military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (06/24/91)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Tuesday, 24 June, 1941 German forces continue to advance along the eastern front. Vilna and Kaunas in Lithuania are captured. Near Rasyeinyai, the Germans first encounter the Soviet KV heavy tanks. Far heavier than any German design, the KV's are armored better than anything the Wehrmacht has yet faced, and are extremely difficult to halt. They prove immune to nearly all German antitank weapons; only heavy artillery and 88mm guns prove effective. The T-34 medium tank proves nearly as great a shock to the Germans, but so far have been encountered in smaller numbers than the KV's. For the most part, the Soviet armor is mishandled and outmaneuvered. Some crews have received less than an hour's training, and a severe shortage of radios makes battlefield control of Soviet armor almost impossible. Still, the counterattacks achieve some local successes; one such case is Rasyeinyai, where a lone KV-2 manages to block a road junction and cut off two vital German bridgeheads over the Dubissa river. It takes over a day for German tank, antitank and engineering forces to destroy the tank, and a number of trucks and guns are lost in the process. The air battle is more lopsided; by day's end over 2,000 Soviet aircraft are destroyed. The Red Air Force is virtually shattered, unable to offer any meaningful resistance. Three days ago, it was the largest air force in the world. Hungary declares war on the USSR, Rumania breaks its relations with Greece, and Finland ceases relations with the exile governments of Belgium and Poland. President Roosevelt announces that he is willing to send material aid to the Soviets. He also announces that Russian credits, frozen during the war with Finland, are to be released. A British mission is already en route to Moscow to arrange for similar assistance, and the Dominions endorse Churchill's promise of aid. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "We moved closer and closer... soon we faced each other and 50-100 meters ... our armor-piercing rounds simply bounced off them. They drove right through us towards the infantry and rear services. We turned around and followed behind, where we succeeded in knocking some of them out with special-purpose rounds (tungsten-core high velocity ammunition) at very close range: 30-60 meters!" - unidentified German tanker from Panzer Regiment 1