The Turret
The story behind our Russian armored car turret on the battle site at Rensselaer
On the German side of the battlefield, we have installed a unique piece of militaria: an original Russian BA-10 armored car turret. It is set up as a machinegun pillbox. Why a pillbox? Because that is how it was found!
Over 2 years ago, Thomas Salazar learned of the existence of this turret. It was found in the forest around the Estonian city of Narva, site of the titanic defensive battle fought there from January to August of 1944. Local farmers discovered the turret only (no armored car) placed on a trench line, with the 47mm gun removed, and the gun mantlet facing away from the enemy. Under the turret, the earth was hollowed out, and a large pile of corroded empty 7.92mm casings and MG belts littered the inside… the loading hatch on the turret’s rear was being used as a firing port.
Other interesting features: it looks as though the turret has definitely seen some action. There is a penetration of the top rear left side, and an exit out the opposite end on the top front right side. From the size of the hole, it appears to have been hit with a 37mm shell. We also noticed that the path of the round intersects with the antenna assembly, and sure enough, the lower half of this assembly is tattered (the fact that the turret has an antenna indicates that it is definitely a command version BA-10!). So, not knowing whether this hole was made during the turret's days as part of an armored car or as a pillbox, we're not sure what exactly hit it... but we do know that if someone was inside, it was a bad day indeed for them since schrapnel from the penetration and hitting the antenna would have surely been lethal.
We arranged to have this piece brought over from Estonia as the perfect addition to the last battle held at North Vernon, IN, the "Battle of Narva" there in February 1999. We had the rusty turret stripped and repainted Russian armor green, and installed it in the trench line just as it was used 55 years prior. Since losing the North Vernon site, we had it in storage until this event.
So here it is again being used for a third time in the "Battle of Narva"! Setting it up again like this is doubly-rewarding for us, as the turret is once again being employed exactly how it was used 55 years ago.