[SkyBuffalo]

Just noticed that HobbyMaster's new German captured KV-2 is in at the Flying Mule. I really love the paint scheme, but the story seems a little fishy. Here's the info. from the Flying Mule / HobbyMaster Collector website :

Hobby Master 1:72 Ground Power Series HG3008
KV-2 Heavy Artillery Tank Diecast Model
German Army Panzerkompanie (z.b.v.) 66, , 1941, (Pz.Kpfw.754)

During the Spring of 1941 Germany was debating whether to attack the British stronghold of Crete orMalta. Newly acquired tanks captured from Russian forces were going to be used for the operations. T-34s and KV-2s were combined into a special company designated (z.b.v.) 66. This company was to be used specifically for the invasion of lace>Maltalace> where the KV-2s would make perfect bunker busters. In March of 1941in preparation for the Malta invasion the captured KV-2s were painted in tropical camouflage schemes of Gelbraun (yellow-brown) and Graubraun (grey-brown) along with a small Balkenkreuz (black cross – national symbol) on the side of the turret. Another modification made to the KV-2s was the addition of a PzKpfw III Commander’s cupola. The decision was made to assault lace>Cretelace> first and on May 20, 1941 Germany launched an airborne assault on the island. This assault was the first attempt to capture a large area using only airborne forces instead of using them to support the Wehrmacht. Cretela was defended by Greek partisans and Allied forces and along with the geography this attack became very costly for the Germans. Because of the high cost during Operation Merkur the invasion of Malta was cancelled. In August of 1942 these same KV-2s were assigned to fighting around Demyansk.




So my problem with this story is this : It says these captured KV-2s were repainted by the Germans in March of 1941 in preperation for the Malta invasion. . . . . Huh? . . . Germany did not invade Russia, ye ol' Operation Barbarossa, until June 22nd of 1941. So where did the Germans capture all these Russian KV-2s in the spring of 1941 before the actual invasion of Russia on June 22nd. This doesn't seem to make sense! It doesn't even jive that they captured them in the Balkans, since Germany invaded the Balkans starting on April 6th of 1941, and the info. above is still stating the Germans were repainting their captured KV-2s in March, the month before that!?!

So can anyone enlighten me as to where the Germans captured these Russian KV-2s by March of 1941? Or is all this above information just wrong?

If I can get a real story for this tank, I just might buy it. But if the story is hooha, I'll pass on it, despite the nifty camo.

[Epapazian]

As I recall my military history readings, in the spring of 1941, the Germans were busy invading Greece and Yugoslavia.This campaign culminated with the costly invasion of Crete. Then, after the onslaught on the USSR, which started in June 1941, the Germans captured many Russian tanks, including KV-2s. Their planned, but canceled air/sea operation against Malta was in response to Rommel's supply difficulties, which developed once the Afrika Korps was deployed and saw its first serious action in April-May 1941, and probably was timed for later in 1941 or, perhaps early 1942. So the story about possible use of KV-2s against Malta ir probably correct. The writers just got their dates mixed up.

[mikeb1958]

I picked this up last week and really like it! I would recommend it.

[A3driver]

Operation Herkules was planned for Summer / Autumn 1942, so there was enough time to include captured Russian tanks. You can find more about it here. As Epapazian already said ,the "March 1941" part is some mistake made by HM.

[SkyBuffalo]

Whew! O.K. After an hour and a half of searching the web, I finally found two different sources saying the Germans put captured KV-2s into Pankerkompanie (z.b.v.) 66 in preperation of the invasion of Malta. So the story is baiscally correct, like A3driver said, just the dates are wrong.

From the wikipedia article on "Operation Herkules", the proposed invasion of Malta :

The plan was approved at the end of April '41 as a joint operation between German and Italian paratroop forces. Planning was extensive and a rough date of mid-July was set for the invasion. Then, after the disastrous invasion of Crete at the end of May of '41, Hitler lost faith in the paratroop regiments. This along with fighting with his generals over how much the Luftwaffe would have to be involved in the Malta invasion, led to delays in the invasion date through the summer and into September and beyond. The plan was officially scrapped after the Axis defeat at Tobruk in November of 1941.

So, it looks like the Germans captured some KV-2s after the invasion of Russia at the end of June of 1941. Planning was still going on for the possible invasion of Malta during the summer (July, August, September), so z.b.v. 66 was created and the captured Russian KV-2s and T-34s were repainted in preperation for the operation. By November, the operation was cancelled. Then, by August of 1942, the KV-2s of z.b.v. 66 were transported to assist in the fighting around Demyansk, Russia.

Here's a link to a website with 5 pages of pictures of German captured KV-2s (plus their main page has photos of different German captured Russian vehicles) :
http://beute.narod.ru/Beutepanzer/su/kv/kv-2/kv-2.htm


Now that all that's straightened out, I just might have to get one of these.

[Epapazian]

The Germans had prepped an Italian airborn division along with some of their own troops to lead the way in the proposed Malta invasion. One suspects that they had second thoughts after watching tens of thousands of Italian soldiers surrendering to comparative handfuls of Australian, Indian and English troops in the ongoing North African campaign. Also, there was the question of transporting those bulky KV-2s to Malta. Experiences at Crete showed that the Royal Navy could clobber Axis naval convoys attempting to bring in reinforcements and heavy weapons by sea to support the lightly armed parachutists and glider guys. Hitler should have seized Malta and Gibraltar in 1940, when it would have been much easier to do so. Luckily for the Brits---and us as well---Hitler invaded Russia, instead of thrusting south to the Arab oil fields, thereby sealing Nazi Germany's fate.