Soviet soldiers from the 249th Estonian division of the Red Army are building up against the background of a German self-propelled gun on the Soviet T-26 light tank chassis destroyed in a night battle near Tehumardi, on the island of Saaremaa (Esel) (Estonia).
In the center of Soviet soldiers photo stands Heino Mikkin.
The German self-propelled gun in the picture was made by the Germans on the chassis of the captured Soviet light tank T-26, which was also equipped with a trophy French 75-mm divisional gun, model 1897 from Schneider Canon de 75 modèle 1897, turned by the Germans into an anti-tank self-propelled gun, as a result it was called PaK 97/98 (f). The official name of the resulting combat vehicle is 7.5 cm Pak 97/38 (f) auf Pz.740 (r).
The battle on the night of October 8-9, 1944 near Tehumardi is one of the most brutal battles in Saaremaa. In the night battle, the 2nd Battalion of the German 67th Potsdam Grenadier Regiment (360 men) and detachments of the 307th Separate Anti-Tank Division and the 1st Battalion of the 917th Regiment of the Soviet 249th “Estonian” Division (670 people in all) ). The losses of the parties amounted to 200 people.
Sources of information about the Soviet soldiers photo:
- en.wikipedia.org
- Estonian History Museum
Location: Saaremaa Island, Estonia, USSR
Image Date: October 1944