Romanian opinion on German weaponry

[Hohenstaufen]

What were our troops' opinions on German weaponry such as the MG-42, StuG-40, etc. ? (don't bother posting about airplanes, I've read enough of that already )

[C-2]

I never heard a soldier that complained about German weapons :wink:
One I talked to an artilery man who used the 88 and after the war he got insted Russian guns....
No need to say more

[Florin]

QUOTE

I never heard a soldier that complained about German weapons :wink:   One I talked to an artilery man who used the 88 and after the war he got insted Russian guns.... No need to say more

Hi,

The German artillery was accurate as long as the barrel and the muzzle were not weared. After too much using the accuracy could become a problem.

Even though the Russian artilery was not as precise as the German, it was good enough to be used as captured equipment by both Germans and Romanians (the latter in TACAM, for example, and not only there).
The 76mm Russian anti-tank was pretty good.
Same the 85mm installed on T-34-85.
The Russian 122mm installed on the heavy turretless Russian tanks was as efficient as the L72-88mm installed on the King Tiger. However, it was not as powerfull as the German 122mm installed on Jagdtiger.

Florin

[Florin]

QUOTE

What were our troops' opinions on German weaponry such as the MG-42, StuG-40, etc. ? (don't bother posting about airplanes, I've read enough of that already  :lol: )

Hi,

I dare to say that the Romanian troops had more chances to use MG-42 as captured equipment after August 1944 than as German gift before that.
On the Eastern Front the Romanian mountain units praised the Czech ZB machine guns. They were very precise.

And now some impressions of one of the countless Romanian military men from the Eastern Front. My grandfather had some comments about German technology and equipment.

When they passed a wide river (Don or Nipru) they were carried by a German motor boat. He admired the motor of the boat, because it was very silent. Almost you couldn't hear it, even from the boat.

One day their column was stuck in a thick mud up to the hubs. The vehicles were like paralyzed. In that moment they started to hear the rising noise of motor vehicles. The first thought: "What the ... can run through such a swamp?" Then they appeared... The first tracked motorcycles my grandfather saw. The Kettenkrad.

In one hot day in the dry summer of the Russian steppe (over 30 C), my grandfather saw ice at the edge of the back door of a German truck. The first thought was a question about his eyes. It was a refrigerator truck, carrying frozen meat for the German army. The impression was overwhelming - a thought about how many decades will pass until we'll reach the German technical know-how.

Of course, good words about the German Parabellum, but the Russian Nagan was also impressive.

Good words about the German Tiger and Panther, but the Russian T-34 was their nightmare not only once. My grandfather witnessed how some German troops burned captured T-34, instead of using them. He simply qualified the action as stupid.

Here is a good chance for a note. The planet was accustomed with the German technical skills. A good quality German equipment was taken for granted. But there was a deep underestimation of the Russian technical equipment before the invasion started in June 1941. Any time our troops encountered some new good Russian technical stuff it was another big unpleasant surprise.
When they started the invasion in June, every Russian platoon had a sniper. The Germans and the Romanians had not. The price was paid by the Romanian officers who attacked in their parade uniforms, with all their medals hanging. (The colonel commanding his unit arrived at dawn of June 22nd in soldier uniform, with no medals. The colonel had the World War I experience. My grandfather was a fast learner, and immediately took himself an ordinary uniform, with no medals.)

Well, that's it for now.
Florin