Ability Background

On October 17, 1941, the 21st Soviet Tank Brigade appeared on the outskirts of Kalinin, which was occupied by the German army. It attacked the enemy rear with the aim of encircling the city to reach its own troops.

One T-34 tank was separated from the rest due to a radio failure. Its comrades had been stopped in advance due to an air raid. This single tank continued the advance until it reached the enemy, destroying everything it could; two Junkers Ju 87 aircraft included.

He also continued his advance to Kalinin where he realized he was alone and tried to reach his own lines through the center of the city. The city was full of Germans who fended off the T-34's heart-stopping advance suffering the loss of artillery guns and a tank. Finally the unusual T-34 barely reached the positions of its Soviet allies who regarded the crew as heroes.

Another not very well known anecdote tells how another T-34 tank was trapped and awaited reinforcements. Those who arrived first were the Germans who, in view of the T-34 crew's ability to keep silent, its structural condition and their inability to open the jammed hatch, assumed it was an abandoned tank and took it to their ground.

When the Soviet tank attempted to escape the next day, it surprised the Germans so much that it was able to cause great damage in the process. In addition, the Soviet troops were able to take advantage of this chaos and liberate the town of Andrea Pol from where the T-34 was escaping.