Why did Soviet tank crews draw white stripes on the towers?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In a number of photographs from the Second World War, you can see that some T-34 tanks (and not only) have some kind of mysterious white stripes along the entire tower. It is noteworthy that such stripes are not found on all cars. It is quite obvious that they carry some kind of meaning. It seems that the time has come to delve into the question and understand why such marking is being done.

Meeting on the Elbe

We look at old photographs from the Great Patriotic War and find on them Soviet tanks of various models with a very interesting detail - a fairly wide white stripe is applied to the turret of some vehicles. A natural question immediately arises - what is it for? Like much else in military affairs, everything is very simple. The fact is that this strip was used by tankers as a "friend or foe" system to identify allied tanks. This marking did not last long.

So, on April 20, 1945, the directive of the Headquarters of the Supreme Command under the number 11073 was adopted. It said the following, a quote:

The marking was adopted in conjunction with the Allied Command.

In the same directive, it was prescribed which signal flares would be used by the Soviet and Anglo-American troops, as well as what coloring the tanks (and other equipment) of the allies would have. This whole complex of measures was adopted in case of a meeting of the armies of the two fronts to avoid "fire excesses". It is noteworthy that additional insignia were applied not to all equipment, but only to the lead vehicles, which, for obvious reasons, had the most chances to collide with the allies.

It is interesting: Before meeting on the Elbe, the Americans and the British also put yellow and cherry-red panels on their lead tanks, which should have been visible in the dark.

Friends are the most important in war

It should be added that additional vehicle markings were used not only before the meeting of the allies, but throughout the entire war. Moreover, in one form or another, marking was done by all parties to the conflict, both the allied armies and the Axis armies. This was necessary, including for the reason that in the Red Army and in the Wehrmacht, and in other armies, a certain amount of captured equipment was used. For example, German tankers did not shy away from using the delivered T-34s.

In order to prevent such a technique from falling under friendly fire, various geometric shapes were applied. The coloring was constantly changing by the command, especially before a major military operation.

Much more important were the coloring applied to the equipment from above. In the USSR, stripes, crosses and geometric shapes were painted on the roof of the tower. It was a special aircraft paint that helped the pilots to distinguish their lines from those of the enemy. In most cases, the Germans did not paint the tanks, but pulled the Nazi flag onto the roof of the tower or the engine compartment. The Allies also used white stripes, crosses and geometric shapes on their tanks.

Nothing changes

Nothing has changed in modern wars. Despite the development of communications, means of observation and reconnaissance, armored vehicles are still painted with stripes and geometric shapes as a "friend or foe" system. In our time, such warpaints have become especially relevant, since very often different parties to an armed conflict use the same military equipment.