The Great Patriotic War has tangible, material symbols. The famous pieces of equipment that glorified Russian weapons throughout the world (T-34 tanks, Il-2 attack aircraft, Pe-2 bombers, PPSh assault rifles) were produced in huge, unprecedented runs in the history of mankind. The surviving copies of these formidable combat units took their places on the pedestals. But there were also quite simple in appearance, and by no means grandiose defense means in size, which fully deserved to have a monument erected to them. Anti-tank hedgehogs held back the advance of the Nazi hordes no less effectively than the famous anti-tank rifles and magpie cannons, or rather, helped our armor-piercing artillerymen, acting together with them.
1939. Europe without hedgehogs
Hitler started the war armed with light tanks and the Blitzkrieg doctrine. Rapid throws of mobile armored vehicles, coverage, "boilers" - this is the technology by which the Nazis captured most of Europe, not bothering with long sieges and protracted battles. Beyond the Sudetenland they had to meetbarriers, but the Czech anti-tank hedgehogs were unable to cause any harm, they were simply moved apart and rushed into the gaps that had arisen. The German generals assumed that in the USSR they would be able to cope with the task set by the command no worse. A very unpleasant surprise awaited them.
"Funny" barrier
When the German tankers first saw our anti-tank hedgehogs, they were not puzzled at all, and some of them even laughed at "those stupid Russians" who think that the steel fist of the Wehrmacht can be stopped or at least delayed "with this". And in fact, some simple combination, welded from beams or ordinary rails, is only a meter high or even lower. Having examined this mysterious object through binoculars, the Germans decided that it really did not pose a danger, it was not even dug into the ground. Here are the Czechs, those, like real Europeans, approached the task thoroughly, concrete was used in the manufacture of their barriers, which, however, did not interfere with their movement. Thinking, the commanders of the Panzerwaffe gave the command to attack. It soon became clear that not everything is so simple…
German tanks
German tanks in the first years of the war (T-I, T-II and T-III) were light. This meant that their weight did not exceed 21 tons, and there was practically no bottom armor. And in their design there was an important drawback - the front transmission. It was she who suffered primarily when hitting anti-tank hedgehogs. A piece of an I-beam pierced the thin metal of the bottom and destroyed the mechanism. germana gearbox is a complex and expensive thing. Especially the tank one. But that's not all… The main danger lay in a completely different circumstance.
How the anti-tank hedgehog works
It was the small size of the steel "hedgehog" that made it an effective tool. If it was bigger, then there would be much less problems. He rested his frontal armor on him, turned on the first gear, and then slowly, slowly … The Soviet anti-tank hedgehogs strove, rolling, to climb under the bottom, breaking the adhesion of the tracks to the ground. An attempt to “move out” led to a disastrous result. The bottom is ripped open, the oil pipeline is leaking, the gearbox is jammed. And all these destructions can only be sadly considered, and even then only if, because of the parapet at that moment, the calculation of the anti-tank rifle is not firing or the gunners are not working out the accuracy of shooting at the weakly protected lower horizontal section of the armored hull. Here it is already close to the detonation of ammunition, and gasoline is about to flare up. You need to leave the car, and then the infantry threw a spark. In general, it was not enough hunters to envy the German tankers at such a moment.
"Asterisk" of General Mikhail Lvovich Gorikker
Actually, he had a star, and on every pursuit, a general's. M. L. Gorikker served as head of the Kyiv Tank Technical School. But he became famous for another "star".
Gorikker is an example of a real Russian officer, two St. George's crosses received in the German war confirm that he was not only smart,but also dared.
After the German attack, the question of anti-tank weapons immediately and sharply arose. The requirements were simple, but tough: technological simplicity, availability of manufacturing materials and high efficiency.
Being a competent engineer (especially in the field of armored vehicles), M. L. Gorikker made many calculations, after which he proposed his anti-tank "hedgehog". The drawing was approved, in July several prototypes were made and tested at the test site. The role of the “targets” of this unloaded device was played by light Soviet tanks T-26 and BT-5, they were superior to their German counterparts (in particular, they had a much better running gear and a rear transmission), but they still suffered a lot. So, in the arsenal of the Red Army, a new means of combating enemy armored vehicles, called the Gorikker asterisk, appeared. Later, the front-line soldiers called him "Hedgehogs", apparently, it was not easy to pronounce the intricate name of the inventor. But getting is not enough, you still need to be able to use it.
Production technology
By July, all the enterprises of the front-line cities (Odessa, Sevastopol, Kyiv and many others), which had the necessary equipment, received orders to manufacture anti-tank hedgehogs. All machine-building plants became military, there were no issues with labor resources, there were enough specialists.
The technology was simple, for each "hedgehog" three pieces of an I-beam less than one and a half meters long were required. It is best if these parts were made of durable steel, but most often they used rails, tram orrailway, they were always at hand.
They should have been welded or otherwise firmly connected in such a way that, with the application of a certain force, the finished product could roll without collapsing.
Combat use
For effective use, it was not enough to know how to make an anti-tank hedgehog, it was necessary to learn some features of using this anti-tank weapon in combat conditions.
Firstly, it is best to install it on a surface that is fairly even, but not slippery, otherwise it will be easy to move it away with the help of simple auxiliary devices (a cable with a hook or loop, for example). Frozen ground or asph alt is great.
Secondly, the distance between the rows of defense elements is important (and there should be many "hedgehogs", one does not solve anything). It should be one and a half meters (for the first and second) and two and a half - for the next echelons. As in any fortification, the more protection loops, the better.
Third, the "hedgehogs" in the rows can be fastened together, but the next line must be autonomous from the previous one.
Fourthly, the use of barbed wire is undesirable. The mount is special for her.
Fifth, it is better to mine approaches.
Violation of these simple rules in the conditions of the front led to a decrease in the combat effectiveness of the means, as well as attempts to make "Gorikker's stars" larger than recommended by the instructions.
By the way, the inventor, who can be called a genius (for the simplicity of the solution), hadother merits, he received many government awards both before and after the war, including the Order of Lenin. And for the "hedgehogs" the government gave him a FED camera.
The war continued, and that long-awaited turning point came, after which the Soviet generals no longer thought about defense. Only offensive, and on all fronts! And then the war ended victoriously.
Memory
Many heroes perished on nameless skyscrapers, covering their native land with their bodies. Today there is a monument in every village, town or settlement through which the fiery wave of the front swept through. Anti-tank hedgehogs have become a symbol of the unbending rebelliousness of all the peoples of the USSR, who managed to wring the neck of the disgusting Nazi reptile. Now they can be made large and placed on pedestals. So they stand like silent sentries, reminding of the harsh time.
In 1966, not far from the center of Moscow, on the 23rd kilometer of the Leningrad highway, an unusual monument was erected. Giant structures stylized as anti-tank barriers marked the point at which the advancing German units and four divisions of militias converged, made up of citizens of different professions, ages and destinies. The memorial is dedicated to the memory of Muscovites who did not flinch in the battle for their capital. Anti-tank hedgehogs in Khimki is one of the many monuments that glorify the memory of our ancestors. Gorikker's invention was steel. But it's not just metal.
When retreating, the Nazis tried to useSoviet "hedgehogs" for the defense of Berlin and other cities of the then Third Reich. They did not help them…
