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.

This particular 1:72 scale replica of a Soviet T-34/76 medium tank bears the slogan "Defeat the Fascists," written in Cyrillic along the sides of the turret. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Length: 3-1/2-inches
Width: 1-1/2-inches

Release Date: September 2005

Historical Account: "Grey Skies Nearing" - Throughout the months of September and October 1942, bitter fighting raged in Stalingrad. The battle had now devolved into savage street by street and house by house fighting. The Soviet Red Army fought and died for every inch of the city suffering intolerable losses in the process. As a result, the 62nd Army, commanded by General Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov, was holding on by a thin thread. The Germans had taken 80% of the city and were pushing the Red Army to the Volga River. Nevertheless, the 62nd Army held the German advance in check at Stalingrad.

During this time, Marshal Zhukov and General Vasilevsky devised a brilliant plan called Operation Uranus. They saw that the German's flanks were protected by weak Axis forces, which the Red Army could overpower with fresh units held in reserve. The Red Army secretly began to mobilize one million troops, 14,000 heavy guns, 979 tanks, and 1,350 aircraft to attack the German's flanks. On November 19th, Soviet forces from the Southwestern Front and Don Front attacked Romanian, Italian, and Hungarian positions defending the overstretched flanks. The front collapsed as fast moving Soviet troops began encircling German Army Group B from the north and south. This created a panic among the German soldiers, trying frantically to break out of the encirclement. Within four days, the two Soviet armies met 60 miles west of Stalingrad, deep within the rear of the Axis advance. The German 6th and 4th Panzer Armies were completely surrounded, a total of 330,000 men trapped within Stalin's namesake city. The Armies tried to break out but failed. The only alternative was to have supplies airlifted from German held territory into Stalingrad and wait for the siege to be lifted by troops that would never come.