Thanks for doing this AMA! Do we have any record of how Axis soldiers reacted to facing Sherman tanks on the Eastern Front? Were they confused when American tanks started appearing among Soviet units? Did they have to make any adjustments to their tactics to deal with Shermans versus Soviet-made tanks?

Hi, thanks for doing this AMA! I have a couple of questions relating to the nitty-gritty of getting and keeping these tanks in service. Firstly, how much ongoing support was given for Shermans delivered under Lend-Lease? That is to say, in addition to providing tanks wholesale, how much was being provided in terms of spare parts, ammunition, and such; was there licensed production of these within the USSR? Secondly, how were crews for the Shermans trained? Did the US send instructors, or did Soviet crews make do with manuals, or even just wing it?

Thank you for doing this AMA.

Were elements of the Sherman tank incorporated into the development of new Soviet tank designs?

Would Soviet tanks perhaps have developped differently had they not had access to this technology?

Thanks for doing the AMA. From what I've read, RKKA tankers generally liked the Sherman, but I have found few specifics. What features did they like the most? Also, how was the tank's performance in battle in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, etc? I ask because while a lot of people like to denigrate the Sherman on the Western front vs the Tiger and Panther, when you look at actual major engagements in those theatres, often times the Shermans won (like at Arracourt). But of course the terrain in France and Italy was very different, allowing Sherman crews to use concealment, ambush tactics, etc. That of course would be harder to do on the open steppes. Did the Eastern front (sorry I hate using that term) terrain ever put the Sherman at a big disadvantage?

Thanks again.

Thanks for doing this AMA. What were the main changes/ adaptions made to soviet lend-lease tanks throughout the duration of the war? Was there any particular part (or vehicle) of American-made tanks that just didn’t work in service with the soviets? And were lend-lease tanks different (by production, with no later adaptions) to the usual variants in American service? Thank you once again for doing this, I hope you have a good day.

How much feedback was there between the soviet end users and the American manufacturers/designers? I know that on some planes there was a really remarkably good response from American manufacturers to Soviet feedback and requirements, but how much did this happen with a tank that was a mainline unit in American service where the Soviets got a single oddball variant?

Thank you so much for doing this AMA! In the early years of the Cold War (immediately following WWII), were there any concerns among the Western/NATO nations in about the USSR exploiting what they learned (either with regard to western tank tactics or the Shermans themselves)?

Thanks for doing this AMA! I learned recently that a British-made Valentine tank supported the Soviet assault on the Reichstag in 1945. Presumably it was sent as Lend-Lease, but how much is known about it? It feels like it must have had quite a service!

How many of those Sherman tanks that were sent to Russia survived the war?

What was the Soviet opinion on the mechanical/automotive aspects of foreign made tanks? ie manufacturing quality, design, ease of maintenance.

From my own research into Commonwealth armour the assessments of US made tanks are almost universally positive in regards to the automotive design and maintainability of the vehicles, even in instances where the design ran counter to British practice (ie having the transmission and final drives up front). I'm curious to hear the Soviet perspective

What's your opinion on Loza's memoirs "Танкист на иномарке"?

What happened to the majority of tanks after the war ended? Were they returned? Paid for?

Did M3 Lee deserve its alleged Russian nickname 'coffin for 7'?

Hi and thanks for that AMA. Since it's not just about Shermans, I'd like to ask something about M10 tank destroyers, which, afaik, were delivered in limited numbers as well. How did they fare compared to Soviet SPGs (like SU-85/SU-100 etc.) - like, how well did they in combat, what did the crews think about them, were there any tactic changes due to the fact they had a turret etc. Also, how did the Red Army leadership react to the concept of a tank destroyer quite different from the Soviet and German ones?

Model maker here. Were Soviet Shermans typically left in olive drab or repainted with Soviet paints?

How did the logistics of lend-lease affect the training of tank crews? I imagine it would cut down on a lot of the parts/supplies/time in a lot of ways when it has to get shipped far, and the local factories are producing something different.

Edit to add: Thanks for the AMA! I've been looking forward to it for ages now!

Hi, really appreciate you coming in and doing this AMA. My question relates to crew comfort and the ergonomics of the Sherman compared to say, the T-34. I’ve always heard that Soviet vehicles, tanks especially, were notoriously cramped and uncomfortable to operate. On the flip side, I’ve heard that Sherman’s were relatively comfortable for crews. Are there any specific instances of Soviet crews mentioning a difference between the “comfort” or ease of operating a Sherman compared to a T-34?

Was there particular difficulty in shipping Sherman tanks to the USSR?

Which foreign tanks earned the most favorable evaluations from the Soviet military?

Thanks for doing the AMA!

This question is tangentially related to my area of interest, the Malayan Campaign during WWII. A major what-if question that gets thrown around is the deployment of tanks to Malaya that could have potentially allowed Commonwealth forces to stop or even defeat the Japanese invasion. And where these tanks would be acquired from is normally argued to be through the diversion of lend-lease material from the USSR, namely the Valentine and Matilda tanks that were dispatched in 1941.

While not directly related to Shermans, how long did it take the Soviets to train crews on these lend-lease vehicles and deploy them to the front? And was their speed and ability to do so helped by the fact they already had the infrastructure and experience to organise and train armoured units?

The obvious political complications of diverting lend-lease aside, I have never been able to adequately respond to this what-if scenario since I lack a technical background to fully demonstrate how difficult it would have been to send tanks to the other side of the world and raise a combat effective with them.

It is well documented that the Germans used all the captured armour for their own use, such as French and English tanks from their exploits in 1940 when they countered the allied invasion in Normandy in 1944. Is there any source that claims that Shermans captured on the eastern front were used against the allies on the western front as divisions were constantly shifted around?

In "The West" The M4 has a less than stellar combat reputation for a whole set of reasons that is it's own AMA. What was the Soviet impression of the combat capabilities of the M4?

I read an account of a Russian Sherman tanker who loved the tank because it was so "lavishly" appointed on the inside. He said they had to guard the tank when it was parked to make sure Russian infantry didn't sneak into it and strip the leather seats for boot material, it was so prized.

Have you read any other accounts like this? Was the Sherman more luxurious on the inside?

Hello hello, thanks for this AMA!

I wanted to ask this relating to Russian tank development, doctrine, and the general mentality in their designs. So I noticed that a lot of Russian tanks and AV's, from WW2 and onward to the modern day, have noticeably little to no gun depression. I know that other nation's tank schools had their own doctrine they centered around while constructing their designs. What was the reason and thought of implementing no gun depression that influenced Russian tanks from pre-war to the modern day?

Were you or any other experts you know in this field asked to consult for games like World of Tanks? Just curious on if game developers ever reach out and ask how things are supposed to work

Hope I’m not too late, were there any comments in regards to the stabilization system?

How much concern was there over handing over essentially state secrets to a foreign nation?

Did Soviet armoured doctrine change at all to make better use of American and British tanks which differed from the tanks the Soviets made themselves. If so did the Soviets learn anything interesting about American and British tank capabilities that they passed onto the allies who would be fighting less German armour until their invasions of Europe?

thanks for the AMA! To what extent, if at all, were the tanks customized or informally upgraded by the crews operating them?

Outside pure combat performance in the frontline, is there some interesting or somewhat funny feedback from soviet engineer/soldier/anyone caused by fundamental difference in priorities about vehicle designes?

My great-grandfather started the war in the Red Army on a Canadian-built Valentine tank, and later he led a battalion of T-34s at Prokhorovka (though he was no longer in the Valentine by that point).

I was wondering if you have any information about the Red Army's opinions on the Valentine, and its effectiveness on the Eastern Front.

Thanks!

I am also curious about another thing, how did lend-lease work from the USSR to the Brits and Yanks, and did the US army notice anything suspicious when they encountered their first soviet tank with Christie suspension (iirc, Christie had to go behind the US government's back or something to sell his designs to the USSR)?

Hi, thanks for doing the AMA - did the Soviets use/get any Sherman variants (Easy Eight, 'Jumbo', Firefly, etc)?

Thanks a lot for doing this AMA! I'd like to ask if the Soviets really nicknamed their Shermans Emcha?

I "own" a Soviet M4A2 in the game War Thunder, and I like to affectionately call it Emcha as I've been led to believe that the designation M4 looks like M and a Cyrillic character ("Cha").

Should I order from Amazon or the publisher?

Thanks for doing the AMA.

I have heard a lot of the back and forth in debates about the role Lend-Lease played in the Soviet war effort and how essential it was to victory for the Soviet Union in the Eastern Front - of course, you are focusing on the role of the Sherman Tank in particular, so in that regard are there any battles on the Eastern Front (including Japan here) where victory for the Red Army could, within reason, be attributed to the presence of Shermans? Obviously some of these battles were huge and there is an element of counterfactual here, so your best guess works!

Did the United States make any design adjustments to the Sherman based on its experience in the Eastern Front?

The Soviet Union switched to the metric system in 1925. How did they deal with the US system of measurements and tooling? Did it impact the tank's usefulness in any appreciable way in the big picture?

I heard the lendlease tanks were bad compared to Soviet models and that the soviets didn’t like them that much. Is this true?

What happened to most of the Shermans after the war ended?

Where they still used for a little while before being retired?

Hello, thank you for the AMA!

Did Soviet forces adjust their tactics when they received American tanks? How different were Soviet and American tank tactics in the first place?

Did Americans get the chance to evaluate Soviet tanks such as the T-34?

What was the stature of the M4A2 among rank-and-file tankisty? Was getting assigned to crew one seen as more or less desirable than some or all Soviet-made models?

Ohhhhh, thank you for doing his AMA, may I ask were there any consideration on the part of the British High Command to send some of their cruiser tanks (the Crusaders, possibly the Cromwell or maybe some of the older cruiser Mk Is and IIs) as part of the Lend-Lease programme?

Thanks in advance for answering!

Any chance your book will be available for download in a digital format?

What was the general treatment/attitude towards lend-lease tanks in the USSR? I know that the Lee was hated, but what about the others?

Hello! I hope I am not too late for this. And thank you, this had been great to read.

I've read somewhere that the first Soviet operated tanks to enter Berlin will actually Sherman tanks, is this correct?

How and when did the tanks physically arrive? Did there come across the Iran/Iraq supply corridor? If so were they driven or freighted?

What about tank destroyers like the M10, were those exported to the USSR in any quantity? Did Soviet doctrine prefer tank-v-tank engagements and thus had little use for the M10?

How different were the Soviet tank operators compared to western tank operators? We’re they able to adapt to the Sherman quickly?

Hi there thanks for this AMA session, I was wondering if American Shermans had any influence on post-war Soviet medium tank designs. As far as I know, the Soviets modified and improved upon the original T-34 to get the T-54s, T-62s and other variations, which are still in service today. I was wondering whether these amazing tanks were influenced by Sherman tanks

What were Soviet reactions to the Shermans, were they loved? Also did the Soviet give any of the Western allied made tanks to Mao Ze Dong during the civil war right after ww2?

Did the soviets produce their own ammunition for these lend lease tanks? Or did they just receive a ton from the western allies?