The first generation T-34 medium tank made its debut in combat during the summer of 1941, when the Wehrmacht launched its invasion of the Soviet Union. The T-34 easily outclassed the German PzKpfw III and IV models, thanks to its hard-hitting 76.2mm main gun, thick frontal armor, wide tracks, and overall superior mobility. The first T-34s were assembled at Kharkov, Leningrad, and Stalingrad, then moved behind the Ural mountains when the German advance encircled Leningrad, overran Kharkov, and invested the "City of Stalin". Legend has it that some T-34s rolled off the Stalingrad assembly line unpainted and even unfinished to prevent the Nazi invaders from capturing the city.

Pictured here is a 1:32 scale replica of a Soviet T-34/85 medium tank that was deployed to Vitebsk, Russia, during 1944. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Length: 9-1/2-inches
Width: 3-1/4-inches
Height: 3-inches

Release Date: July 2013

Historical Account "Bagration" - The Vitebsk-Orsha Offensive was part of the Belorussian Strategic Offensive of the Red Army in summer 1944, commonly known as Operation Bagration.

The immediate goals of the Soviet offensive were:
Break through the defences of 3rd Panzer Army to the north and south of Vitebsk and encircle the city, which occupied a salient in the German lines.
Break through the heavily-fortified area around the main Moscow-Minsk highway and liberate the town of Orsha.
Commit motorised / cavalry exploitation forces through the gap opened once the highway had been cleared, opening the way for a major encirclement of the German Fourth Army in the Minsk Offensive Operation.

Soviet intelligence had revealed the depth of the German defences on the Moscow - Minsk highway near Orsha. As a result, the attack of Galitsky's 11th Guards Army in this sector was to be preceded by specialised engineer units; mine rolling PT-34 tanks of the 116th Separate Engineering Tank Regiment were committed along with assault engineer companies and assault gun regiments in several waves against the fortified and heavily-mined positions of the 78.Sturm Division.