It was not long into the war that the Soviet's T-34 tank was being defeated with some regularity by newer German tanks, specifically the Tiger and Panther. These tanks had considerably more armor protection than the Panzer III and IV tanks they had previously being facing. There was only one good way to change this situation and that was a bigger gun.

Sounds easy, but there is a lot more to it than just sticking a new gun into a turret. For one thing, larger guns have more recoil so you simply can not swap out the old one. Another is to find a gun that is suitable. One has to keep in mind that the T-34 was a medium tank so sticking a huge gun into it wouldn't really work out well. Eventually, several 85mm options were chosen and after the usual wrangling and political back and forth, one was chosen for the T-34.

In addition to the new gun, a new turret was required. Initially, it was decided to use the D-5 anti-aircraft gun in a larger diameter turret, but demand for the D-5 gun in other vehicles meant that a substitute had to be found. Eventually the S-53 gun in an enlarged turret was finalized in early 1944 and tanks started rolling off the production line. Units were outfitted with the new tank as soon as was possible and by the end of the war the T-34/85 eclipsed the T-34/76 in fighting units. The /85 was used well after the war and were even used by North Vietnam  in the early 1970s, but that is another story.

This book is on the variants and markings used by these tanks in the hands of the Soviets and clients. These included Polish, Czech and Yugoslav units as well as those captured and used by Germany and Finland. Though the majority of these tanks were some shade of Soviet green, others carried more interesting camouflage. The majority of the book consists of photos of tanks and full color profiles of these vehicles. They show mostly the different tactical markings carried by these vehicles. The final part of the book are a number of superb photographs of the variations in turret design as the hulls were basically the same. There are no lack of T-34/85s in museums or on display so that makes it quite easy for the author to be able to locate all the variables and show them to us.

I am a camo and markings enthusiast, regardless of what the subject and I found this book to not only be well written and documents, but inspiring as well. I know you will agree with me.

December 2015

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