Corgi Beute Panzer Trophy Tank T34 76 Model

As German armed forces rolled across Europe during the early months of the Second World War, they had already displayed their willingness to deploy captured tanks as part of their powerful panzer force. Initially fielding large numbers of Panzer 35(t) and 38(t) tanks acquired following the occupation of Czechoslovakia, victories over Holland, Belgium and France brought a further supply of captured armour, with those not destroyed or classed as unserviceable pressed into service for their new owners. Operation Barbarossa and the strike East brought new pressures on the available panzer forces, especially when they came across a new Soviet tank design, the T-34. Extremely mobile, with good armour protection and a capable main gun, the T-34 was more than a match for anything the Germans had in service at that time, however mechanical problems and poor battlefield organisation reduced the effectiveness of this excellent machine. The Germans were so impressed with the T-34 that they tried to get their hands on as many serviceable examples as they could and even considered starting general production of the tank at factories which had been captured by advancing Wehrmacht troops. The machine modelled here went on to see service against its former owners with the 23rd Panzer Division in 1943 and is finished in a field applied disruptive camouflage scheme intended to help the tank blend into the surrounding countryside where combat was taking place. Although the operation of captured enemy tanks proved a welcome addition to the r