Red Army Weapons of the Second World War

By Michael Green

While the Red Army’s arsenal at the start of the Second World War included weapons dating back to the Great War or earlier, the 1930s’ modernization program had introduced the automatic Tokarev pistol and self-loading Tokarev rifle.

Its small arms were soon replaced by mass-produced sub-machine guns, such as the PPSh 1941, nicknamed the ‘PePeSha,’. Supplementing the submachine guns, the Degtyarev Light Machine Gun DP-27. Fitted with a circular pan magazine, it received the not-unsurprising nickname ‘Record Player.’

New mortars and towed artillery pieces, ranging from 76mm to 203mm, entered service in the pre-war years. In addition to a wide range of towed, self-propelled and anti-tank guns, the Soviets fielded the Katyusha rocket launchers in 1941, nicknamed the ‘Stalin’s organ’ by the Germans.

The 1930s saw the introduction of the BT light tank series. The iconic T-34 medium tank series came into service in late 1940, joined by the IS-2 heavy tank from early 1944, the prefix letters ‘IS’ translates to Joseph Stalin. These formidable AFVs led the Red Army to victory in May 1945 over Nazi Germany.

All these weapons and more are covered with numerous images in this authoritative overview of the subject.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pen and Sword
• Release date: Sep 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781399095396

Michael Green

Michael Green (born 1930) was a British theologian, Anglican priest, Christian apologist and author of more than 50 books. He was Principal of St John's College, Nottingham (1969-75) and Rector of St Aldate's Church, Oxford and chaplain of the Oxford Pastorate (1975-86). He had additionally been an honorary canon of Coventry Cathedral from 1970 to 1978. He then moved to Canada where he was Professor of Evangelism at Regent College, Vancouver from 1987 to 1992. He returned to England to take up the position of advisor to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York for the Springboard Decade of Evangelism. In 1993 he was appointed the Six Preacher of Canterbury Cathedral. Despite having officially retired in 1996, he became a Senior Research Fellow and Head of Evangelism and Apologetics at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford in 1997 and lived in the town of Abingdon near Oxford.