Hungarian light armored car 39M Csaba (40M Csaba) In 1932, Hungary for the first time tried to create its own armored car. At the Manfred Weiss factory, designer N. Straussler built a four-wheeled unarmored car AC1, who was taken to England, where she received a booking. The improved AC2 followed the AC1935 in 1 and was sent to England for evaluation. The designer himself moved to England in 1937. The English company Olvis equipped the car with armor and a turret, and Weiss made two more chassis that remained in Hungary. Designer N. Straussler (Miklos Straussler) in 1937 at the Olvis plant (later the Olvis-Straussler company was formed) built a prototype of the ASZ car. Nicholas Straussler - (1891, Austrian Empire - June 3, 1966, London, UK) - Hungarian inventor. During the Second World War he worked in Great Britain. He is best known as a designer of military engineering equipment. In particular, he developed the Duplex Drive system, which was used during the Allied landings in Normandy. Duplex Drive (often abbreviated to DD) is the name of a system for giving buoyancy to tanks used by the US troops, as well as partly by Great Britain and Canada during the Second World War. ASZ cars were ordered by Holland for their colonies, Portugal and England (for service in the Middle East). "Manfred Weiss" produced all the chassis for them, and "Olvis-Straussler": armor; engines; gear boxes; armament. In 1938, a Hungarian company began to prepare an armored car for the army. In 1939, an AC2 car with mild steel armor and a turret was tested and served as a prototype for a production car, which was named 39.M. "Chabo". The designer N. Straussler was no longer involved in the final development of Chabo. Chabo is the son of Attila Chabo is the youngest son of the leader of the Huns Attila (434 to 453), who united the barbarian tribes from the Rhine to the Northern Black Sea region under his rule. When the Huns left Western Europe due to the defeat of the Gallo-Roman troops in the battle of the Catalaunian fields (451) and the death of Atila, Chabo settled in Pannonia in 453. The Hungarians believe that they have a family relationship with the Huns, because their common forefather Nimrod had two sons: Mohor was the progenitor of the Magyars, and Hunor the Huns. Chabo is the son of Attila Armored car 39M Csaba   Click on the Chabo armored car to enlarge   Production order for 8 training (non-armor steel) and 53 armored vehicles, the Manfred Weiss plant received in 1939 even before the construction of the NEA prototype was completed. Production ran from spring 1940 to summer 1941. TTX Hungarian tanks and armored vehicles Toldi-1   "Toldi" I Year of construction 1940 Combat weight, t 8,5 Crew. 3 Body length, mm 4750 Length with gun forward, mm   Width 2140 Height, mm 1870 Reservations, mm   Body forehead 13 Hull board 13 Tower forehead (deckhouse) 13 + 20 Roof and bottom of the hull 6 weaponry   Gun brand 36.M Caliber in mm / barrel length in calibers 20/82 Ammunition shots   The number and caliber (in mm) of machine guns 1-8,0 Anti-aircraft machine gun — Ammunition for machine guns, cartridges   Engine, type, brand carb. “Busing Nag” L8V/36TR Motor Power, hp 155 Top speed km / h 50 Fuel capacity, l 253 Range on the highway, km 220 Average ground pressure, kg / cm2 0,62 Toldi-2   “Toldi” II Year of construction 1941 Combat weight, t 9,3 Crew. 3 Body length, mm 4750 Length with gun forward, mm   Width 2140 Height, mm 1870 Reservations, mm   Body forehead 23-33 Hull board 13 Tower forehead (deckhouse) 13 + 20 Roof and bottom of the hull 6-10 weaponry   Gun brand 42.M Caliber in mm / barrel length in calibers 40/45 Ammunition shots 54 The number and caliber (in mm) of machine guns 1-8,0 Anti-aircraft machine gun — Ammunition for machine guns, cartridges   Engine, type, brand carb. “Busing Nag” L8V/36TR Motor Power, hp 155 Top speed km / h 47 Fuel capacity, l 253 Range on the highway, km 220 Average ground pressure, kg / cm2 0,68 Turan-1   "Turan" I Year of construction 1942 Combat weight, t 18,2 Crew. 5 Body length, mm 5500 Length with gun forward, mm   Width 2440 Height, mm 2390 Reservations, mm   Body forehead 50 (60) Hull board 25 Tower forehead (deckhouse) 50 (60) Roof and bottom of the hull 8-25 weaponry   Gun brand 41.M Caliber in mm / barrel length in calibers 40/51 Ammunition shots 101 The number and caliber (in mm) of machine guns 2-8,0 Anti-aircraft machine gun — Ammunition for machine guns, cartridges   Engine, type, brand Z-TURAN carb. Z-TURAN Motor Power, hp 260 Top speed km / h 47 Fuel capacity, l 265 Range on the highway, km 165 Average ground pressure, kg / cm2 0,61 Turan-2   "Turan" II Year of construction 1943 Combat weight, t 19,2 Crew. 5 Body length, mm 5500 Length with gun forward, mm   Width 2440 Height, mm 2430 Reservations, mm   Body forehead 50 Hull board 25 Tower forehead (deckhouse)   Roof and bottom of the hull 8-25 weaponry   Gun brand 41.M Caliber in mm / barrel length in calibers 75/25 Ammunition shots 56 The number and caliber (in mm) of machine guns 2-8,0 Anti-aircraft machine gun — Ammunition for machine guns, cartridges 1800 Engine, type, brand Z-TURAN carb. Z-TURAN Motor Power, hp 260 Top speed km / h 43 Fuel capacity, l 265 Range on the highway, km 150 Average ground pressure, kg / cm2 0,69 Chabo   "Chabo" Year of construction 1940 Combat weight, t 5,95 Crew. 4 Body length, mm 4520 Length with gun forward, mm   Width 2100 Height, mm 2270 Reservations, mm   Body forehead 13 Hull board 7 Tower forehead (deckhouse) 100 Roof and bottom of the hull   weaponry   Gun brand 36.M Caliber in mm / barrel length in calibers 20/82 Ammunition shots 200 The number and caliber (in mm) of machine guns 1-8,0 Anti-aircraft machine gun — Ammunition for machine guns, cartridges 3000 Engine, type, brand carb. Ford G61T Motor Power, hp 87 Top speed km / h 65 Fuel capacity, l 135 Range on the highway, km 150 Average ground pressure, kg / cm2   Tosh   "Stone" Year of construction   Combat weight, t 38 Crew. 5 Body length, mm 6900 Length with gun forward, mm 9200 Width 3500 Height, mm 3000 Reservations, mm   Body forehead 100-120 Hull board 50 Tower forehead (deckhouse) 30 Roof and bottom of the hull   weaponry   Gun brand 43.M Caliber in mm / barrel length in calibers 75/70 Ammunition shots   The number and caliber (in mm) of machine guns 2-8 Anti-aircraft machine gun — Ammunition for machine guns, cartridges   Engine, type, brand carb. Z- TURAN Motor Power, hp 2 × 260 Top speed km / h 45 Fuel capacity, l   Range on the highway, km 200 Average ground pressure, kg / cm2 0,78 T-21   T-21 Year of construction 1940 Combat weight, t 16,7 Crew. 4 Body length, mm 5500 Length with gun forward, mm 5500 Width 2350 Height, mm 2390 Reservations, mm   Body forehead 30 Hull board 25 Tower forehead (deckhouse)   Roof and bottom of the hull   weaponry   Gun brand A-9 Caliber in mm / barrel length in calibers 47 Ammunition shots   The number and caliber (in mm) of machine guns 2-7,92 Anti-aircraft machine gun — Ammunition for machine guns, cartridges   Engine, type, brand Carb. Skoda V-8 Motor Power, hp 240 Top speed km / h 50 Fuel capacity, l   Range on the highway, km   Average ground pressure, kg / cm2 0,58 The armored car was equipped with an eight-cylinder liquid-cooled Ford G61T carburetor V-engine. Power - 90 hp, working volume 3560 cmXNUMX3. The transmission included a six-speed gearbox and transfer case. The wheel formula of the armored car is 4 × 2 (when reversing 4 × 4), the tire size is 10,50 - 20, the suspension is on transverse semi-elliptical springs (two for each axle). The power plant and chassis provided the Chabo with a sufficiently high mobility and maneuverability on the ground. The maximum speed when driving on the highway reached 65 km / h. The power reserve was 150 km with a fuel tank capacity of 135 liters. The combat weight of the vehicle is 5,95 tons. The layout of the armored car "Chabo" 1 - 20-mm anti-tank gun 36M; 2 - observation device; 3 - machine gun 31M; 4 – machine gunner's seat; 5 - rear driver's seat; 6 - handrail antenna; 7 - engine; 8 - ammo rack; 9 - rear steering wheel; 10 – seat of the front driver; 11 - front steering wheel Click on the image to enlarge The armored car "Chabo" had dual control. A rear pair of wheels was used to move forward; when reversing (why the crew included a second driver) both were used. The Chabo was armed with the same 20 mm PTR as the Toldi I tank and an 8 mm 34./37.A Gebauer machine gun in a turret with independent aiming. The hull of the armored car is welded from armor plates arranged with an inclination. The crew consisted of: gunner commander, machine gunner, front driver, rear driver (he is also a radio operator). All cars received the radio. The armored car "Chabo" corresponded to the level of similar machines of that time, had a good speed, however, had a small power reserve. In addition to the linear modification, a commander's version was also produced - 40M, armed only with an 8-mm machine gun. But equipped with two simplex radios R / 4 and R / 5 and a loop antenna. The combat weight was 5,85 tons. 30 units of command vehicles were manufactured. Commanding variant - 40M Csaba In view of the fact that the Chabo armored car turned out to be quite satisfactory, an order for 1941 followed at the end of 50 (1942 were produced in 32, and 18 the next), and in January 1943 another 70 (built - 12 in 1943 year and 20 in 1944). In total, 135 Chabo BAs were produced in this way (30 of them in the commander's version), all of them by the Manfred Weiss plant. Command armored car 40M Csaba Click to enlarge     So: 39M Csaba is the base model. Released 105 units. 40M Csaba - command variant. The armament has been reduced to one machine gun, and the vehicle is also equipped with additional radio stations. Released 30 units. In 1943, Manfred Weiss tried to create a heavy Hunor BA, modeled on the German four-axle BA Puma, but with a Hungarian Z-TURAN engine. The project was completed, but construction has not yet begun. Armored cars "Chabo" in battle Chabo armored vehicles entered service with the 1st and 2nd motorized brigades and the 1st and 2nd cavalry brigades, one company in each brigade. The company included 10 BA; 1 commander's BA and 2 "iron" educational. The Mountain Rifle Brigade had a platoon of 3 Chabos. All parts except the 1st cavalry brigade took part in “april war” 1941 against Yugoslavia. April war Yugoslav operation, also known as Aufmarch 25 (April 6-April 12, 1941) - a military operation of Nazi Germany, Italy, Hungary and Croatia that declared independence against Yugoslavia during the Second World War. Kingdom of Yugoslavia, 1929-1941 Click to Enlarge On April 6, 1941, fascist Germany and Italy attacked Yugoslavia. April fascist campaign 1941, so-called. April war, began on April 6 with a massive bombardment of almost unprotected Belgrade. The aircraft of Yugoslavia and the air defense of the city were destroyed during the very first raids, a significant part of Belgrade was turned into ruins, and civilian casualties were in the thousands. The connection between the high military command and units at the front was severed, which predetermined the outcome of the campaign: the kingdom's million-strong army was scattered, at least 250 thousand prisoners were captured. The losses of the Nazis were 151 killed, 392 wounded and 15 missing. On April 10, the Nazis organized in Zagreb the “proclamation” of the so-called Independent State of Croatia (on June 15, it joined the Berlin Pact of 1940), placing the Ustashe, headed by Pavelic, in power there. The government and King Peter II left the country. April 17, the act of surrender was signed Yugoslav army. The territory of Yugoslavia was occupied and divided into German and Italian zones of occupation; Horthy Hungary was given part of Vojvodina, monarcho-fascist Bulgaria - almost all of Vardar Macedonia and part of the border regions of Serbia. The CPY, the only organized political force (by the summer of 1941, 12 members), began preparing the armed struggle of the Yugoslav peoples against the invaders. April war In the summer of 1941, the 2nd motorized and 1st cavalry brigades and the Chabo company of the 2nd cavalry brigade fought on the Soviet front (57 BA in total). In December 1941, when these units returned for reorganization and replenishment, 17 vehicles remained in them. The experience of battles has shown the weakness of weapons and vulnerability. Armored vehicles "Čabo" could only be used for intelligence. In January 1943, along with the 1st Cavalry Brigade, all of its 18 Chabos were killed on the Don. In April 1944, 14 Chabos (a company in the 2nd TD) went to the front. However, this time in August, the division returned with 12 armored vehicles for replenishment. In the summer of 1944, 48 combat-ready Chabos remained in the army. At this time, platoons from 4 BA (1 - commander's) were also part of four infantry divisions (PD). In June 1944, the Chabo company fought in Poland as part of the 1st KD and lost 8 out of 14 vehicles. The "Manfred Weiss" factory built 18 "Chabo" towers with weapons for the armored boats of the Danube flotilla. In the battles on the territory of Hungary, which unfolded in September, both TD and KD with a company of armored vehicles and nine APs (one BA platoon in each) took part. Armored vehicles "Chabo" fought until the end of the war and none of them survived today. Sources: M. B. Baryatinsky. Tanks of Honvedsheg. (Armored Collection No. 3 (60) - 2005); I.P.Shmelev. Armored vehicles of Hungary (1940-1945); J C M Probst. “Hungarian armour during WW2”. Airfix Magazine (Sep.-1976); The barrels, Csaba. Magyar Steel. Mushroom Model Publications. Sandomierz 2006.