"A Mass Grave for the Crew". Self-Propelled Guns in Operation Bagration

New attacks of desperate self-propelled guns of the Su-76—which on the front, because of their weak armor and open fighting compartment, were nicknamed “canvas Ferdinand,” “bitch,” and “crew’s brotherly grave.”

However, these light, mobile vehicles with a powerful gun and high mobility—becoming the most mass-produced self-propelled artillery in the USSR—played a huge role in the second half of the war.

The crews of the “canvas Ferdinands” especially distinguished themselves in the legendary operation “Bagration.” In the forests and swamps of Belarus, the ever-present maneuverable Su-76s were simply indispensable: they broke through where even the “thirty-fours” got stuck, delivered unexpected flanking strikes, suppressed firing points, seized crossings and bridgeheads—closing the “cauldrons” where the elite of the Wehrmacht perished…

This novel is a tribute to the bright memory of the “workers of war” who smashed Army Group “Center.” They burned alive in damaged self-propelled guns; they bled to death in the “brotherly graves”—but without their feat, there would have been no Great Victory.