What happened to all the captured equipment that the Germans acquired from the Soviets? What did the use for their own use, what did the destroy, and what did they just leave? Considering Germany’s logistical issues using some captured equipment and supplies would seem advisable.
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The Landsers used handguns, such as TT-33 pistols, PPSch submachine guns or SWT-40 rifles. Captured guns were used for newly built tank destroyers (Marder II / SdKfz 132). The 120 mm mortar (Granatwerfer 42) was a direct copy of the Russian 120 mm mortar. Captured tanks were partly used in specially formed units. These “Beutepanzer” were often painted with extra large crosses in order not to be shot by their own troops. Everything that was found to be useful was used. At least as long as damage could be repaired or ammunition was available. That didn’t stop at military equipment either. In some cases even Russian civilians’ clothing was stolen in winter. Not to mention the food that was requisitioned for the German troops.
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True, but as with all non-standard equipment generally the main downside is ammunition and spare parts, not to mention from what I understand of the doctrines of the German vs. Soviet equipment in many situations that equipment would have been generally inferior to what was the German standards, so the only realistic solution to this issue of ammunition and spares would be to convert some of the factories in Germany and it’s allies countries to produce these needed materials for the captured equipment, on a already strained manufacturing capacity. Thanks
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German equipment not captured from the Soviets, but I remember that David Stahel’s Operation Barbarossa and Germany’s Defeat in the East mentioned that the German Army had captured up to 10000 Allied motorised vehicles and trucks, usable for combat and that in Operation Barbarossa, the Germans used about 6000 Citroën U23-vehicles for logistics and combat, which was like 50% of the German trucks, and that without these close to 6000 French trucks, the German logistics, especially the motorised and panzer units’ logistics would’ve been a lot worse.
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