Did the russian weld the hatches shut on the afv. i have this from a book on barbarossa letters to the home front.
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Seems unlikely, as AFV crews need to regularly dismount from the vehicle to do maintenance, if only to refuel and lubricate key moving parts on the drive train. Even modern tank crews don’t usually go very long distances without at least brief stops for visual checks on the tracks and wheels.
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This is mostly false but like many other stories it starts with a glimmer of truth.
Early on in operation Barbarossa German soldiers started talking about drivers of Soviet AFV being found inside knocked out vehicles with their hatches being welded shut. This is likely a rumour started to show how desperate the soviets were to keep their men from fleeing.
The likely truth is that while some vehicles were found with hatches welded shut it was likely due to quick fixes for hatches that couldn’t be locked any more due to damage so as a fix the hatches were spot welded shut until repairs could be carried out.
The drivers being welded n was more likely a made up story for morale and propaganda purposes but then again it’s something I wouldn’t put past the Soviet regime to do either.
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