of Captured T-34

#2

Post by Dubliner » 01 Oct 2010, 19:24

Not to hijack your question, but I have always wondered just how many T-34 ended up in Italian hands. There is the well known picture and art work of the vehicle on the Eastern Front serving in a Artillery Regiment, but several accounts indicate multiple T-34s serving with Italian troops. I have read some sources that indicate these vehicles where turned over to the Italian by the Germans and others that just list them as captured. I always assumed that the Italians didn't have 'beute' tank company on the Eastern font, that whatever Russian vehicles end up in Italian hands where used only for very short periods because no source I have come across implied that the Italian's even had the workshops or recovery vehicles capable of dealing with Russian tanks.

Finally there are also accounts of at least one T-34 shipped to the Italians by the Germans to help their tank development programs. Have any new bits been dug up in Italian archives recently that could shed light on this question?


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Varadero
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Re: Italian Use of Captured T-34

#3

Post by Varadero » 01 Oct 2016, 09:27

An old topic, but very interesing. I found this month on ebay a sale of several pictures of a T-34 model 1940 being tested by Italians. On the T-34 a number is visible just like the Germans used at their testing facility in Kummersdorf. This could be a T-34 which was turned over by the Germans for Italian research. In the ebay batch one picture showed a T-34 model 1941 captured by the Italians themselves. Has anybody more info?
Attachments
Italian captured T-34 M40 in test (5).jpg
Italian captured T-34 M40 in test (4).jpg
Italian captured T-34 M40 in test (3).jpg
Italian captured T-34 M40 in test (2).jpg
Italian captured T-34 M40 in test (1).jpg

Denniss
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Re: Italian Use of Captured T-34

#4

Post by Denniss » 01 Oct 2016, 16:17

The numbers look like armor thickness in mm ?

Stiltzkin
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Re: Italian Use of Captured T-34

#5

Post by Stiltzkin » 01 Oct 2016, 17:00

The Artillery unit was the 62th Gruppo of the 120th Regimento d'Artigleria, if I remember correctly

Kawinksy
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Re: Italian Use of Captured T-34

#6

Post by Kawinksy » 01 Oct 2016, 17:35

Varadero wrote:On the T-34 a number is visible just like the Germans used at their testing facility in Kummersdorf. This could be a T-34 which was turned over by the Germans for Italian research.
That's very likely! Nice pictures, btw.

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Mobius
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Re: Italian Use of Captured T-34

#7

Post by Mobius » 01 Oct 2016, 19:13

Interesting the armor thickness is stenciled on the tank. Is that '15' for the gun shield?

Kawinksy
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Re: Italian Use of Captured T-34

#8

Post by Kawinksy » 01 Oct 2016, 21:31

Mobius wrote:Interesting the armor thickness is stenciled on the tank. Is that '15' for the gun shield?
Yes, I guess they meant 45 + 15 ...

Seems odd to me.

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Mobius
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Re: Italian Use of Captured T-34

#9

Post by Mobius » 01 Oct 2016, 21:59

Kawinksy wrote:
Mobius wrote:Interesting the armor thickness is stenciled on the tank. Is that '15' for the gun shield?
Yes, I guess they meant 45 + 15 ...
Seems odd to me.
It might be in some small overlap places. You have to have opening channels for the gun, gun sight and coaxial to move up and down or they would be fixed.
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