Tank Crews: 'We Perished, We Burned...'

A new series by the leading military historian. A short course on the Great Patriotic War, based on the popular TV series. Continuation of the super bestseller “I fought on the T-34.”

The legendary “thirty-four” earned its role as the main symbol of Victory for a reason—and, raised on a pedestal, stands as a monument to the Liberation across Russia and half of Europe. What did the Wehrmacht veterans first remember when talking about the horrors of the Eastern Front? Armadas of Soviet tanks. Who carried the main burden of the war, paid for Victory with the highest price, and died the most terrible death? According to the front-line men: “Special attitude to tank crews—their deaths were awful. If a tank was hit—which happened often—that was a sure death. One or two might still manage to get out, the rest burned alive.” And when asked why they didn’t have “front-line romances,” the tankers answer simply and terribly: “We were dying, burning…”

This book lets you see the war through the eyes of tank crews—through the gunner’s sight, the mechanic-driver’s slightly opened hatch, the commander’s panorama—how they lived at the front and in reserve, on the battlefield and in rare minutes of rest, how they fought, died, and won.