The salvagers who raise World War Two tanks from the dead Now, more than 75 years after the fighting, both Soviet and German tanks are being lifted from the marshes in Belarus. One Belarusian family has been looking for tanks littered all over the country’s vast marshes and restoring them. With photographer Anton Skyba, I was able to witness one heavy Soviet tank, a KV-1, being restored after its recovery – and its participation in a re-enactment of a World War Two battle. TD
Reading further that KV-1 was some beast KV-1 They encountered little resistance from forces composed mainly of Pak-36 and 38 AT guns and Panzer 35(t) light tanks. The next day, a single KV-1 successfully blocked any advance of some elements of the 6th Panzer Division for 24 hours, before running out of ammunition and retiring. It was hit by dozens of different calibers, but remained unscathed. At Krasnogvardeysk (Gatchina, near Leningrad) on August 14, 1941, a small unit of 5 well-hidden and entrenched KV-1s, plus two in reserve, with twice the usual ammunition supply, including a majority of AP shells, were skillfully placed around the single road bordering a swamp. This unit, commanded by Lieutenant Zinoviy Kolobanov, destroyed some 43 German tanks from German 8th PzD during a single half-hour action. Kolobanov was later awarded the Order of Lenin and made Hero of the USSR. TD
There were some fine pictures of that KV's restoration on a Russki blog, but it seems to have disappeared. More KV-ness from an old post: The most remarkable thing about that article, is positive coverage of the activity from the Beeb! There used to be a lot of 'Western' activity out there, but I get the impression it's tailed off a little since Russian laws changed. Definitely still many machines left to be found, and it's pleasing to see these chaps appear to be learning the process of sympathetic restoration/preservation. There have been some horror stories (often covered in the swamp tanks thread) from that complete Stug left to rusting pilferage, and the beute T34 that lost all it's original German markings in 'restoration'. More power to the swamp-hunters, though. I also hope they're making more effort to record things more archaeologically. Be a shame if pulling out these beasts also lost any of the more ephemeral finds,
