Captured German Tanks Pz.Kpfw. III and StuG III in the Red Army, 1942

July 18, 2025 - Reading time: 7 minutes

Captured German tanks and StuG III assault guns serve the Red Army on the Western Front in March 1942. A remarkable moment in the Soviet Union's use of trophy weapons.

This powerful photo shows Soviet tankers riding captured German armored vehicles through a snowy landscape in March 1942. The scene takes place on the Western Front, during the early stages of the Eastern Front campaign when the Red Army began using trophy German tanks to bolster their own forces. At the forefront is the Pz.Kpfw. III, a reliable medium tank used by the Wehrmacht throughout World War II. The version shown is the Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. J, armed with a 50mm KwK 38 L/42 gun, which was effective against most armored vehicles of the time. Behind it, we can see the StuG III, a German assault gun primarily used for infantry support, tank hunting, and artillery bombardment.

Captured German tanks like these were crucial to the Red Army as they helped improve their armored forces. These trophy tanks, once a symbol of the Wehrmacht's superiority, were now used against their former owners. The photo is a testament to the resourcefulness and adaptability of the Soviet forces, who made use of the enemy's equipment to their advantage in the harsh winter of 1942. It marks a critical moment in the war when the Red Army's armored units began to gain momentum.

Technical photo data:
📝 Source of information: Gazeta "Krasnaya Zvezda" No.091 (5155) April 18, 1942
📍 Location: Soviet Union
📅 Date of photo: March 1942
📷 Photographer: Vladimir Grebnev

• trophy tanks

• StuG III

• Pz.Kpfw III

• Soviet tanks

• Red Army

• German armored vehicles

• Eastern Front

• Wehrmacht tanks

• armored warfare

• tank battles

• Western Front

• WWII armored units

• Soviet armored forces

• German assault guns

• military vehicles of WWII