Soviet M4A2 Sherman Tanks of the 46th Guards Brigade in Vienna, April 1945

August 22, 2025 - Reading time: 4 minutes

Soviet M4A2 Sherman tanks of the 46th Guards Tank Brigade in Vienna, April 1945 — Lend-Lease armor that spearheaded the Soviet assault on the Austrian capital.

Soviet M4A2 Sherman tanks of the 46th Guards Tank Brigade advancing through the streets of Vienna, April 9, 1945, during the Soviet liberation of the Austrian capital.

This wartime photograph shows American-built M4A2(76)W Sherman medium tanks of the Soviet 46th Guards Tank Brigade, 9th Guards Mechanized Corps, 6th Guards Tank Army, advancing through the streets of liberated Vienna in April 1945. These tanks belonged to the 1st Battalion under the command of Guards Captain Dmitry F. Loza, a future Hero of the Soviet Union.

On April 9, 1945, Loza’s detachment — consisting of 18 Shermans, 3 ISU-152 self-propelled guns, and about 80 infantrymen — covered more than 100 kilometers, overcame German strongpoints and barricades, and fought its way into the city center of Vienna. They held their positions until the arrival of the main Soviet forces, playing a decisive role in the battle for the Austrian capital.

The M4A2 Sherman, supplied to the USSR under the U.S. Lend-Lease program, was powered by a twin diesel engine and armed with a 76-mm gun. Soviet tankers valued its reliability, maneuverability, and comfortable crew layout, though it lacked the armor thickness of Soviet IS-series heavy tanks. Nevertheless, in the hands of experienced crews, Shermans proved effective in fast mechanized thrusts and urban combat.

This image is not only a record of the Red Army’s multinational equipment but also a reminder of the scale of Allied cooperation in the defeat of Nazi Germany. The sight of Shermans rolling through Vienna in 1945 symbolizes both the strength of Soviet armored forces and the global alliance that brought victory in Europe.

Technical photo data:

📝 Source of information: Memoirs of Guards Captain Dmitry F. Loza, Commanding the Red Army’s Sherman Tanks (University of Nebraska Press, 1996)
📍 Location: Vienna, Austria
📅 Date of photo: April 9, 1945
📷 Photographer: Yevgeny Khaldei