Route totals move attention away from the dramatic Arctic convoy story alone. The northern route carried only part of the aid, while Pacific shipping and the Persian Corridor moved very large quantities. Locomotives, trucks, fuel, metals, and other logistical inputs mattered as much as recognisable combat equipment. Those supplies helped Soviet armies move beyond their railheads and exploit battlefield breakthroughs at a depth their own transport system could not otherwise sustain.
Notable Point · 2:28:47-2:33:08
The Soviet supply effort was larger than the Arctic convoys
The familiar Arctic route carried only part of the aid; Pacific shipping and the Persian Corridor moved much of the tonnage that sustained Soviet operations.