I came across this interesting picture from World War 1 labelled “Russian Barricade”. It looks to be a sort of improvised armoured barricade with primitive wheels. It’s not a tank, it’s not an armoured car. Frankly I have never seen anything like it.
The front end is a sloped metal armoured plate with gun holes. It would appear that it was designed to provide a mobile shield or shelter for soldiers who would fire through the loop holes. The wheels are an indication that the contraption was meant to be moved around into position but its complete lack of tires or any sort of suspension probably would have meant that it would have been almost impossible to move over rough terrain. Plus the soldiers firing from behind the barricade would have no protection from shrapnel or exploding shells striking behind the shield or exploding in the air above it. I am not aware of it ever being used in actual combat, and in fact I don’t know anything about this weird Russian weapon except what is in this picture.
I have provided some blow ups of various parts of the photograph to get more detail into what this is. One word of caution: the label on the photo said that it was a Russian Barricade, but it seems to me that the man with the rifle is wearing a German helmet, so really I am not even sure if this was a German creation or a Russian one. The picture was taken around 1915.
