Armor mines; “bobbin” tanks that rolled out mesh as a temporary road over sand and clay; bulldozer tanks; “Crocodile” flame-throwing tanks; Armored Ramp Carriers; and other tanks fitted with specialty tools such as demolition frames or fascine layers One AVRE was fitted with a petard spigot mortar that fired a 40 lb bomb—called “flying dustbins” by British troops—for demolishing pillboxes All these fine adaptations helped British and Canadian troops get onto their beaches in Normandy on D-Day ( June 6, 1944), then get off them and move inland Soviet armor was plentiful before the German invasion on June 22, 1941, but varied greatly in quality The 11-ton T-26 was the most numerous Soviet tank when the war broke out T-60s weighed 6.4 tons, had a crew of two, and mounted a 20 mm gun They were the Red Army scout tank equivalent of the Italian L3/35 tankette The 10ton T-70 was still rolling off the line in 1942 It was a death trap for its two-man crew when facing Panzers or anti-tank guns Yet, with the main medium and heavy tank factories lost at Kharkov and surrounded at Leningrad, a critical decision was made to concentrate on producing T-60s in automobile plants while fevered completion of new tank factories was underway, notably at Chelyabinsk (“Tankograd”) Chelyabinsk became the main manufacturing center of the superb T-34 medium battle tank, the mainstay of Soviet tank armies by mid-1942 The 1940 model weighed 28.5 tons while mounting a powerful 76 mm gun Its four-man crew could attain a battle speed of 34 mph, faster than any Panzer The 1943 model was nearly six tons heavier; the extra weight came from additional armor The 1943 T-34 was turned out at the extraordinary rate of 1,200 per month The T-34-85 did not add much weight Its great advance over earlier models was its 85 mm high velocity gun, which could smash the heaviest Panzers Its turret was also enlarged and modified, providing better sighting and gun handling Even with the extra weight it still attained a top speed of 34 mph About 11,000 were built in 1944 and 18,500 in 1945 The T-44 was comparable to the T-34, but with thicker armor (3.5 inches frontal) Alongside T-26s, T-60s, and the first T-34s, the Red Army deployed the KV-1 in 1941 Named for Kliment Voroshilov, it weighed 53 tons It outmatched the armored protection and weight of shell of German Panzer IIIs and IVs, could withstand multiple hits, and mounted a powerful 76 mm gun of its own Protection and firepower made up for a slow, 22 mph top speed The KV-1 so impressed the Wehrmacht that German tank designers modeled the Panther and Tiger types on it The Soviets introduced a new series of heavy tanks late in the war The KV-2 weighed 57 tons and mounted a 152 mm howitzer Capable of just 16 mph and with insufficient frontal armor, it proved highly vulnerable The 1943 KV-5 was a 50-ton tank with an 85 mm gun The “Joseph Stalin,” or JS II, was a variation of the KV line under a new name It weighed over 50 tons and had a top speed of 23 mph It mounted a 122 mm gun and had 3.5–4.7-inch frontal armor, along with a remarkable 3.5-inch side armor The JS III weighed an additional 1.5 tons but was two mph faster It had an exceptional 4.7–6.0 inches of frontal armor Some 2,300 “Stalin” tanks were built in 1944, and 1,500 in 1945 See also anti-tank weapons; armored infantry; bazooka pants; combat cars; half-track; Panzerjägdgruppe; tank buster; tank panic; Wunderwaffen Suggested Reading: K Macksey, Tank vs Tank (1991) 76