29 December 1941. Kaluga. CCCP
146th Independent Tank Brigade (ITB), in the region of Kalugo to the immediate west of the Soviet capital, was the first to be equipped with the Valiant Mark II which had been fitted with the L11 76.2mm tank gun. These had arrived with the internal fixtures for the British 6-pdr, and then adapted by the Soviets for their own gun. This gave the British made tank a very similar armour to the KV-1 tank and used the same gun. The KV-1 had the advantage of being designed with the Russian Winter in mind, whereas the Valiant had the much milder British winter in mind.
The British had delivered 466 tanks since the first PQ Convoy, most recently with another 80 Valiant IIs in the sixth convoy which had arrived on 20 December. The majority of tanks carried in first couple convoys had been Matilda IIs. These had been concentrated in 136th Independent Tank Brigade, and for the most part had either been destroyed by enemy action (80) or withdrawn because of their problems with the cold. The preference for the Valiant shown by the Soviets meant that nearly all the tanks that arrived in the last few convoys were Valiant Is. PQ 4 (arrived 28 November) had carried the first few Valiant IIs without guns so that the Soviet gun could be fitted. The L-11 would soon be replaced with the slightly more effective F32, though there were those who really wanted the F34, but Marshall Kulik (Artillery Directorate Chief until June 1941) had blocked this for some unknown reason.
The 131st ITB and 146th ITB were both part of Moscow Military District and involved in the fighting to first halt, and then throw back the German advance. The 131st ITB was currently around Tula, south of Moscow, while 146th were involved in the fighting to recapture Kaluga. Only five of the Valiant Tanks had been armed with the Russian gun, the rest were Valiant Is with the standard British 2-pdr. Unlike most Independent Tank Brigades the full quota of 5 Heavy, 10 Mediums and 20 Light Tanks were actually present in preparation for the attack. The five L11 equipped Valiant IIs made up the Heavy Squadron, and ten Valiant Is made up the two Medium Squadrons. There were also two companies of Light tanks (twenty T-60 Scout tanks) which provided reconnaissance and flank protection for the Brigade.
On 19 December the British Foreign Minister had inspected the Russian formation during his visit to Moscow. He had visited Klin, which had been liberated on 15 December, and the 146th ITB was about to be moved to south of Moscow. During his visit, Eden was accompanied by the Soviet Ambassador to the UK, Ivan Maisky, who had visited one of the factories building Valiant tanks for the Soviets. Now he was seeing them in the hands of Russian troops. The opinion of the Soviet tank men was hampered by the presence of their political officers, so the tanks were compared unfavourably with the KV-1 and T-34 that they should have been equipped with. However grudgingly, the tanks’ good points were brought out, and the conversion of the Valiant II to take the Russian L-11 gun had given them a good HE capability, lacking in the 2-pdr. Complaints that tanks were being sent without guns was based on the misunderstanding about what Vickers had agreed with the Soviets. Eden was happy to see the results of Lend-Lease in place and wished the Soviet troops victory in the coming battle.
Eden’s wish for the Soviet crews of the Valiant tanks seemed to being fulfilled. The Independent Tank Brigade was part of the 49th Army’s attack on the German 4th Army, the latter frozen in place. The snowdrifts were preventing movement by the Germans who were ill-equipped for the weather. The Soviets on the other hand were much more familiar with the conditions and how to ameliorate them. The British tanks took a bit more work than the T34 and KV-1, but there were work arounds that had been tried and tested to keep them running in the mind-numbing daytime temperatures of -15°F (-26°C), at night it fell to -25°F (-31°C). The 31st Cavalry Division were doing much of the work, using the tanks where resistance was strongest. The German anti-tank weapons were still struggling to cope with the stronger armour of the Russian and British tanks. The intervention of the Valiant II with the L-11 gun’s potent HE shell had the desired effect of silencing those places of resistance.
The Russian attackers didn’t know that General Von Kluge, formally GOC 4th Army, now C-in-C Army Group Centre, had been trying for days to persuade Hitler to allow General Kuebler (recently arrived GOC 4th Army) to pull his army back between 10 and 15 miles to shorten the line and free up three divisions to support their flanks. If 4th Army didn’t abandon Kaluga, Kluge argued that he could not save two other crucial line of communications centres which the Soviets were threatening. Eventually after many questions about how much supplies would have to be abandoned, Hitler gave Kluge permission to withdraw 4th Army, but would allow no other retreats. When Kuebler got this order Kaluga was already all but lost, leaving some units to die or surrender in place, allowing their comrades to save themselves.
