Medium tank from Central Europe. Armored vehicles of Hungary of World War II

After the occupation of Czechoslovakia by German troops in 1939, the Germans carried out a thorough accounting of all Czech tanks, both serial and experimental, in order to decide which ones to introduce into the Wehrmacht and produce in the future. Variants of medium tanks developed by the Czechs (including the most "finished" T-21) did not interest them, since they were less perfect than Pz. III or Pz. IV. However, the T-21 tank was destined long life in the Hungarian service. The Hungarians, having received information about Czech tanks in 1939, became very interested in them, as they planned to supplement their armored forces with a more protected and armed vehicle than the Toldi light tanks. With the permission of the Germans, the Hungarians acquired a license for the production of a modified T-21 tank, which received the name 40M Turan. It differed from the prototype in the installation of a Hungarian engine, a radio station, a slightly modified turret and the installation of a semi-automatic 40mm 41M tank gun (instead of a 47mm Czech gun).

Taking into account the fact of inconsistency Turan tanks In the modern military situation in the spring of 1941, several projects for their modernization appeared. The variant, considered in May 1941, provided for the installation of a 75-mm 41M gun with a barrel length of 25 calibers and a horizontal wedge gate. To do this, it was necessary to increase the height of the tower by 45 mm and change the size of the commander's cupola.

The tank upgraded in this way was visually distinguished by the original armor of the gun's recoil devices. After a long period of design and testing, the tank was put into service in May 1942 under the designation Turan II. Its serial production began in 1943.

The last modification of the 44M Turan III appeared in December 1943 and was associated with an attempt to install a long-barreled 75-mm gun by analogy with the German tank Pz.IV Ausf.F2\Ausf.G. At the same time, it was supposed to strengthen the armor of the frontal part of the hull and turret to 80 mm, as well as modify the turret by installing a superstructure with a beveled front armor plate and a commander's cupola. Accordingly, the mass of the Turan III tank increased to 23 tons, which, with the same power of the Turan-Z engine, reduced the specific power from 13.5 to 11.3 hp / t.

In 1943, another self-propelled gun project based on the Turan tank was being developed - a 105 mm long-barreled howitzer for firing from closed positions - similar in design to German self-propelled guns Grille and Hummel. However, the project did not leave the design stage.

Since the 40M tank was clearly outdated by 1942, and, on the other hand, it was already well developed by industry, it was decided to create self-propelled guns on its basis in two versions: anti-tank and assault. The artillery mount, in accordance with the Hungarian tradition, received its own name - Zrinyi.

Initially, the option of creating an open assault self-propelled gun with a 105mm howitzer similar in type to the German Sturmpanzer.

But it was not implemented - the military decided that the self-propelled guns, operating in direct contact with the enemy, should have a fully armored fighting compartment.

The first prototype of the 44M Zrinyi I self-propelled guns began to be built in May 1943 and completed by January 1944. A tank chassis was chosen for it without any improvements. Instead of a turret, a low armored cabin was installed (the frontal armor was increased to 100 mm, side and rear armor was similar to the Turan tank), completely closed on all sides, in which a 75-mm long-barreled MAVAG 43.M gun (barrel length 43 caliber) with 80 ammo was installed. shells. In total, 6 units of anti-tank self-propelled guns were built.

The second version of the self-propelled guns - 43M Zrinyi II, entered the test earlier - in December 1942. It was equipped with a 105-mm gun 40\43.M (barrel length 20 calibers), effective not only against fortifications, but also against light and medium tanks . The thickness of the frontal armor was slightly less - 75 mm, but otherwise this modification was not inferior to the 43M Zrinyi I. This version became the most massive type of Hungarian self-propelled guns - more than 100 vehicles were produced. As an infantry support self-propelled gun, the vehicle proved to be quite good, but as an anti-tank weapon (and in this unusual role, the self-propelled guns also had to perform) were generally unsuccessful.


The last tank, created during the Second World War in Hungary, was an experimental heavy tank Tas.
The design of the tank began in 1943, and in August they began to create a prototype without a turret. The hull of the tank and the turret were welded, the forehead of the hull had a thickness of 100 to 120mm, the sides were 50mm. The tank was supposed to be armed with a 75mm long-barreled Hungarian 43M cannon, later it was decided to use a German 75mm gun, similar to that installed on the Pz. V Panther. The Hungarians acquired a license for the production of these guns. An 8mm machine gun was to be paired with the cannon, and the second was supposed to be placed in the hull. A new powerful engine for this tank was only under development, so a pair of 260 hp engines was installed on the prototype, which provided the tank with a mass of 38 tons. Speed ​​up to 45 km / h. A prototype with a turret was being prepared for testing, but was destroyed during one of the bombing raids in 1944.

There was a version of the layout of the Tas tank with a turret similar to the turret on the Pz. VI Tiger, to mount an 88mm gun, but no further details about this project are known.

Together with the Tas tank, an anti-tank self-propelled gun based on it was also designed, which was planned to be armed with an 88 mm KwK 36 or KwK 43 gun (which was on the Pz. VI Ausf. B "Tiger II") according to another project. The frontal armor, set at good angles, was 120 mm according to the plan. However, the failure of the Tas tank creation program also buried this self-propelled gun, which was very interesting in concept.

Another member of Hungary, like Germany, was forbidden by the Trianon Peace Treaty to have, create and buy heavy armored vehicles. But already in the spring of 1920, the Hungarians secretly removed 12 LKII tanks from Germany.

Specially created commissions have not found any traces in any of the countries. After 8 years, they already openly purchased two English Carden-Loyd Mark VI wedges, in 1931 5 pieces of the Italian FIAT-3000.

The first large batch was purchased in Italy in August 1935. Under the Hungarian designation "35M", the troops received 25 tankettes "CV 3/33", and the next year another 125 tankettes "CV 3/35" (37M).

After the well-known Spanish events of 1936, the Hungarian government adopted an emergency plan for the development and modernization of the armed forces. The organization of tank troops was assigned an important role. It was planned to equip the army with light and medium tanks. Although the Hungarian industry and designers were able to create and produce their own tanks, the government felt the approach of a "big" war in Europe, they might not be in time with their tank. In order to speed up the process, they chose production under license.

Tanks of Hungary during the Second World War

To select the tank to be produced, in March 1938 it was decided to conduct tests between the Swedish Landsverk "L60B" and the German Pz.lA. (Please note, in fact, they chose between a German and a German tank). Be that as it may, they chose the L60B for their own mass production, which is quite natural, because the Swedish tank was an order of magnitude superior to the German one in terms of technical and combat characteristics. The Hungarian-made tank was named 38M "Toldi". On the basis of "Toldi" in 1941 - 1942 was produced anti-aircraft gun"Nimrod".

For a medium tank in 1940, Hungary acquired a license in Czechoslovakia (read Germany) for the production of an unfinished T-21 tank. After a whole series of improvements, for example, a new turret for a new gun, from April 1942, under the designation 40M Turan, the tank began to be mass-produced. It took two years to complete the first order for 230 vehicles. In 1943-1944, on the basis of the Turan tank, 66 fully armored Zrinyi self-propelled guns were produced.

There were attempts to create a heavy tank, the result of which was built in 1944. prototype heavy tank called "Tash". It was also planned to produce an anti-tank self-propelled gun with an 88-mm German gun at its base.

Over the years, the Hungarian industry has produced only about 700 tanks and self-propelled guns, for a country that takes an active part in hostilities, this was clearly not enough.

Fans of rewriting history should familiarize themselves with the dry numbers of a brief description of the Hungarian army and its actions in World War II. Which, almost in full force, fought against the anti-Hitler coalition until the last day.

main goal foreign policy Hungary was the return of territories lost after the First World War. In 1939, Hungary began to reform its Armed Forces ("Honvedsheg" - Honvédség). The brigades were deployed into army corps, a mechanized corps and an air force were created, which were prohibited by the Trianon Treaty of 1920.

In August 1940, in accordance with the decision of the Vienna Arbitration Court, Romania returned Northern Transylvania to Hungary. The eastern Hungarian border passed along a strategically important line - the Carpathians. Hungary concentrated the 9th (“Carpathian”) Corps on it.

On April 11, 1941, Hungarian troops occupied a number of regions in northern Yugoslavia. Thus, Hungary returned part of its lost in 1918 - 1920. territories, but became completely dependent on German support. The Hungarian army met almost no resistance from the Yugoslav troops (except for the raid on April 8 by Yugoslav aviation on German military bases in Hungary) and occupied main city Yugoslav left bank of the Danube city of Novi Sad., where mass Jewish pogroms took place.

The armed forces of Hungary by the middle of 1941 numbered 216 thousand people. They were led by the head of state with the help of the supreme military council, the general staff and the military ministry.

Military parade in Budapest.

The ground forces had three field armies of three army corps each (the country was divided into nine districts according to the areas of responsibility of the army corps) and a separate mobile corps. The army corps by state consisted of three infantry brigades (Dandar), a cavalry squadron, a mechanized howitzer battery, an anti-aircraft artillery battalion, a reconnaissance aircraft link, a sapper battalion, a communications battalion and rear units.

The infantry brigade, created on the model of the Italian two-regiment division, according to the state of peacetime, consisted of one infantry regiment of the first stage and one reserve infantry regiment (both three-battalion), two divisions field artillery(24 guns), cavalry detachment, companies air defense and communications, 139 light and heavy machine guns. Regimental platoons and companies of heavy weapons each had 38 anti-tank rifles and 40 anti-tank guns (mainly 37 mm caliber).

The standard armament of the infantry consisted of the upgraded 8mm Mannlicher rifle and the Solothurn and Schwarzlose submachine guns. In 1943, during the unification of the armaments of Germany's allies, the caliber was changed to the standard German 7.92 mm. In the course of hostilities, German-made 37 mm and Belgian-made 47 mm anti-tank guns gave way to heavier German guns. The artillery used Czech-made mountain and field guns of the Skoda system (Skoda), howitzers of the Skoda, Beaufort and Rheinmetall systems.

The mechanized corps consisted of Italian tankettes CV 3/35, Hungarian armored vehicles of the Chaba system (Csaba) and light tanks of the Toldi system.

Each corps had an infantry battalion equipped with trucks (in practice, a bicycle battalion), as well as anti-aircraft and engineering battalions, and a communications battalion.

In addition, the Hungarian Armed Forces included two mountain rifle brigades and 11 border brigades; numerous labor battalions (formed, as a rule, from representatives of national minorities); small units of the Life Guards, the Royal Guard and the Parliamentary Guard in the capital of the country - Budapest.

By the summer of 1941, the battalions were equipped with tanks by about 50%.

In total, the Hungarian ground forces had 27 infantry (mostly cropped) brigades, as well as two motorized, two border chasseurs, two cavalry, one mountain rifle brigades.

The Hungarian Air Force consisted of five aviation regiments, one long-range reconnaissance division and one airborne battalion. The number of aircraft fleet of the Hungarian Air Force was 536 aircraft, of which 363 were combat.

1st stage of the war against the USSR

On June 26, 1941, unidentified aircraft raided the Hungarian city of Kassa (now Kosice in Slovakia). Hungary declared these aircraft to be Soviet. There is now an opinion that this raid was a German provocation.

June 27, 1941 Hungary declared war on the USSR. The so-called "Carpathian group" was put up on the Eastern Front:

1st Mountain Rifle Brigade;
- the eighth border brigade;
- mechanized corps (without the second cavalry brigade).

On July 1, these forces invaded the Ukrainian Carpathian region and, after engaging in battles with the Soviet 12th Army, crossed the Dniester. Hungarian troops occupied Kolomyia. Then the mechanized corps (40 thousand people) entered the territory of the Right-Bank Ukraine and continued military operations as part of the 17th German army. In the Uman region, as a result of joint operations with German troops, 20 Soviet divisions were captured or destroyed.

Hungarian soldier with an anti-tank rifle. Eastern front.

In October 1941, after a swift 950-kilometer thrust, the corps reached Donetsk, having lost 80% of its equipment. In November, the corps was recalled to Hungary, where it was disbanded.

From October 1941, the first mountain rifle and eighth border brigades in the Ukrainian Carpathian region were replaced by newly formed security forces brigades with numbers 102, 105, 108, 121 and 124. These brigades included two reserve infantry regiments each armed with light weapons, an artillery battery and a squadron cavalry (total 6 thousand people).

In February 1942, the Germans moved the 108th brigade of security forces to the front line in the Kharkov region, where it suffered significant losses.

2nd stage of the war against the USSR

In the spring of 1942, the German need for more soldiers on the Soviet-German front forced the Hungarians to mobilize their second army of 200,000 men. It included:

3rd Corps: 6th Brigade (22nd, 52nd Infantry Regiments), 7th Brigade (4th, 35th Infantry Regiments), 9th Brigade (17th, 47th Infantry shelves);

4th Corps: 10th Brigade (6th, 36th Infantry Regiments), 12th Brigade (18th, 48th Infantry Regiments), 13th Brigade (7th, 37th Infantry shelves); 7th Corps: 19th Brigade (13th, 43rd Infantry Regiments), 20th Brigade (14th, 23rd Infantry Regiments), 23rd Brigade (21st, 51st Infantry shelves).

In addition, under the command of the army headquarters were: 1st armored brigade (30th tank and 1st motorized infantry regiments, 1st reconnaissance and 51st anti-tank battalions), 101st heavy artillery division, 150th motorized artillery division, the 101st motorized anti-aircraft division and the 151st engineering battalion.

Each brigade had an artillery regiment and support units, whose number was identical to that of the brigade. After October 1942, each of the brigades was added a reconnaissance battalion, formed from the newly created mobile units (which included cavalry, motorized riflemen, cyclists and armored units). The armored brigade was formed in the spring of 1942 from two existing mechanized brigades and equipped with tanks 38 (t) (former Czechoslovak LT-38), T-III and T-IV, as well as Hungarian Toldi light tanks, Chaba armored personnel carriers ( Csaba) and self-propelled guns"Nimrod" (Nimrod).

Germany proposed to reward Hungarian soldiers who distinguished themselves on the Eastern Front with large land plots in Russia.

Under the command of Colonel General Gustav Yani, the second army arrived in June 1942 in the Kursk region and advanced to the front positions along the Don south of Voronezh. She was supposed to defend this direction in case of a possible counteroffensive of the Soviet troops. The Hungarian army in the period from August to December 1942 waged long exhausting battles with Soviet troops in the area of ​​Uryva and Korotoyak (near Voronezh). The Hungarians failed to eliminate the Soviet bridgehead on the right bank of the Don and develop an offensive against Serafimovichi. At the end of December 1942, the Hungarian Second Army went over to passive defense.

During this period, the territory of Hungary began to be subjected to air raids. September 5 and 10 Soviet aviation long-range strikes on Budapest.

Hungarian troops in the Don steppes. Summer 1942

At the beginning of the winter of 1942, the Hungarian command repeatedly turned to the German command with a request to provide the Hungarian troops with modern anti-tank guns - shells from outdated 20-mm and 37-mm guns did not penetrate the armor of Soviet T-34 tanks.

On January 12, 1943, Soviet troops crossed the Don River on ice and broke through the defenses at the junction of the 7th and 12th brigades. The 1st armored brigade, which was subordinate to the German command, was withdrawn and did not receive an order to counterattack the enemy. The disorderly retreat of the Hungarian army was covered by units of the 3rd Corps. The losses of the 2nd Army amounted to about 30 thousand soldiers and officers killed, and the army lost almost all tanks and heavy weapons. Among the fallen was the eldest son of the regent of the Kingdom - Miklós Horthy. The remaining 50 thousand soldiers and officers were taken prisoner. It was the largest defeat of the Hungarian army in the entire history of its existence.

Hungarian soldiers who died near Stalingrad. Winter 1942 - 1943

3rd stage of the war against the USSR

In March 1943, Admiral Horthy, seeking to strengthen the troops at home, withdrew the second army back to Hungary. Most of the reserve regiments of the army were transferred to the "Dead Army", which turned out to be the only association of Hungarian troops that actively fought on the Soviet-German front. Her military formations were reorganized and given new numbers, although this process was more likely to be designed for the German ally than for the Russians. Now the Hungarian army included the 8th corps stationed in Belarus (5th, 9th, 12th and 23rd brigades) and the 7th corps remaining in Ukraine (1st, 18th, 19th I, 21st and 201st brigades).

This army, first of all, had to fight the partisans. In 1943, artillery and reconnaissance units were deployed into battalions. Subsequently, these Hungarian units were merged into the 8th Corps (soon to become known in their homeland as the "Dead Army"). The corps was formed in Kyiv and was tasked with guarding communications against Polish, Soviet and Ukrainian partisans in the northeast of Ukraine and in the Bryansk forests.

In the middle of 1943, the Hungarians decided to reorganize their infantry brigades according to the German model: three infantry regiments, 3-4 artillery battalions, as well as engineer and reconnaissance battalions. The regular infantry regiments of each of the corps were combined into "mixed divisions", the reserve regiments into "reserve divisions"; all mechanized units were reassigned to the first corps, its basis was the recreated 1st armored division, the newly formed 2nd armored division and the 1st cavalry division, formed in 1942 from the former cavalry brigades.

The Border Guard Group of the 27th Light Division acted as a third regiment throughout the 1944 campaign. The mountain and border battalions were not reorganized, but were reinforced in Transylvania by 27 Szekler militia battalions. The lack of weapons seriously delayed this reorganization, but eight mixed divisions were ready by the end of 1943, and reserve divisions by the spring of 1944. Most of them were transferred to the "Dead Army", which the German command refused to send to Hungary and which now consisted from the 2nd Reserve Corps (former 8th, 5th, 9th, 12th and 23rd Reserve Divisions) and the 7th Corps (18th and 19th Reserve Divisions).

Armored divisions were stationed at the forefront of the Soviet-German front. Tank battalions were equipped with Hungarian medium tanks "Turan" (Turan) I and II. The combat readiness of the crews after several years of war was at a high level.

In addition, he added eight divisions of assault guns. At first it was supposed to equip them with new assault guns the Zrinyi system, but the guns were only enough for two battalions, while the rest were armed with 50 German Stug IIIs (StuG III). Initially, the divisions were numbered 1 to 8, but later they were assigned the numbers of the corresponding mixed divisions, to which they were supposed to be attached.

4th stage of the war against the USSR

March - April 1944 German troops entered Hungarian territory to guarantee its continued loyalty. The Hungarian army was ordered not to resist.

After that, for the first time, mobilization was fully carried out. In May 1944, the 1st Army (2nd armored, 7th, 16th, 20th, 24th and 25th mixed and 27th light divisions, 1st and 2nd mountain rifle brigade) was sent to the Ukrainian Carpathian region. She was also transferred to the 7th Corps of the "Dead Army", which was already fighting in this direction.

The 1st Hungarian tank division tried to counterattack the Soviet tank corps near Kolomyia - this attempt ended in the death of 38 Turan tanks (Turan) and the rapid retreat of the 2nd armored division of the Hungarians to the state border.

By August 1944, the army was reinforced with the remaining regular divisions (6th, 10th and 13th mixed). However, the army soon had to retreat to the Hunyadi line in the north of the Carpathian section of the border, where it took up defensive positions. Meanwhile, the elite 1st Cavalry Division linked up with the 2nd Reserve Corps in the Pripyat region. The division distinguished itself during the retreat to Warsaw and was awarded the right to be called the 1st Hussar Division. Shortly thereafter, the entire corps was repatriated.

The transfer of Romania to the side of the USSR in August 1944 exposed the southern borders of Hungary. On September 4, the Hungarian government declared war on Romania. In order to receive new formations, the training units of the infantry, armored, cavalry divisions and mountain rifle brigades were combined into depot divisions or "Scythian" divisions (Scythian). Despite the loud name "division", they usually consisted of no more than a couple of battalions and batteries of artillery and soon, along with some formations from the 1st Army, were transferred to the 2nd Army (2nd Armored, 25th Mixed, 27th light, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th and 9th "Scythian" divisions; 1st and 2nd mountain rifle brigades, units of the Zecler militia), which quickly advanced into Eastern Transylvania .

The newly created 3rd Army (1st armored, "Scythian" cavalry, 20th mixed, 23rd reserve, 4th, 5th and 8th "Scythian" divisions) was transferred to Western Transylvania. She had to stop the Romanian and Soviet troops, who had begun the transition through the South Carpathian passes. The 3rd Army managed to create a line of defense along the Hungarian-Romanian border. In the Arad area, the 7th Assault Artillery Battalion destroyed 67 Soviet T-34 tanks.

The Soviet command tried to convince the commander of the 1st Army, Colonel-General Bela Miklós von Dalnoki, to oppose the Germans, but he eventually decided to retreat to the west. Caught in a hopeless situation, the 2nd Army also retreated.

On September 23, 1944, Soviet troops entered the territory of Hungary in the Battony region. On October 14, 1944, the Soviet ultimatum to Hungary followed, demanding that a truce be declared within 48 hours, break all relations with Germany, begin active military operations against German troops, and also begin the withdrawal of its troops from the pre-war territory of Romania, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia.

October 15, 1944 M. Horthy accepted the terms of the ultimatum, but the Hungarian troops did not stop fighting. The Germans immediately arrested him and installed Ferenc Szálasi, leader of the ultra-nationalist Arrow Cross party, in charge of the country, vowing to continue the war to a victorious end. The Hungarian army came under more and more control German generals. The corps structure of the army was destroyed, and three active armies reinforced by German military formations.

Otto Skorzeny (1st from right) in Budapest after the end of Operation Panzerfaust. October 20, 1944

The German command agreed to the creation of several Hungarian infantry divisions SS troops: the 22nd SS Volunteer Division "Maria Theresa", the 25th "Hunyadi" (Hunyadi), the 26th "Gembes" (Gombos) and two others (which were never formed). During the years of World War II, Hungary gave the largest number of volunteers to the SS troops. In March 1945, the XVII SS Army Corps was created, called "Hungarian", since it included most of the Hungarian SS formations. Last Stand(with US troops) Corps took place on May 3, 1945.

Campaign poster "Despite everything!"

In addition, the Germans decided to equip modern weapons four new Hungarian divisions: "Kossuth" (Kossuth), "Görgey" (Görgey), "Petofi" (Petöfi) and "Klapka" (Klapka), of which only "Kossuth" was formed. The most effective new military formation turned out to be the elite airborne division "Saint Laszlo" (Szent Laszlo), created on the basis of the paratrooper battalion.

The composition of the formed divisions was as follows:

"Kossuth": 101st, 102nd, 103rd infantry, 101st artillery regiments.

"Saint Laszlo": 1st parachute battalion, 1st, 2nd elite infantry regiments, 1st, 2nd armored regiments, 1st, 2nd reconnaissance battalions, two river guard battalions, anti-aircraft division.

In Hungarian armor tank forces modern German tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts were transferred: 13 Tigers, 5 Panthers, 74 T-IVs and 75 Hetzer tank destroyers.

5th stage of the war against the USSR

On November 4, 1944, Soviet troops approached Budapest, but already on November 11, their offensive bogged down as a result of fierce resistance from German and Hungarian troops.

At the end of December 1944, the 1st Hungarian Army retreated to Slovakia, the 2nd Army was disbanded, and its units were transferred to the 3rd Army, stationed south of Lake Balaton, and the 6th and 8th German armies, occupying positions in northern Hungary.

On December 26, Soviet troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts completed the encirclement of the Budapest grouping of German and Hungarian troops. Budapest turned out to be cut off, it was defended by a mixed German-Hungarian garrison, which consisted of the 1st armored, 10th mixed and 12th reserve divisions, the Bilnitzer assault artillery group (1st armored car, 6th, 8th , 9th and 10th artillery assault battalions), anti-aircraft units and Iron Guard volunteers.

On January 2 - 26, 1945, counterattacks by German and Hungarian troops followed, trying to release the encircled group in Budapest. In particular, on January 18, Hungarian troops launched an offensive between the lakes Balaton and Velence and on January 22 occupied the city of Szekesfehervar.

February 13, 1945 Budapest capitulated. Meanwhile, the bloodless 1st Army retreated to Moravia, where it occupied a line of defense that lasted until the end of the war.

On March 6, 1945, Hungarian and German troops launched an offensive in the area of ​​Lake Balaton, but on March 15, Soviet troops stopped it.

In mid-March 1945, after the failure of the German counter-offensive in the Lake Balaton area, the remnants of the 3rd Army turned west, and the 1st Hussar Division was destroyed near Budapest. By March 25, most of the remnants of the 3rd Hungarian Army were destroyed 50 kilometers west of Budapest. The remnants of the 2nd armored, 27th light, 9th and 23rd reserve divisions, as well as the 7th and 8th "Scythian" divisions surrendered to the Americans in Northern Austria, while the rest of the units (including the division " St. Laszlo") fought on the Austrian-Yugoslav border and only in May 1945 surrendered to British troops.

During the battles for Budapest in the winter of 1945, Hungarian formations appeared in the Soviet army.

During the Second World War, Hungary lost about 300 thousand soldiers killed, 513,766 people were taken prisoner.

The phrase "Hungarian tank building" in itself causes a smile today. In fairness, it should be noted that in the 1940s there were not many European countries could afford to produce tanks. Despite all attempts, the Hungarian designers failed to create competitive combat vehicles, they always lagged behind the leading tank-building powers. The Hungarian Turan tank had no chance to catch up with the Soviet tanks in terms of security and firepower.

medium tank 41.M Turan II

For all their shortcomings, Turan tanks took an active part in the fighting on the Eastern Front, and Hungary itself was one of the most loyal allies. Nazi Germany. Hungarian troops fought on the side of the Nazis almost until the very end of the war in Europe. In total, during serial production from 1942 to 1944, according to various estimates, up to 459 Turan tanks of various modifications were assembled in Hungary. The last combat operation of the Second World War, in which Turan tanks took part, was the battles near Lake Balaton in March-April 1945. It was in this area that the last combat-ready Hungarian tanks were lost, and some of the vehicles were captured by Soviet troops.

Czechoslovak roots of the Hungarian tank Turan

Despite the fact that the Hungarian troops took an active part in the battles on the Eastern Front, they did not gain any glory in these battles with the Soviet troops, and the Hungarians did not have much success in the battle with the Red Army soldiers. Hungarian units were most actively used on southbound Eastern Front, and the main theater of operations for the Hungarian army became the steppes, which best revealed the capabilities of motorized and tank units. But the Magyar units had serious problems with armored vehicles; Hungarian armored vehicles simply could not resist the Soviet T-34 medium tanks and heavy KV on equal terms. This is not surprising, given that the Hungarian tank building originates only in the late 1930s.

Before that, the Hungarian government tried to conclude contracts for the supply of armored vehicles with several countries at once. So, in Sweden it was ordered light tank"Toldi", the main armament of which was a 20-mm anti-tank gun. The mass of these combat vehicles did not exceed 8.5 tons, and the armor of the first series was 13 mm. The tank was created on the basis of the Swedish Landsverk L-60, one copy and a license for the production of which were acquired by Hungary. Naturally, the Hungarian military dreamed of getting at their disposal more advanced tanks with the best weapons and security. But attempts to negotiate with Germany on the purchase of Pz.Kpfw. III and Pz.Kpfw. IV ended in nothing. The same fate awaited negotiations with Italy for the transfer of a license for the production of medium tanks M13 / 40, negotiations dragged on until the summer of 1940, when the need for Italian vehicles simply disappeared.


Prototype of the Czechoslovak T-21 tank

The savior of the Hungarian armored forces was Czechoslovakia, which was completely occupied by the Nazi troops in March 1939. In the hands of Germany was the well-developed industry of the country, as well as numerous military developments, among which was tank S-II-c or T-21, developed by the designers of the company "Skoda". Fighting machine was developed on the basis of the successful Czech tank LT vz.35, which was widely used in parts of the Wehrmacht. The Germans were not interested in the T-21, so they were not against the transfer of ready-made prototypes to Hungary. In turn, the Hungarian experts considered the tanks the best among all the samples of medium tanks available to the country. At the same time, the Hungarians could not place an order for the production of tanks at the Skoda factories, since they were fully loaded with German orders.

The first prototype of the future Turan tank arrived in Hungary in early June 1940. After testing and passing 800 km without breakdowns, the car was already recommended for adoption in July of the same year after a number of improvements and improvements were made to the design. Important changes included: the appearance of a commander's cupola; increase in frontal booking up to 50 mm; and an increase in the tank crew to five people, with the placement of three people in the tower. An example for the Hungarians when making changes to the design of the tank were the Germans, who were considered recognized authorities in tank building and the use of tank troops.

The version of the tank upgraded by the Hungarians was put into service on November 28, 1940 under the designation 40.M, while the tank received its own name "Turan". Transmission delays technical documentation and the deployment of mass production of tanks, which simply did not exist in Hungary until the end of the 1930s, led to the fact that the first production tanks"Turan" hit the tank school in the Hungarian city of Esztergom only in May 1942.


Tank late for the war

For its time, the Turan was by no means the worst combat vehicle in the world. It is important to understand that Czechoslovak engineers presented the first prototype of the future Hungarian tank back in the winter of 1937. The tank was originally developed for export, it was planned that the armies of Italy, Romania and Hungary would become its buyers. In May 1939, the tank changed its designation to T-21 and ended up in Hungary under this index a year later. For the late 1930s, the combat capabilities of the Czech tank were still good. Reinforced to 30 mm frontal armor (compared to the LT vz.35) and the presence of a 47 mm Skoda A11 gun made the vehicle quite formidable on the battlefield.

The main problem was that the tank, developed in the late 1930s, was late for the war for which it was created. The Hungarian adaptation, although it received frontal armor reinforced to 50-60 mm (all armor plates were installed vertically or with slight angles of inclination) and a commander's cupola, was distinguished by the installation of a 40-mm semi-automatic gun own production 41.M, created on the basis of the German PaK 35/36 anti-tank gun. Despite a good barrel length of 51 calibers, the gun could not boast of great armor penetration. At a distance of 300 meters at an angle of 30 degrees with the armor, the armor-piercing projectile of this gun pierced only 42 mm of armor, at a distance of a kilometer - 30 mm. The capabilities of the 40-mm gun were more than enough to deal with the lungs Soviet tanks T-26 and BT-7, which formed the basis tank park The Red Army in 1941, but they could not resist the new Soviet tanks T-34 and KV "Turans".


Hungarian medium tank 40.M Turan I with 40 mm gun

The problem was aggravated by the fact that the first serial Hungarian tanks began to roll off the assembly line only in 1942, they did not have time to take part in the attack on Stalingrad and the Caucasus. But this also saved them from a subsequent disaster, in which the 2nd Hungarian Army, which fought on the Eastern Front, according to various estimates, lost up to 150 thousand personnel, up to 70 percent of its materiel and all heavy weapons.

Assessment of the capabilities of the Turan tank

The full-fledged combat debut of the Turan tanks dragged on for two years; they took part in battles with the Soviet troops only in April 1944. By that time, the tanks that were late for the war tried to modernize. Already in 1942, in parallel with the Turan I, Hungary decided to start assembling the Turan II tank, the main difference of which was the presence of a 75-mm short-barreled gun with a barrel length of 25 calibers. The mass of this version of the Hungarian tank has increased from 18.2 to 19.2 tons. At the same time, the 8-cylinder gasoline engine with 265 hp remained the same. accelerated the car to 43 km / h when driving on the highway, the variant with a 40-mm cannon had slightly better performance - 47 km / h. The updated modification received the designation 41.M Turan II.

Attempts by the Hungarian military to give the tank project from the late 1930s a second life should be recognized as unsuccessful. But they were unsuccessful precisely because of the time the tank appeared on the battlefields. Back in 1940 and 1941, the car would have looked advantageous compared to light tanks with bulletproof armor, which formed the basis of the armored forces of the Red Army. But in 1944, the main opponents of the "Turans" were medium tanks T-34 and T-34-85, which the Hungarian tankers simply could not fight on an equal footing. The 40-mm cannon did not penetrate the frontal armor of the T-34 from any distance, at least somehow it was possible to effectively penetrate only the lower part of the T-34's side armor plates. The transition to a short-barreled 75-mm gun did not significantly change the situation. In fact, in 1944, the Hungarian analogue entered the battlefields German tank Pz.Kpfw. IV, with which Germany started the war against the USSR. As an infantry support tank, the 41.M Turan II could be called a good vehicle, the 75-mm projectile had a good high-explosive fragmentation action, but it could Soviet armored vehicles and Lend-Lease Shermans for the Hungarian tank was a very difficult task.


Medium tanks 41.M Turan II with a 75 mm gun in the tank fleet

Projectile protection in 50-60 mm frontal armor looked good in the early 1940s. This was enough to withstand most pre-war anti-tank guns up to and including 45 mm. In fact, the "Turans" faced the massive use of 57-mm and 76-mm guns by the Soviet troops, which were guaranteed to pierce their armor at a distance of up to 1000 meters, and the 85-mm gun of the updated "thirty-fours" did not leave any chances to the Hungarian tankers at all. The anti-cumulative screens that the Hungarians began to install on their armored vehicles in 1944 could not improve the situation. At the same time, the outdated riveted design of the installation of armor plates also did not increase combat effectiveness and machine survivability. When a projectile hit the armor, the rivets flew off and even if the armor did not penetrate, they could hit the equipment and crew of the combat vehicle. The situation was not saved by the triple turret with the commander's turret, which made it possible to unload the commander, who was able to direct the battle without being distracted by other tasks.

A worthy answer to the Soviet T-34 tanks could be the third version of the Turan modernization, which received the designation 43.M Turan III. But this tank, armed with a long-barreled 75-mm cannon (barrel length 43 caliber), with frontal armor reinforced to 75 mm, was represented by only a couple of prototypes, it was never mass-produced. In reality, when meeting with Soviet armored vehicles, which were presented in 1944, not only with the new T-34-85 and IS-2, but also with various self-propelled artillery, the Hungarian Turan tanks quickly moved from the category of combat vehicles to the category of scrap metal and a mass grave for a crew of five.

The Germans, however, refused to sell them a license, but offered to use the developments of Skoda and take as a basis the unfinished Czech sample S-II-c, better known to us as the T-21.

In early June 1940, the tank arrived in Budapest. On sea trials, the Š-II-c showed excellent results: with a mass of 16.5 tons, it reached a maximum speed of up to 50 km / h on a hard road surface. There were also no problems with cross-country ability, but the Hungarians, for some reason not satisfied with these qualities, sent the tanks for revision to the Manfred Weiss company.

The company was recommended to bring the frontal armor to 35 mm, in accordance with the German views on the tactics of using tanks, which served as a model for the Hungarians at that time, to increase the number of crew members in the tower from two to three and install a commander's cupola, as well as make a number of minor changes. Instead of the Czechoslovak 47-mm cannon, the Hungarian 40-mm 41.M. In addition, it was decided to replace the machine guns and the tank engine with Hungarian models.
In total, more than 200 different changes were made to the design of the tank, and on November 28, 1940, the modified tank was adopted by the Hungarian army under the designation 40.M. The tank also received a proper name - "Turan", in honor of the historical ancestral home of the Hungarians, who once lived on the territory of modern Kazakhstan.

The first prototype of a medium Hungarian tank, although made of non-armored steel, was ready in August 1941, and two months later its mass production began. Turan began to enter the troops in May 1942.
Turan had differentiated anti-projectile armor. The armored hull and tower of the Turan were assembled from rolled sheets and plates of homogeneous armor steel, on the frame with bolts and rivets. All Turan vertical armor plates were installed vertically or with slight angles of inclination to the vertical; the thickness of the vertical armor of the hull and turret forehead was, according to various sources, from 50 to 60 mm; sides and stern - 25 mm. The thickness of the bottom armor plates was 14 mm, and the thickness of the roof of the hull and turret was different parts varied from 8 to 25 mm. Since 1944, Turans began to be equipped with a set of 8-mm on-board anti-cumulative screens similar to the German ones, but before the end of hostilities, they did not manage to equip all tanks with them.
Manfred Weiss-Z eight-cylinder carbureted V-engine with 265 hp. at 2200 rpm, it allowed a tank weighing 18.2 tons to accelerate to a maximum speed of 47 km / h. The capacity of the fuel tanks was 265 liters, the cruising range was 165 km.
Turan's transmission consisted of a multi-plate dry friction main clutch, a planetary 6-speed (3 + 3) gearbox, a planetary rotation mechanism and final drives. The transmission units were controlled using a pneumatic servo drive. There was also a backup mechanical drive.
The undercarriage was generally similar to the undercarriage of the light Czechoslovak LT-35 tank and consisted of eight rubberized dual road wheels on each side. The rollers were interlocked in pairs in two bogies, each of which was suspended on two semi-elliptical leaf springs. Between the front cart and the steering wheel, which had a gear ring, one double roller was installed, which made it easier for the tank to overcome vertical obstacles. The drive wheel was located at the rear. The upper branch of the caterpillar rested on five double rubberized support rollers. The design of the undercarriage provided the tank with a smooth ride without strong vertical vibrations and swaying.
Turan's main armament was a 40mm cannon. This 40-mm semi-automatic gun 41.M 40/51 was developed by MAVAG based on the 37-mm anti-tank guns- German PaK 35/36 and Czechoslovak A7 - and had a barrel length of 51 calibers. starting speed its armor-piercing projectile was 800 m / s, and the mass of the fragmentation projectile was 0.96 kg. The gun had a rate of fire of 12 rounds per minute.
The gun was placed in the frontal part of the tower on trunnions in an installation that allowed vertical aiming in the range from -10 to + 25 °. Aiming at the target was carried out using a telescopic sight. The gunner had an optical rangefinder. The ammunition load of the gun was 101 unitary shots with armor-piercing and fragmentation shells. The gun could also use ammunition from the Czech Bofors.
Auxiliary weapons Turan

and there were two 8 mm machine guns 34 / 40AM Gebauer.
Rotary periscopic prismatic viewing devices served as a means of observing the terrain in combat conditions for the crew of Turan. The driver, gunner-radio operator, gunner and loader each had one device, and the tank commander had a commander's cupola with two viewing devices. The driver, in addition, had a viewing slot with protective triplex glass in the upper front hull plate.
Already in the summer of 1941, it became obvious that the 40-mm gun was unable to fight medium and heavy Soviet tanks.
and
. Even old
turned out to be too tough for this fluff. And with the defeat of the infantry, things were no better for this gun - a weak high-explosive fragmentation projectile could not cause any harm to the field fortification. Therefore, the Hungarians decided, leaving the reservation unchanged, to re-equip Turan with a more powerful 75-mm caliber gun. The most suitable option turned out to be an Austrian 75-mm mountain gun with a long barrel of 25 calibers. Her projectile allowed to fight with the lungs field fortifications, and the gun itself had a very small recoil, which was important with a very cramped turret, into which the Hungarians did not manage to shove the German KwK 37, which had similar characteristics.
The production of the improved tank began only in 1943, and out of the ordered 322 copies, only 139 were made. 15 tanks from this series were equipped with an additional FuG16 or R-4T radio station, and some copies had armored on-board anti-cumulative screens. Tanks of this modification received full official name 41M Turan 75 rovid, but in modern publications they are most often referred to as Turan II.

Turan II

Until the spring of 1944, neither the first nor the second modification of the Turan tanks appeared at the front. Forward

The last of them were used as part of the 2nd Hungarian Panzer Division, which entered the battle on April 17, 1944, counterattacking the advancing Soviet units near Kolomyia. The tank attack on the difficult wooded and mountainous terrain was unsuccessful, and by April 26 the Hungarian counterattack was successfully repelled. At the same time, the losses of the Hungarians amounted to 30 tanks. In September, the division took part in the battles near Torda, suffered heavy losses and was withdrawn to the rear. Another unit equipped with Turans was the 1st Cavalry Division. In the summer battles in Galicia, she lost all her tanks and returned to her homeland in September. The 1st Panzer Division, also equipped with Turans, entered the battle with our troops already in September on the territory of Transylvania, taken by the Hungarians from Romania under the Vienna Arbitration in 1940.
On October 30, the battles for Budapest began, lasting four months. The 2nd Panzer Division found itself surrounded in the city itself, while the 1st Panzer and 1st Cavalry Divisions fought to the north of it. In the fierce battles near Lake Balaton in March-April 1945, the Hungarian tank forces ceased to exist. At the same time, the last ones were destroyed or captured by the Soviet Army.
Turans. One of them still stands in Kubinka. It is a rather rare copy of the Turan modification. II , which has side and tower anti-cumulative screens.

Turan II in Kubinka

See also:

Ranking of countries in the world in terms of the number of armed forces

Who sold Alaska and how

Why We Lost the Cold War

1961 Reform Mystery