Korean War: Russian version
- Thread starter snowhunter
- Start date
Thats interesting - thanks for the link. I have long heard Soviets were the ones flying many of the MiGs, not necessarily the Koreans. I have never heard of Soviet assistance outside this and aid in terms of weapons and equipment.
Considering that the Soviet union had 8,800,000 to 10,700,000 military deaths and 12,254,000 to 14,154,000 civilian deaths in WWII compared to Canada's 45,400 military deaths, and the United States' 416,800 military deaths yes, there is a history lesson there.
Except that the Soviets would have been screwed without Allied support, most of their trucks came from us and critical raw materials for making explosive came from the Allies as well, otherwise they would have been in a world of hurt greater than they were. This is not to take away from the bravery of the average Russian soldier or Civilian. Had Stalin not purged his Officers and taken better steps to prepare for war, things would not have been so bad for them.
Had the Germans used their heads and treated the Jews and Ukrainians as humans and allies, then the USSR would have been in deep trouble.
Had the Germans used their heads and treated the Jews and Ukrainians as humans and allies, then the USSR would have been in deep trouble.
Just after I got out of school, I had the experience of working for a couple of years with a former Staff Sergeant from the Waffen-SS. Other guys working in the same place were a Hitlerjugend something-or-other-fuhrer, a Dutch collaborator, an American draft-dodger (WW2), a couple of Dutch Underground types, a Polish janitor who served with 3 armies and was held prisoner by two others, a Yugoslav Partizan, a Swiss butcher who hated EVERYBODY because he had spent 6 years "freezing my a$$ off in the mountains.... and NOBODY CAME!!!!!", several Russian refugees, several Ukrainians who hated the Russians and (my direct boss) a guy who had spent the war years in the Merchant Marine on convoy runs, merrily dodging U-boats for 6 years. And almost everybody still had a grudge left over from the War.
INSANE place to work!
The SS type once told me that the only person in the world who he hated was Field Marshal Zhukov (who was still alive at that time). I asked him why and he said, very quietly but with great venom, "He WASTED his men!". And this came from a guy who rode his tank to the gates of Moscow and then walked all the way back to Berlin: he saw it ALL.
But then, what else can you say about human-wave attacks into massed machine-gun fire, attacks in depth with only the front rank having rifles, entire regiments armed only with knives, the lunatic idea of Tank Rider battalions and the like? If the NKVD had used a few less rounds on Russians and a few more on the Germans, things might have been different.
Soviet casualties were utterly horrific... but they didn't have to be that bad.
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INSANE place to work!
The SS type once told me that the only person in the world who he hated was Field Marshal Zhukov (who was still alive at that time). I asked him why and he said, very quietly but with great venom, "He WASTED his men!". And this came from a guy who rode his tank to the gates of Moscow and then walked all the way back to Berlin: he saw it ALL.
But then, what else can you say about human-wave attacks into massed machine-gun fire, attacks in depth with only the front rank having rifles, entire regiments armed only with knives, the lunatic idea of Tank Rider battalions and the like? If the NKVD had used a few less rounds on Russians and a few more on the Germans, things might have been different.
Soviet casualties were utterly horrific... but they didn't have to be that bad.
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maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
And we think immigration rules are crazy today.
What I find interesting is that at the height of German Kriegsmodel manufacture, it still took literally dozens of machine hours to make a Mauser K98k, while a Russian M91/30 could be made in less than 7 hours machine time by the end of the war. Fit and finish were completely ignored and rough broached receivers were the norm, but they worked and were reasonably accurate. Simplicity and volume - the WW2 winning combination.
Claven is right again... as usual.
Hitler and his buddies made 25,000 tanks in 12 years.
Britain made 25,000 tanks in 6 years.
The Americans built 52,000 Shermans in just over 3 years.... PLUS Lees, Grants, Honeys and all the rest.
Russia built better than 200,000 tanks of their own, plus aid. Canada was building modern tanks for Russia while our own troops were training in WWI Renaults (okay, Ford-built ones from 1920, but still the Renault type).
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Hitler and his buddies made 25,000 tanks in 12 years.
Britain made 25,000 tanks in 6 years.
The Americans built 52,000 Shermans in just over 3 years.... PLUS Lees, Grants, Honeys and all the rest.
Russia built better than 200,000 tanks of their own, plus aid. Canada was building modern tanks for Russia while our own troops were training in WWI Renaults (okay, Ford-built ones from 1920, but still the Renault type).
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MapleSugar
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- On the loose from NIMH
Talking about simplicity, why do you think that the Russian small arms from pistols to rifles were all .311 caliber?
Simple, they only had to worry about making barrels with one bore diameter.
I've read the Russians would cut a Mosin barrel in half to make two PPSH 41 barrels.
They don't need a super-secret commie breeding program: Russia is a huge country and it has a LOT of minorities, including many millions of people who look very Asiatic.
Besides, have you been to Vancouver in the last 40 years?
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Besides, have you been to Vancouver in the last 40 years?
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