Comments by "John Burns" (@johnburns4017) on "Soviet "War-Winning" Tanks in 1941? The Role of Tanks on the Eastern Front WW2" video.

  1. GM4ThePeople "Viktor Suvorov reveals that the Soviets had themselves been building up for a July 1941 invasion of Europe." No proof of this whatsoever.
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  2. Ground troops feared mortars as they were difficult to hide from.
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  3. One of the best introductions of WW2 was the Kangaroo - the armoured personnel carrier which is so essential in modern warfare. A Canadian idea using a Churchill tank with the turret removed, a door inserted and armour on the top. I think it was done by Hobart and his Funnies. It took troops right to where the fighting was in relative safety from mortars and machine gun fire.
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  4. The Hurricane was cheaper and quicker to produce than the Spitfire.
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  5. Ken McD "My 2 cents is Hitler though bigger was better." He never. He reacted to what the enemy had. He was economy - look at the BF109 fighter. A pilot could just ft in it was so tight. The biggest restriction to tank design in WW2 was the engines to power heavy tanks. The Soviets had the wonderful V-2 diesel engine which was made until the 1960s, which powered the BT-7 and T-34. The US never had a decent dedicated tank engine, neither did the British in the early war using bus engines and the likes. The British did eventually have the best tank engine in WW2, the RR Meteor. It was a detuned RR Merlin plane engine. The heavy German tanks suffered from underpowered engines and transmissions that burnt out regularly. At the end of the war The British had the best engine/transmission setup using the Meteor and Merritt-Brown transmission. The Soviets were just behind the British.
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  6. Secret Moon The Tiger was a response to the British Matilda 2 and the French Char B. The Panther was a response to the T-34, based on it. The British Comet a response to the Panther and the Centurion a response to the Tiger.
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  7. The Soviets prime tank in 1941 was the BT-7. It was fast and great on rough terrain. It was improved into the T-34. The T-26 was essentially a made under licence British Vickers. A tank the British army never took up, but sold to many other countries. The BT-7 and T-34 had the American Christie suspension. The USA never took it up. The British did, but heavily modified the suspension. The Christie suspension had less external parts so was less prone to being clogged up with mud and ice, unlike German designs. The Christie suspension meant tanks could run faster over rough terrain.
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  8. The T-34 was only introduced in October 1941.
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  9. If I am right, the first showing of the T-34 in force was in Oct 1941
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  10. Soviet tanks were not successful as many never had radios. The Germans feared the KV-1, but the Soviets sent them in groups over open ground hoping to find a German target. The Germans eventually would hit the tracks or whatever.
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  11. About the only type with radios. They Soviets also did not know how to control tanks in the field
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