Introduction

In 1954, the Soviet Ministry of Defence published a book on tank technology aimed at the general public, describing the history of tank design and the operation of various components and assemblies used by tanks at the time. Only a handful out of more than 600 pages are dedicated to foreign tank development during the Second World War. Although the text describes the Medium Tank M4 as the most common American tank of the war, there are few specifics. Not even a photograph of this vehicle is included.

This brevity was not out of a lack of information. More than 4000 M4A2 tanks and two M4A4 tanks were shipped to the Soviet Union during the war. Thousands of pages of documents with impressions from the specialists who tested the tanks, crews who fought in them, and commanders who directed them in battle were written – only to be buried in the ideological battle of the Cold War. More than half a century later, the popular history of the Sherman tank in service with the Red Army is based largely on memoirs, rumours, and guesswork. This book will attempt to give the reader a glimpse through the decades-long information barrier at the experience of Soviet crews recorded in the moment, untarnished by political pressure and uneroded by time.