When reading about the SA-2 missiles, I learned how they were used in battle and how they worked, but one thing piqued my curiousity: how did they get from the factory to storage to the battery? It's mainly a "how did they do that" question, like how they get the jelly into jelly doughnuts. I was thinking that these missles must be pretty hard to move around without damaging them, and in Vietnam, the missles and launchers were moved around quite a lot.

my guess wold be they would be crated then assembled at the stageing sites and loaded on the trucks for depolyment, but just a guess....

This is a guess also. American Patriots and IHAWKS are stored in tubes from the factory and aren't removed until they're ready to be loaded onto the launcher, I would suspect the Russians and their "customers" do the same thing.

According to Osprey's "Red SAM: The SA-2 Guideline Anti-Aircraft Missile" (New Vanguard series #134), each firing Battery had 3 transporter-loaders with an assembled missile on it besides the assembled ones on the launcher. The next higher unit, the Regiment, had transporter trucks with missiles in their containers (there's a picture of one). From Zaloga's "Soviet Air Defense Missiles", the Regiment's Technical Battalion stocked the unassembled missiles and assembled them when needed. I assume the Battery then sent their transport-loaders there to fetch them.

Tom,

I think I can help, labouring myself in the same doubt some time ago

There's the containers:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FE6H6P1R

Engines traveled (and where serviced) apart from the front end.

Hope you enjoy
Luis