Apologies if this isn't the right place.
A grandson of a Polish WW2-era railway worker found the latter's diary. It has a story from 1944 or 1945 when a Soviet aviation unit equipped with US-produced airplanes was stationed at nearby airfield. According to the diary, Soviets operated a US machine that would take empty cartridge cases brought back from combat missions and using provided bullets and powder, it would re-load them, producing ammunition on the spot. The machine supposedly cleaned cases with compressed air, removed spent primers, put doses of powder, fresh primers and projectiles crimping them, doing it all automatically. It was powered by generators mounted on trucks.
According to the story, author of the diary was asked by a Soviet officer to help with the machine which broke after Soviets lost the cases cleaning module.
Anyone heard of such a thing? The description would generally fit ammunition factory machinery, but that one supposedly was used in the field.
As much as I find it dubious (quality control!), theoretically it would make sense saving some space in transportation by sea.
My google-fu failed me and I found nothing on such a machinery in lists of Lend-Lease deliveries: HyperWar: Lend-Lease Shipments, World War II . The only mention of delivering pieces of small arms ammunition, as opposed to whole cartridges, is some 5.5 million pieces of "Case, Cartridge, Cal. .50 Primed", but that was delivered to UK, not to USSR ( HyperWar: Lend-Lease Shipments, World War II (Ordnance) ).
A grandson of a Polish WW2-era railway worker found the latter's diary. It has a story from 1944 or 1945 when a Soviet aviation unit equipped with US-produced airplanes was stationed at nearby airfield. According to the diary, Soviets operated a US machine that would take empty cartridge cases brought back from combat missions and using provided bullets and powder, it would re-load them, producing ammunition on the spot. The machine supposedly cleaned cases with compressed air, removed spent primers, put doses of powder, fresh primers and projectiles crimping them, doing it all automatically. It was powered by generators mounted on trucks.
According to the story, author of the diary was asked by a Soviet officer to help with the machine which broke after Soviets lost the cases cleaning module.
Anyone heard of such a thing? The description would generally fit ammunition factory machinery, but that one supposedly was used in the field.
As much as I find it dubious (quality control!), theoretically it would make sense saving some space in transportation by sea.
My google-fu failed me and I found nothing on such a machinery in lists of Lend-Lease deliveries: HyperWar: Lend-Lease Shipments, World War II . The only mention of delivering pieces of small arms ammunition, as opposed to whole cartridges, is some 5.5 million pieces of "Case, Cartridge, Cal. .50 Primed", but that was delivered to UK, not to USSR ( HyperWar: Lend-Lease Shipments, World War II (Ordnance) ).
