Germans and SVTs

[woodchopper]

The third pic, in post #3 is interesting!!!

Alas poor Yorik I knew him well



All interesting pictures, Keeping up a supply of ammo would of eventually became a problem, easy enough when your advancing and able to capture large numbers of enemy, enemy resupply convoys and ammo dumps. But later in the war I suspect that ammo would be a problem.

 

[MauserMike]

Training what became a 6 million man force in the use and maintenance of the SVT against the backdrop of a war of extermination, scorched earth doctrine and the occupation of most of Russia's industrial heartland was not practical.

I doubt the US or Britain could have done better under similar circumstances.

This was not meant as a slag against the Russians.

The reality is the officer corps themselves did not have a lot of faith in the average Russian infantryman's IQ. In this war of attrition, their interest was to maintain order.

Remember, this is a country that went from serfdom to a modern industrialized nation only late in the 19th century. Many of these poor young men grew up in conditions so harsh that its difficult for many of us to even comprehend.

 

[Unsub]

No army brass in any military had a whole lot of faith in the IQ of the average grunt. For example the US army not trusting the men to pull their own ripcords on parachutes. Also it is likely when a soldier did something clever it was not a big deal but when one did something abysmally stupid the story got around.

The Germans were desperate for semiautos and their were orders issued to the effect to make use of all the captured ones. There was a similar order for the US jeep and the USSR's T34 tanks as well. They did use everything but made a point of making sure everyone knew which gear was especially desirable. Tommyguns were quite popular and I am sure if the war had eneded different they would have been a popular war trophy for Germans at least on the Italian front(where they had lots of them).

 

[Slyder73]

Training what became a 6 million man force in the use and maintenance of the SVT against the backdrop of a war of extermination, scorched earth doctrine and the occupation of most of Russia's industrial heartland was not practical.

I doubt the US or Britain could have done better under similar circumstances.

6 million by the end of the war is a bit low. The Soviets lost 8.5 million killed in action alone. By the end of the war, nearly 30 million had been conscripted into the armed forces during the war. In comparison, the relatively few numbers of SVT compared to the 91/30 made it fairly uncommon to the average Red Army soldier, and very complicated. Keep in mind the average "Ivan" was poorly educated, and even more poorly trained. The Germans used what they could and found at times that finding ammunition for the captured Soviet weapons was safer than relying on supply lines that were constatly being disrupted all the way from Germany and East Europe. If you scour some East Front photos you'll find pictures of Germans with PPShs and all sorts of Soviet weapons.

 

[johnone]

DESPORTERIZER;
Yes they were all sold in Canada, very small lot, maybe 200

KOALORKA:
The SVT-38 was issued as the Selbstladegewehr 258(r)
The SVT-40 was issued as the Selbstladegewehr 259(r)

UNSUB;
Yes in fact the Germans did re-issue US weapons of all types the Thompson 1928 cal 11.43mm for example was the Maschinenpistole 760(e)

John