PPS 43 Sub Machine Gun: Invented and produced in besieged Leningrad, the all metal PPS had a curved magazine holding 35 rounds. Never made in sufficient numbers to replace the PPSh-41, it was lighter and just as effective.

Mortars: The 82mm (far left) and 50mm (left) mortars were supplied to infantry companies. The larger 120mm were considered to be artillery and were organised into batteries firing from the rear.

 

 Weapons II

Pistols and Revolvers: The Mosin Nagant revolver and the Tokarev pistol were the main handguns used by the Red Army. These were carried by officers as a badge of rank. Production of hand guns ceased after it was discovered that it took as much time and materials to make an SMG as it did a pistol or revolver. Captured German P38s were also popular.

Captured Weaponry: The fighting on the eastern front was on such a vast scale that huge quantities of weapons and ammunition we captured and used by both sides. MP40s (right) were popular with scouts operating behind German lines were the sound of a German gun wouldn’t attract attention. Panzerfausts were also popular, the Russians having no equivalent weapon to the panzerfaust/panzerschreck, bazooka or piat.

Lend lease Weaponry: Thompson Sub Machine Guns were sent to the Red Army by the British and Americans in large numbers, however their use was limited due to the difficulty in keeping them supplied with the correct 45 calibre ammunition.

 

Lend lease vehicles such as the universal carrier, and US halftrack came with bren and 50 cal guns attached.

Grenades: Left: F1 Fragmentation grenade, the RG42 blast and fragmentation grenade, the 1933 stick grenade and, right, the RPG 43 anti-tank grenade.

 

Incendiary bombs (’Molotov cocktails’) were also used against enemy tanks.