Re: T-34 and Su-76 fuels

[<Benjamin.Evans@awm.gov.au>]

G'day Cookie

Thanks for your comments.  They clarify a couple of things for me.

It's a very interesting point regarding the diesel/naptha mix for T-34s.
Presumably the North Korean army simply followed Soviet fuelling practices.

This may go some way to explaining the vulnerability of T-34 tanks to air
attacks, especially from napalm.  Various reports (RAAF, for example) indicated
that even where the hull of a T-34 was not penetrated by an attack, the rubber
on the road wheels would melt and the fuel cook off.  (The technical disposition
of the report writers does not involve considering the horrors the the crew go
through when the exterior of the tank is heated to such a degree...).  This
would also explain the ease with which the external fuel was ignited by small
arms fire.

So, with the naptha mix, the diesel-engined Soviet armour was no less vulnerable
than its US or British petrol-engined counterparts in terms of flammability.  I
guess it just gets down to miles per gallon (or gallons per mile!).

Cheers
Ben.