Visiting main Russian front battlefields?

Discussion in 'WW2 Battlefields Today' started by deadb_tch, Nov 25, 2007.

  1. deadb_tch

    deadb_tch the deadliest b#tch ever

    Hi everyone. I'm new for this forum. I've viewed travel section and noticed that there is no threads about visiting such great battlefields of Eastern front like Stalingrad (Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd), place of greates tank battle in WWII - Kurskaya Duga (near city of Kursk and city of Belgorod) etc. Is this a consequence of lack of interest of such visits or something else (like hard way to get in Russia)?

    ps: sorry if my english is poor, my native is russian :rolleyes:
     
    Paul Reed likes this.
  2. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Old Hickory Recon

    Lack of interest? No, there is strong interest. Mostly has to do with few to no Russians in the site and the past difficulty of outsiders visiting there.

    Anything you have to offer is more than welcome, please feel free to contribute.:cowboy_125:
     
  3. deadb_tch

    deadb_tch the deadliest b#tch ever

    Lack of interest? No, there is strong interest. Mostly has to do with few to no Russians in the site and the past difficulty of outsiders visiting there.

    Anything you have to offer is more than welcome, please feel free to contribute.:cowboy_125:

    Ok. Fortunately or not (hehe, future will show us :)) - I was born and live in Russia. My city is Belgorod - place where is situated biggest diorama in Europe. It shows some moments of battle on Kurskaya Duga. Just imagine - area of curtain is 1005 square meters (length 67 meters, height 15 meters), in front plan of curtain placed a part of battlefield with total area of 500 square meters with real tanks, weapons, soldier figures and such stuff. Of course there is a museum around diorama (or correctly to say - diorama placed inside of museum) with some WWII expositions. Around museum itself is standing a number of tanks (T-34 offcourse), AT guns, self-propelled AT guns, "Kat'usha" etc. Offcourse there is excursion that will describe all historical moments around battle of Kurskaya Duga.
    Not far away from my town is Kurkaya Duga with local museum with expositions of tanks, AT guns, shelters etc. Unfortunately that battlefield is now a place for growing crop and such things :) - this can be understand - no russians in that period can imagine that battlefield can be place for excursions :). But - there are still things you have to see. :)
    The list can be continued - Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd, places of heroic defence of city of Sevastopol etc. - there are many museums in Russia that shows us a real flow of history of that period.. And its places where you can touch a bit of history.
    What i can offer to community of this forum.. That is the question (excuse me for such pathetic stuff). A few days or more i realized that i can arrange a tour for anyone interesting of such tour - its not a big problem. Main question - is there is interest of visiting that museums and places..

    PS: Please, don't consider this like a form of publicity, its just a spoken thoughts.
     
  4. Paul Reed

    Paul Reed Ubique

    Please do tell us more. Many of us want to visit, but don't know where to start.
     
  5. deadb_tch

    deadb_tch the deadliest b#tch ever

    Please do tell us more. Many of us want to visit, but don't know where to start.
    I'll tell you more todays morning (moscow time now 0:37 - have to fall asleep). See ya. :)
     
  6. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Old Hickory Recon

    You can help those of us who cannot make the trip by posting pics.:cowboy_125:
     
  7. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Hello deadb_tch,
    Welcome to our Forum.
    I'd love to visit more Russian Front battlefields but with 3 small children it would be difficult.
    I have been to Berlin, Vienna , Prague and Budapest so have seen some Eastern Front "battlefields".
     
  8. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Welcome deadb_tch,
    I promise you there are a fair few of us that are absolutely fascinated by what's still in, and on, the ground in your part of the world. We'd love to hear more or maybe get some help with finding good websites that we can at least look at the pictures. (The language & cyrillics can be a real barrier to us non-Russian speakers, though I've found 'танках' quite handy in the past ;)).

    There are a few threads buried on here somewhere on Eastern Battlefield relics, these one's spring to mind:
    Nevskij bridgehead
    T34 Recovery
    WW2 Tanks found in mud

    Hope you enjoy yourself here.

    Cheers.
    Adam.
     
  9. freebird

    freebird Senior Member

    Well VP, if you're a tank fan(atic) like me then you are in luck. I have some good pics from my last trip, there is a good museum in Kiev, and another one near Sevastopol (plains of Balaklava - any Brits heard of that place before? :D )

    This is from the Kiev war museum. There is a statue in front of the museum, a shot from inside, and something for you HEAVY METAL fans!! :lol: I'll post some more pic's & info later
     

    Attached Files:

    von Poop likes this.
  10. freebird

    freebird Senior Member

    You can help those of us who cannot make the trip by posting pics.:cowboy_125:

    WWII too far back? maybe you would rather be driving one of THESE!
     

    Attached Files:

  11. deadb_tch

    deadb_tch the deadliest b#tch ever

    So there is monday morning in Russia and I'll continue. First of all I should correct myself and say that I can only help with a tour in my province, however I'd also would like visit those museums outside my home province with anyone interested in it, is it foreigner or not :). And also like most of you I have main job (no children yet :)) so I can't just stand up and go to wich location I want :D

    Owen_D u'r the man :) 3 children it's great. In our province if u'll get a 3 children u can get a state support like a medium size house or apartments for a small charge - that is because of poor birth rate in Russia (that in fact increased from very low values of late 90's). So this is offtopic anyway :). But when children grow up u can visit us :).

    Von Poop, as i googled russian internet there are no non-cyrillic sites (or may be i have poor skills in google arts) where u can get good information, pictures and description of pictures :) in english. Now I can't clearly realize how can I help with getting information from cyrillic sites .. I u have any suggestions - pls say it :) I can help with translations and such stuff :)

    Slipdigit, ok, I can provide some test pictures ;) to get ur opinion is it interesting or not :) if it is then I can make more of them :)

    Paul Reed, IMHO to visit Russia u shouldn't be Jason Bourne or such man :) You should obtain a visa (it can be done in Russian embassy in ur country), bye tickets to Moscow and find someone here in Russia to guide u :) This is my non-professional point of view. This algorithm may have some invisible problems :( Offcourse you should find guide before ur visit to country (I think this rule works for all countries). :)

    PS: more about museum-diorama in my town
    * this is buidling of museum:
    http://www.museum.ru/img.asp?8728
    * this is a part of curtain that shows a snapshot :))) of battlefield:
    http://www.museum.ru/img.asp?8729
    * this is an alley that ways to diorama with bust of native soldiers died at Afghanistan war:
    http://www.museum.ru/img.asp?33011
    * this is a part of an exposition inside museum:
    http://www.museum.ru/img.asp?33009
    * this is an expositions of soviet tanks etc. near museum:
    http://www.museum.ru/img.asp?33012
    * this is museum at night of Day of Victory (May 9) decorated with flags:
    http://www.museum.ru/img.asp?33013

    pls don't judge very strong this pictures - i found them in russian internet, unfortunately there no larger pictures of our museum :(
     
  12. deadb_tch

    deadb_tch the deadliest b#tch ever

    WWII too far back? maybe you would rather be driving one of THESE!

    Hehe :) u can be amazed that in past I have drived BMP-1 - analog of USA's M1 Bradley :) its very amazing to drive that IFV :)) but don't think that anyone in Russia can hold an AK and drive tank :)
     
  13. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    I love looking at pictures from behind the old Iron Curtain.
    Thanks for these.
    If you haven't seen them there are some Then & Now photos on my Budapest thread. <<

    I also like the idea of getting a bigger house with a bigger family. It would be cheaper than buying bigger house in England.
    When did you drive the BMP-1 ? Were you in Russian Army?

    Visiting your area is it easy to follow the battles using WW2 maps and finding the actual places on the ground today.
    Has the landscape changed much?
     
  14. deadb_tch

    deadb_tch the deadliest b#tch ever

    I love looking at pictures from behind the old Iron Curtain.
    Thanks for these.
    If you haven't seen them there are some Then & Now photos on my Budapest thread. <<

    I also like the idea of getting a bigger house with a bigger family. It would be cheaper than buying bigger house in England.
    When did you drive the BMP-1 ? Were you in Russian Army?

    Visiting your area is it easy to follow the battles using WW2 maps and finding the actual places on the ground today.
    Has the landscape changed much?

    Ok, i've bookmarked ur topic :)
    I was in army partially (hehe :)) - i don't know is there analog in western countries, but here in university or institute u can attend a military department (if its exist in university), after 2 years u get lieutenant and contract with army for 2 years. After graduating university there is a chance to go to army around 50% :). Anyway at the end of military deparment graduation every students goes to training assembly at nearest military fort :) for 2 weeks where they shooting from every infantry arms (o yeah Dragunov is amazing thing), driving IFV etc. After this u swear an oath an get a lieutenant. So after university u got 2 graduations - civilian and military :) But percent of students with this military graduation is low :) - not everyone wants to go to army after unversity. :) however this is an offtopic. :cowboy_125:

    Yes, as far as i know, landscapes everywhere changed, because mainly soviet government have tried to erase trails of bloody fights, arranging museums and memorials at places of hard fights. U need modern maps :)
    However, mostly, using old WW2 maps, u can find what u want but it will be very hard :)
     
  15. Gerard

    Gerard Seelow/Prora

    Good morning Deadb and very pleased to make your acquaintance!!!!
     
  16. deadb_tch

    deadb_tch the deadliest b#tch ever

    If everyone is interesting, few days earlier before I registered at this forum i've found following book in electronic form:
    Soviet Rifleman 1941-45
    [​IMG]
    Gordon L Rottman, "Soviet Rifleman 1941-45" (Warrior 123) "Illustrator: Howard Gerrard"
    Osprey Publishing 2007 | 64 pages | ISBN: 9781846031274 | PDF | 9.6 MB

    The Soviet rifleman, or Frontovik, initially suffered defeats and retreat during the early desperate days of the war, then resolved a stubborn defence during the brutal winter of 1941-42, eventually turning the tables at the battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, before victoriously marching into Germany. This title provides a view of the Soviet rifleman in defeat and victory, on the defensive and in the attack both in the heat of the summer, and the frozen brutality of the Russian winter. Their political beliefs, motivation, training, everyday life, weaponry and equipment are examined here, accompanied by rare photographs and full-color artwork.

    if this is not violating forum rules i can provide a download link :)

    And I must notice that Frontovik its not a correct word for soviet rifleman :)) This word - Frontovik - mainly used in peaceful time (after WWII's end) to describe person who was at fronts of Russia. So Frontovik is like veteran. This is not a military term :)
     
  17. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    No offence mate but it's probably best if you don't provide a direct link.
    People can find it themselves if they so desire without us annoying Osprey. :)

    So what do you rate as the best Russian Language websites on ww2 battlefields?

    Cheers,
    Adam.
     
  18. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    if this is not violating forum rules i can provide a download link

    I did a Google and found it too.
    The Download is not free so I'd rather buy the book at the bookshop.
    We've reviewed several books on the Eastern Front, some Western books on the Red Army have upset Russian members of this forum before.
    There are a few in this Forum.
    http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/books-movies/
    Maybe you could give your views on any book from the West you may have seen.
    This one seems to be hated in Russia.
    Ivan's War, by Catherine Merridale

    Discussed here,

    http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/books-movies/10447-ivans-war-catherine-merridale.html

    EDIT A review of that book with some pictures here.
    Soviet Rifleman 1941-45 - Military Modelling Kits
     
  19. deadb_tch

    deadb_tch the deadliest b#tch ever

    No offence mate but it's probably best if you don't provide a direct link.
    People can find it themselves if they so desire without us annoying Osprey. :)

    So what do you rate as the best Russian Language websites on ww2 battlefields?

    Cheers,
    Adam.

    I get it :) If anyone interested about book - write to my PM :).

    Websites on russian language.. Hmm, good question. Because there is no such portal that will provide any kind information of WWII on Russian and then eastern front. Some of them provides only that part of information, some only those :) I don't know do u know them or no, but there is a number of good sites: BattleFront.ru - èñòîðèÿ Âåëèêîé Îòå÷åñòâåííîé âîéíû, ÂÅËÈÊÀß ÂÎÉÍÀ - Âåëèêàÿ Îòå÷åñòâåííàÿ âîéíà 1941-45 ãîäîâ, Âåëèêàÿ Îòå÷åñòâåííàÿ âîéíà. Ôîòîãðàôèè (this site have interface on english also), Ðàðèòåòû ôîòîõðîíèêè ÑÑÑÐ. Âåëèêàÿ Îòå÷åñòâåííàÿ âîéíà (site with soviet foto raritties, if u haven't seen them already go there and see), Âåëèêàÿ Îòå÷åñòâåííàÿ Âîéíà 1941-1945 ãã. and ÏÎÁÅÄÈÒÅËÈ - Ñîëäàòû Âåëèêîé Âîéíû. Last site is a multimedia map of war fronts made in Macromedia Flash 7 with comments of veterans on it, u can download map to u computer to save traffic :)

    Thats a short answer to ur question :) Hope u'll be satisfied with links I provided. :)
     
    von Poop likes this.
  20. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

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