After WW2 did Soviet solders using lend lease equipment have problems because they used capitalist equipment?

by Imthatjohnnie
Jon_Beveryman

Er, no. The Lend-Lease equipment was accepted under the umbrella of the anti-fascist coalition, it was issued to soldiers under the authority of the Soviet command apparatus, and the soldiers used them in battle for the survival of the motherland. In short, nothing in the entire official heroic-patriotic narrative of the war cast aspersions on the soldiers who used this particular variety of equipment, which let's remember they were commanded to use by socialist officers. The mere act of touching a capitalist tool did not confer some sort of inherent taint on the unfortunate frontovik who was issued cans of American Spam in his field rations. It's hard to prove a negative, but I think it is safe to say that this did not happen. As concrete example, I offer up Dmitry Loza's memoir Commanding the Red Army's Sherman Tanks. Loza was awarded the status of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1946 for his combat actions, and served for over a decade as a senior lecturer at the Frunze Military Academy.