203mm howitzer B-4 (Б-4) mod.1931 prepearing to fire.

В-4

From Guns.ru -- a photo of a parade on Red square. The &quot;Panama&quot; style hats are what make this so interesting to me -- when I first saw the image, I was thinking more of the KNIL than the USSR! From what the on-line translation tool &quot;had to say,&quot; this type of hat was introduced in the the '30's (1935 or 1938), for use in hot climates such as the Caucasus. I've never seen Soviet troops with a hat of this sort -- nor, ecidently, ad several members of the guns.ru forum. If some one with more understanding of the language wants to check to see if what I wrote is an accurate translation, the discussion is here: http://talks.guns.ru/forummessage/36/473328.html