Repairs in the 16th Tank Brigade

From L.V. Gorchakov collection.

I've written about combat successes and heroic actions of the brigade, but none of these would be possible without a healthy amount of support from less glamorous positions. The mechanics deserve their praise too, and, as such, get included in the appendix.

"Evacuation and repairs of equipment of the 16th Tank Brigade from September 23rd, 1941 to April 20th, 1942

In the aforementioned period, the following tanks were evacuated from the battlefield:

• KV: 9
• T-34: 26
• BT: 30
• T-26: 7
• German tanks: 5
• Total: 77

In this period, the following repairs were performed.

Vehicle	Major repairs	Medium repairs	Minor repairs
KV	10	16	56
T-34	3	24	141
BT	21	30	154
T-26	19	9	44
BA-10	-	-	5
BA-20	-	3	40
ZiS-5s	-	8	114
ZiS-6	-	-	10
GAZ-AA	-	8	104
GAZ-AAA	-	3	48
M-1	-	8	70
GAZ-64	-	-	10
ZiS-32	-	-	12
M-72	-	10	88
IZh-9	-	8	56
ST-2	-	5	62
STZ-5	-	8	56
ChTZ-65	-	1	20
AT guns	-	4	14
German halftrack	-	1	5
Total	51*	145	1093

The numbers show that a large amount of work was done to evacuate broken down vehicles from the battlefield and repair them. Difficulty arose from the fact that the evacuation was done from the battlefield under enemy fire, due to which 15 soldiers and commanders were lost. 

The following comrades, with energy and initiative, worked in evacuation and repair of the combat vehicles.

1. Deputy commander of the brigade's technical department, Major Zhidovetskiy
2. Captain Demyanov
3. Military Technician 2nd grade Simonov
4. Military Technician 1st grade, Novichkov
5. Captain Golmachev
6. Military Technician 1st grade, Musienko
7. Political Instructor Gorchakov
8. Senior Sergeant Yartsev
9. Military Technician 2nd grade Rosochinskiy.

Additionally, 15 soldiers, junior commanders, and technicians received gratitude and were rewarded with medals for swift and high quality repair."

*The incorrect sum is present in the original document.