Summary and index

Featured
Establishment of a Tank Army
Establishment of a Tank Army

Report on the combat strength of formations and units of the 2nd Guard Tank Army on 20 December 1944

Newly available archive material from Russia now makes possible a detailed breakdown of a late war Tank Army, showing both its combat and support units in great detail down to company level . This new information expands the current knowledge provided by existing English language sources.

Soviet casualties - comparison and contrasts
Soviet casualties - comparison and contrasts

The scale of Soviet casualties during the Second World War has always been perplexing , however using the First World War as a comparison can provide perspective and a potential explanation of the mechanism of loss.

Logistics of the Combined-Arms Army — Motor Transport
Logistics of the Combined-Arms Army — Motor Transport

Logistics of the Combined-Arms Army — Motor Transport published in the Journal of Slavic Military Studies examines the level of motor transport available to Soviet infantry

The memory of the fallen defenders of the Motherland must not be consigned to oblivion
The memory of the fallen defenders of the Motherland must not be consigned to oblivion

Sergey Aleksandrovich Il’enkov’s now classic challenge to official Russian figures for casualties of the Soviet Union during the Second World War translated into English.

Soviet Casualties - Factors, Effects and Outcomes
Soviet Casualties - Factors, Effects and Outcomes

The Red Army suffered an extraordinary level of losses in the Second World War and yet there is no definitive explanation of how or why this occurred. This article explores some of the current thinking.

Soviet Mechanised Corps (IV)
Soviet Mechanised Corps (IV)

By 1944 the Soviet Mechanised Corps had matured and developed into powerful, flexible formations that could sit at the heart of Tank Armies or be used as independent assault groups.

Soviet Mechanised Corps (III)
Soviet Mechanised Corps (III)

From February 1943, the Mechanised Corps adopted their final organisation 010/418 which would see them through to the end of war albeit with numerous small changes. The key to this organisation was the pooling of transport at Brigade level which allowed the Corps to move quickly but efficiently.

The reality of modernity - Motor vehicles in the Red Army
The reality of modernity - Motor vehicles in the Red Army

For a poor country such as the USSR the struggle in the 1930s to motorise its military represented a major national effort - this is the story of how they fared.

Soviet Mechanised Corps (II)
Soviet Mechanised Corps (II)

The first six Mechanised Corps were raised in September 1942 with establishment 010/290 which can be largely recreated from Albums held in TsAMO, only care must be taken in interpreting this dataset.

Soviet Mechanised Corps
Soviet Mechanised Corps

Mechanised Corps represented the most expensive divisional sized combat units in the Red Army yet we know relatively little about how they were organised and equipped. Although only a small number of these corps were raised, they were important indicators as to STAVKAs strategic intentions as Mechanised Corps were deployed in many of the key offensives. New information for Russia now allows a more comprehensive look at these interesting units.