Armored vehicles of Yugoslavia. Part of 1. Start (1917-1941)

7
Tank parts of the armed forces of pre-war Yugoslavia lead history from a platoon of armored cars, formed as part of the army of the Kingdom of Serbia in 1917, during its operations as part of the Entente forces on the Front of Thessaloniki. In this division, there were two machine gun armored Peugeot and two Mgebrov Renault (according to other sources, only two Renault) of French production. In 1918, they had a good reputation during the march through Serbia, and some of them, along with the Serbian troops, reached Slovenia itself.

Aware of the promise of this kind weapons, the Yugoslav generals with 1919 conducted intensive negotiations with the French side on the supply of tanks and training of personnel. As a result, in 1920, the first group of Yugoslav military personnel received training as part of the 303 tank company of the 17 French colonial division, and up to 1930, groups of officers and noncommissioned officers were repeatedly sent to France.



In 1920-24 The army of the Kingdom of the United States of America received a French loan from the French as well as several batches of used Renault FT17 light tanks with both machine-gun and cannon weapons. The total number of tanks delivered is estimated at the 21 machine. Renault FT17 was received in separate batches, was not in the best technical condition and was used primarily for training in the interests of the planned deployment of armored units. The first experience of creating a separate unit was undertaken in 1931, when 10 tanks remaining “on the move” were consolidated into the “Company of Combat Machines” deployed in the city of Kragujevac. However, deterioration of equipment, especially tracks and running gear, in the absence of spare parts led to the fact that in July of the same year the company was disbanded, and combat vehicles were transferred to the infantry and artillery school. The rest rusted sadly in warehouses until they were dismantled for spare parts for new tanks that appeared in the Yugoslav military in the 1932-40 years.

Armored vehicles of Yugoslavia. Part of 1. Start (1917-1941)

Light tank "Renault" FT17 in the Belgrade Military Museum


In 1932, on the basis of a military agreement, Poland transferred 7 light tanks FT17 to Yugoslavia and a batch of spare parts, which fell to the dilapidated Kingdom fleet of tanks very opportunely. Continuing negotiations with France, the Yugoslav government managed in 1935 to conclude an agreement on the supply of another 20 FT17, incl. and an improved version of the M28 Renault Kegres, which was made by the French side before 1936.

Equipped with the Renault 18 four-cylinder engine, the FT17 two-seater light tanks could reach cross-country speeds up to 2,5 km / h (М28 - twice as much) and had 6-22 mm armor protection. Approximately 2 / 3 of them were armed with 37-mm SA18 guns, the rest carried machinegun armament - 8-mm "Gochkos". Under the conditions of modern warfare, they were ineffective and were only suitable for supporting infantry against an enemy without heavy weapons (partisans, etc.). However, in the second half of the 1930, when Yugoslavia considered Hungary as its main potential opponent, such combat vehicles could seem quite adequate: the fleet of Magyar armored vehicles was not much better.


Tank "Renault" FT17 advanced modification M28 "Renault Kegres" on the pre-war maneuvers of the Yugoslav army


The Yugoslav FT17 had a standard French dark green color, and only a few M28 received a tricolor camouflage - green, "chocolate brown" and "ocher yellow" spots. The increase in the number of tanks in 1936 allowed the formation of a “Battalion of combat vehicles” in the army of Yugoslavia, organized according to the “triple” principle: three tank companies (the fourth is a “park”, i.e. auxiliary), three platoons of three tanks each. The third platoon of each company were advanced FT17 M28. One tank platoon was also attached to the headquarters, one "park" company, and each tank company had a "reserve" tank. In total, the battalion numbered 354 human personnel and officers, 36 tanks, 7 cars and 34 trucks and special vehicles, and 14 motorcycles with wheelchairs.

The “battalion of combat vehicles” was directly at the disposal of the War Department (in wartime — the High Command of the Yugoslav Army), but its units were scattered throughout the kingdom: headquarters, 1 and park companies in Belgrade, 2-company — in Zagreb (Croatia) and the 3 Company in Sarajevo (Bosnia). Tanks were supposed to be used exclusively for "escorting infantry", which was the only reason for their combat role - a common misconception in the European armies of the pre-war period! However, in September, 1936, when the battalion was shown to the public and foreign observers at a military parade in Belgrade, he, according to the memoirs of contemporaries, "caused a stir."

In 1936, a document appeared that determined the further development of the armored forces of Yugoslavia - the Statute on the Peace and Military Composition of the Army. According to him, it was intended in the near future to form two battalions of medium tanks (total 66 machines), another light battalion and a squadron of "light cavalry tanks" from 8 machines. In 1938, it was planned to deploy already seven tank battalions (total 272 vehicles) - one for each army, and a battalion of heavy tanks (36 vehicles) under the command of the High Command. In the future, each tank battalion was to receive a fourth "supplementary" tank company.

As part of the project to transform one of the two Yugoslav cavalry divisions into a mechanized one in 1935, negotiations were started with Czechoslovakia on the supply of "light cavalry tanks" - in other words, tankettes. A loan agreement in the amount of 3 million dinars was signed with the Czech factory Škoda, as part of which 1937 Škoda T-8 tanking shoes were delivered to Yugoslavia in 32. The Yugoslavs demanded that the standard samples of this military equipment be modified specifically for them, the maximum armor protection increased to 30 mm, the armament, etc., was strengthened, which was done by the Czechs.



In 1938, in Yugoslavia, tests of the T-32 were conducted, which received the official name of high-speed cavalry combat vehicles and they made up a separate squadron subordinate directly to the cavalry command. Until February 1941, he was stationed together with a tank battalion near Belgrade, and then was transferred to the cavalry school in Zemun. Quite modern for the late 1930's. Czech wedges, which had good speed and were armed with 37-mm Skoda guns A3 and 7,92-mm machine guns "Zbroevka-Brno" M1930, were serviced by a crew of two people.


T-32 wedge at the pre-war parade of the Yugoslav army


All of them were painted in tricolor camouflage.



The military authorities of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia on the eve of World War II were aware of the insufficiency and imperfection of the armored vehicles at their disposal. In this regard, energetic attempts were made to obtain a batch of more modern tanks. The choice was made in favor of the Renault R35, which came into service with the French forces in place of the outdated FT17. At the beginning of 1940, the Yugoslav military delegation was able to conclude an agreement on the supply of a loan from the 54 Renault R35 party, previously held in the armored reserve of the French armed forces. In April of the same year, the cars arrived in Yugoslavia. The fall of France under the blows of Nazi German troops freed the Yugoslavs from having to repay a loan.

Renault R35, armed with an 37-mm gun, 7,5-mm M1931 machine gun (ammunition - 100 shells and 2,4 thousand cartridges) and equipped with a Renault four-cylinder engine, was a relatively good machine for its class ("light tracking tank"). He could develop cross-country speed 4-6 km / h, and armor protection from 12 to 45 mm was able to more or less successfully withstand the impact of 37-mm projectile - the main caliber of the then anti-tank artillery. The crew consisted of two people, and the difficulty lay in the fact that the commander, who also had the functions of the gunner-gunner, the observer, and if the tank was radioed, and the radio operator, was to be a universal specialist, while the position of the driver could be prepared by any civilian driver. However, the low maneuverability and small-caliber weapons made the R35 a deliberately weakest side in a duel with the German Pz.Kpfw.III and Pz.Kpfw.IV, carrying respectively 50-mm and 75-mm guns and having excellent road performance.


Yugoslav King Peter II personally "circling" the first Renault tank from France R35


New "Renault" became part of the "Second Battalion of Combat Machines" of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia formed in 1940. Already existing battalion FT17, respectively, received the name of "First". However, there was a certain confusion in the name of the battalions. In order to avoid misunderstanding, the Yugoslav military preferred to call the tank battalions simply “Old” and “New.”

In December, 1940 approved new states for tank battalions, the same for both. The battalion now consisted of headquarters (51 soldiers and officers, 2 cars and 3 trucks, 3 motorcycles); three tank companies of four platoons, three tanks in the platoon plus one "reserve" for each company (in each 87 soldiers and officers, 13 tanks, 1 cars and 9 trucks and special vehicles, 3 motorcycle); one "auxiliary" company (143 soldiers and officers, 11 "reserve" tanks, 2 cars and 19 trucks and special vehicles, 5 motorcycles).

On March 27, 1941, the “New” tank battalion played an important role in the coup in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which was carried out by a group of senior officers led by General D. Simovich. A pro-British and pro-Soviet part of the Yugoslav political elite came out with the slogan “Better war than pact” against the alliance with Hitler's Third Reich and overthrown the pro-German government of Prince Regent Pavel and Prime Minister D. Tsvetkovich. R35 tanks entered Belgrade and established control over the building area of ​​the Ministry of Army and fleet and the General Staff, and also took under guard the residence of the Beli Dvor, who supported the coup of young Peter II.


Renault tank R35 of the Yugoslav army on the streets of Belgrade 27 March 1941



The tower of the Renault tank R35 during the coup in Belgrade 27 March 1941, with the patriotic motto "For the king and the fatherland" (FOR KRAЉA AND OTA BINU)


Another unit of the military vehicles of the Army of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a platoon of armored vehicles purchased in 1930 and attached to the cavalry school in Zemun. These machines, which probably accounted for only three (2 French "Berlie" UNL-35, and 1 Italian SPA), had a "auto-machine gun" classification in Yugoslavia and were intended for fire support and escorting cavalry units and carrying out reconnaissance and patrol services .


French armored car "Berlie" UNL-35 on the pre-war maneuvers of the Yugoslav army



Italian armored car SPA army of Yugoslavia


The basis of the personnel and officers of the Yugoslav armored units were the soldiers of the "titular nation" of the kingdom - the Serbs. There were also Croats and Slovenes among the tankers - representatives of peoples with rich industrial and artisan traditions. Macedonians, Bosnians and Montenegrins, natives of the least technically developed territories of Yugoslavia, were rare.

Yugoslav tankers wore the standard army gray-green uniform M22. The headdress for the “service and everyday” uniform for the personnel was the traditional Serbian cap, “shaykach”, for officers there were options with a cap of characteristic shape (“kaseket”), cap and summer cap. The instrument color for tank-battalion servicemen was "combined-arms" red, for cavalry blue members for tankette and armored vehicles. In 1932, a distinctive badge was introduced for tankers to wear on shoulder straps in the form of a small silhouette of the FT17 tank, made of yellow metal for the lower ranks, and of white metal for officers. The working and marching uniform of the tankers was a gray-green jumpsuit and a tank version of a French helmet made by Adrian’s model M1919. With helmet wore special dust-proof glasses with leather rim.


The commander of the tank T-32


By the beginning of the aggression of Hitler's Germany against the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav armed forces included 54 light tanks R35, 56 obsolete FT17 tanks and 8 ТХNUMX tanks. The “new” tank battalion (R32) was deployed in the city of Mladenovac, south of Belgrade, in the reserve of the High Command, except for the 35 company, which was transferred to Skopje (Macedonia) under the command of the Third Yugoslav Army. The "old" tank battalion (FT3) was dispersed throughout the country. The headquarters and the "auxiliary" company were located in Belgrade, and three tank companies were distributed between the Second, Third and Fourth Yugoslav armies in Sarajevo (Bosnia), Skopje (Macedonia) and Zagreb (Croatia), respectively. A squadron of tanquettes was deployed in Zemun, near Belgrade, with the task of antiamphibious defense of a military airfield located there and to cover the operational direction to Belgrade.

The combat readiness of armored units and the state of technology could hardly be considered satisfactory. The old equipment had long ago developed its resource, the new one was not yet properly mastered by the crews, the tactical training of the units left much to be desired, the provision of combat vehicles with fuel and ammunition during the fighting was not adjusted. The squadron of T-32 tank tanks showed the greatest combat readiness, however, by an evil twist of fate, throughout the entire fleet company he never received armor-piercing shells to his 37-mm guns.

6 April 1941 Nazi German troops launched an invasion of Yugoslavia, operating from Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. In the following days, the allied Italian and Hungarian troops launched an offensive, and the Bulgarian army began to focus on the initial lines for entry into Macedonia. The Yugoslav monarchy, torn by national and social contradictions, was unable to withstand the blow and collapsed like a house of cards. The government lost control of the country, command - over the troops. The army of Yugoslavia, which was considered the most powerful in the Balkans, in a few days ceased to exist as an organized force. Repeatedly inferior to the enemy in terms of technical support and mobility, inadequately managed and demoralized, she suffered a monstrous defeat not only from the combat impact of the enemy, but also from her own problems. Soldiers and officers of Croatian, Macedonian and Slovenian origin have deserted the masses or passed on to the enemy; Serb soldiers, left to the mercy of the command, also went home or organized themselves into irregular detachments. It was all over the 11 days ...

Against the background of the monstrous catastrophe of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, some of its armored units fell victim to general chaos and panic, but others demonstrated a strong will to resist, repeatedly engaged in battle with the superior forces of the invaders, and sometimes even achieved some success. After the fighter pilots of the Yugoslav Air Force, famous for their desperate bravery during these few tragic days, tankers can probably be considered the second weapon of the army of the kingdom, more or less adequately fulfilled their military duty in April 1941.
According to the Yugoslav military plan "R-41", the headquarters of the First ("Old") battalion of combat vehicles and an auxiliary company were to wait for the approach of the 2 and 3 tank battalions to start. Fulfilling this order, the battalion commander with his subordinate units arrived in the designated area. However, until April 9, none of the companies appeared, he decided to join the flow of retreating troops and refugees. On April 14, near the Serbian city of Užice, Major Mišić and his subordinates surrendered to the advanced parts of the German 41 mechanized corps.

The 1 company deployed in Skopje (Macedonia) had the strongest resistance to the enemy from all divisions of the “Old” tank battalion. April 7 company, having lost one tank on the march due to a technical malfunction, took up defense. By this time, retreating infantry units had already withdrawn from defensive positions, and the 12 of the obsolete FT17 tanks proved to be the only obstacle to the onset of the German 40 Army Corps. The location of the Yugoslav tanks was discovered by reconnaissance patrols of the Leib Shtandart SS Adolf Hitler brigade, but the company commander gave the order not to open fire. Soon followed the raid of the German Ju-87 dive-bombers, during which the company suffered serious losses in equipment and manpower, and its commander was missing (according to some sources, he fled). But then the command was assumed by Lieutenant Chadomir "Chad" Smiljanich, who, acting as the surviving tanks and improvised infantry squad (made up of "horseless" tank crews, technical personnel of the company and a group of Serb soldiers who came to them from other parts), entered into a firefight with the advancing SS vanguard. The tank crews managed to delay the advance of a multiple superior enemy for several hours. However, their low-powered funds were not able to inflict significant damage on the Germans: the total losses of the Leibstandard SS in the Yugoslav campaign did not exceed a few dozen people. In turn, the SS guards succeeded in destroying several more FT17, and their infantry and armored vehicles began to bypass the Yugoslav strongholds. Lieutenant Smiljanich was forced to give the order to retreat in perfect order.

On April 8, the remnants of the 1 Company of the "Old" Tank Battalion crossed the Yugoslav-Greek border. On April 9, during a battle 4 of the surviving tank of a company, left without fuel, were dug in and used as fixed firing points. Probably, then they were all destroyed or captured by the Nazis.


Destroyed Yugoslav tank M28 "Renault Kegres"


2-I tank company "Old" battalion, located in Zagreb (Croatia), during the war did not leave the place of deployment. When the 10 of April 1941 of the militant detachments of the Croatian right-wing nationalist organization Ustasha (Ustashi) with the approach of the Wehrmacht took control of the Croatian capital, the tank crews of the 2 Company, among whom there were many Croats and Slovenes, did not resist. They handed over their equipment to the German officers, after which the Croat soldiers transferred to the service of the Independent State of Croatia, formed under the patronage of the occupiers, the Slovenian military men went home, and the Serb military men became prisoners of war.

The 3rd company of tanks FT17, deployed in Sarajevo (Bosnia), with the outbreak of war according to the plan "R-41" was sent by rail to central Serbia. Upon arrival at the place on April 9, the company was dispersed to shelter from German attacks aviation. Then the tankmen were ordered to make a night march to cover the retreat of one of the infantry regiments. During the advancement, the tanks of the company “burned” almost all the fuel remaining in the tanks and were forced to stop without establishing contact with the infantry. The tank company commander requested refueling headquarters, but received an answer that all fuel and lubricants reserves were "already captured by the Germans." There was an order to remove the locks from the tank guns, dismantle machine guns, fill trucks with the remnants of fuel, and, leaving the fighting vehicles, retreat.


Abandoned crew Yugoslav M28 "Renault Kegres"


One of the tank platoons did not obey the order and in the last liters of diesel fuel moved towards the enemy. However, he was ambushed and shot by German anti-tank artillery. An indirect confirmation of this heroic, but useless gesture is a well-known photograph from the times of the April War, depicting the burned FT17 tanks frozen on the road in a marching manner, on whose corps holes from armor-piercing shells are clearly visible ...



Retreating by truck, the remaining personnel of the company arrived at the railway station, where he witnessed the following spectacle: the fuel, which their tanks just did not have, was drained from the railway cisterns. The remnants of discipline then finally collapsed, and the company commander dismissed his subordinates "home with a personal weapon." A group of servicemen of the 3 Tank Company of the “Old” Battalion, acting on foot, several times engaged in exchanges of fire with the advanced units of the Wehrmacht and, after the surrender of Yugoslavia, joined the Chetniks (Serbian partisans-monarchists).

All the units of the New Tank Battalion, equipped with Renault combat vehicles R35, put up stubborn resistance to the Nazis. When the war began, Major Dusan Radovich was appointed commander of the battalion.

The 1 and 2 tank battalion companies of the New Battalion on 6 on April 1941 were sent to Srem, a region on the border of Croatia and Vojvodina near Hungarian territory, to the 2 Army Group of Yugoslav Army forces. Because of the air strikes of the Luftwaffe and the chaos that prevailed on the railways at the beginning of the war, tank companies could unload at the point of initial destination only when the German units of the 46 mechanized corps were on the way, and the Yugoslav infantry divisions, with which the tankers were supposed to act , were crushed and actually ceased to exist as organized connections.

The headquarters, with which it was possible to establish radio communications, ordered the commanders of tank companies to retreat to the south under their own power. Having marched in this direction, both tank companies soon accepted their first battle. However, not with the Germans, but with a detachment of Croatian Ustashes who attacked the marching columns of tankers in order to seize their military equipment. According to Croatian data, the Ustashs, to the side of which a number of servicemen of tank companies, Croats and Slovenes, had moved, were able to seize several combat vehicles and vehicles. However, the attack was not crowned with success, and in a battle with the tank crews in the Doboj area, 13 Ustasha were killed.

Having repelled the attack, both companies of the R35 tanks took up positions and entered into battle with the advancing units of the German 14 Panzer Division, supported by the Luftwaffe. In turn, together with the Yugoslav R35, an infantry squad made up of retreating soldiers, gendarmes and volunteers from the local Serb population, who spontaneously gathered around the center of resistance, fought. Acting in a maneuverable defense, the Yugoslav tankers managed to hold out almost until the very end of the war - until April 15. In these battles, they lost up to 20 Renault tanks R35 - for both combat and technical reasons. There is no German data loss.
The remaining 5-6 tanks and a group of personnel began to retreat, but were soon overtaken and surrounded by the advance units of the 14 Panzer Division. Having almost exhausted the reserves of fuel and ammunition, the Yugoslav tankers were forced to surrender after a short battle.

The 3 company of the R35 tanks, fought on the territory of Macedonia and attached to the Third Yugoslav Army, courageously fought. On April 6, with the start of hostilities, the company left its permanent deployment in Skopje, and skillfully hiding from German air raids in forest areas, by the beginning of April 7 arrived at the disposal of the headquarters of the infantry division. The division commander sent tankers to reinforce the defensive 23 Infantry Regiment. With the dawn of 7, April, a fierce battle began with the advancing units of the Leibstandard SS Adolf Hitler brigade. By noon, when the Hitlerites engaged the Ju-87 dive bombers and brought a significant amount of armored vehicles into battle, the Yugoslav 23 Infantry Regiment began to retreat, and the 3-I tank company was in the rearguard, covering its departure. Constantly entering into fire contact with the enemy, she retreated to new positions, where she gave her last fight. Surprisingly, it was not dive bombers or German “panzer” who could not break their resistance, but a company of SS 47-mm anti-tank guns PAK-37 (T) delivered a mortal blow to the Yugoslav tankers. Taking advantage of the combat situation, the German artillerymen managed to take a vantage point, from which the Yugoslav R35 was literally shot. 12-40-mm armor "Reno" was ineffective even against such a small caliber. The armored vehicles and infantry of the Leibstandard completed the rest, and by the night of April 7 the 3-I company of the New Tank Battalion had ceased to exist. The surviving tank crews, incl. their commander, were captured.


47-mm Czech anti-tank gun PAK-37 (T)


The legendary episode of the participation of Yugoslav tankers in the April war of 1941 fell to the lot of the commander of the “New” tank battalion of major Dusan Radovich, who in a few days managed to create from the remaining 10-11 tanks of the R35 tanks that were in combat readiness.

On April 10, the High Command gave Major Radovich and his tankmen an order to advance to cover the close approaches to Belgrade from the southeast of 1 Tank Group of Colonel-General Ewald von Kleist, which was rapidly advancing towards the capital of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

April 11 Wehrmacht reconnaissance detachment suddenly attacked a Yugoslav platoon. Taken aback, the Yugoslavs began to retreat, but quickly organized a counterattack, in which dismounted tankers also took part. The Serbs rushed to bayonets, and the German soldiers, hastily retreated, leaving in the hands of the winners six of their wounded comrades (released the same evening when the Yugoslav divisions retreated).

Major Dusan Radovich decided to personally conduct a reconnaissance of the area. Having sent forward the reconnaissance unit on motorcycles, Radovich himself followed him on the commander's tank. And at the crossroads, there was a dramatic collision between the reconnaissance major Major Radovich and the advanced detachment of the Wehrmacht 11 Panzer Division.
Having noticed in time the approach of the German avant-garde patrol on motorcycles, the Yugoslavs met the enemy with rifle-and-machine-gun fire. Having suffered serious losses, the Germans retreated.

At the same time, the commander tank R35 took up a favorable firing position and met German combat vehicles approaching the battlefield with aimed fire of 37-mm guns. Well-aimed shots he managed to disable two light tanks Pz.Kpfw.II. While supporting their commander, other Yugoslav tanks and anti-tank batteries opened fire. Promotion of the vanguard of the German 11-th tank division was stopped. Upon learning of the formation of enemy tanks on the way of his offensive, the commander of the German division ordered the vanguard to immediately sort out the situation and "clear the way." However, the Sd.Kfz.231 armored vehicle of the commander of the German forward detachment came under fire from Major Radovich's tank gun, and the German officer was killed.

The Germans pulled into the battlefield tanks Pz.Kpfw.IV, armed with powerful 75-mm guns, and when they tried to change the position of the Renault R35 commander of the "New" tank battalion was shot down. Major Radovich managed to get out of the burning car, however, when he helped the driver to leave the tank to the wounded shrapnel, they were both pierced by a machine-gun fire.

After the death of Major Radovich, the defense of the Yugoslav units, which began to fire at German howitzer artillery, fell. The surviving R35 tanks left their positions and retreated, the personnel were soon disbanded on all four sides, and the combat equipment, partially incapacitated, was abandoned. The first to join the battle department of the reconnaissance tank battalion out of him last. The road to Belgrade was now virtually open, and the capital of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrendered to the Nazis on April 13.

The fate of the T-32 tank squad was tragic. With the beginning of the war, along with a platoon of armored vehicles, it was attached to a reserve cavalry regiment that provided the antiamphibious defense of a military airfield in the suburb of Belgrade Zemun. 6-9 April, tanket crews took an active part in repelling Luftwaffe air raids, firing low-flying enemy aircraft from Zbroyevka Brno machine guns removed from their machines and arranging fire ambushes where, in their opinion, the German Ju-87 should have left the dive and the Messerschmitt. In connection with the invasion of German troops from the territory of Bulgaria 10 April, the squadron was sent in the direction of the city of Niš (south of Serbia). On the road, combat vehicles were refueled with fuel, but did not receive armor-piercing ammunition.

Early morning 11 April squadron met at the crossroads. Not imagining the operational situation, the squadron commander sent two tankettes to explore the highway to Kragujevac. Soon, one of the cars fell behind due to a technical malfunction.


abandoned yugoslav wedge T-32


The second continued movement and suddenly collided with a Wehrmacht mechanized column. After a short firefight, the wedge came out of the battle and rushed over rough terrain to warn the main forces of the squadron that the enemy was approaching. However, she failed to overcome the irrigation canal. The advanced units of the German 11 Panzer Division appeared completely unexpectedly. Most of the crews of tankettes at that moment were out of their cars, and when they tried to take up fighting positions, they were mowed down by machine gun fire from the Germans. Several ТХNUMX entered the battle, however, not having had time to take advantageous firing positions and not having anti-tank shells, were soon destroyed. Getting out of the padded wedge, the squadron commander shot a pistol clip at the enemy and let the last cartridge in his temple ...

The squad of Yugoslav armored cars 13 in April as part of the so-called "Flying squad" created by the command of the Second Yugoslav Army to fight the Croatian Ustash (commander - Colonel Dragoljub "Drazha" Mikhailovich, the future leader of the Serbian Chetny movement). On April 13, the detachment managed to clear the village of Bosanski Brod from the Ustashi, and on April 15 fought a hard battle with the Germans for a whole day, but the role of the combat vehicles in these clashes was not reported.

After the April War, the German command actively used captured Yugoslav armored vehicles in the anti-partisan struggle. Trophy FT17 made up to 6 "independent tank platoons", from R35, which received the complex name Pz.Kpfw.35-R-731 / f /, made up "Tank company of special purpose 12". Of the T32 tankettes, only two were included in the occupying forces, renamed the Wehrmacht as Pz.Kpfw.732 / j /. All these units were disbanded by the beginning of 1942, when tank losses, mainly due to technical malfunctions, reached 70% in them. Remaining on the move and "non-working" equipment was subsequently transferred to the invaders armored forces of the armed forces of the Independent State of Croatia and the collaborationist Serb Volunteer Corps.

On the materials of the sites:
http://samlib.ru
http://shushpanzer-ru.livejournal.com
http://www.tankfront.ru/allies/jugoslavija/april1941.html
http://stef124.tripod.com/,
http://www.vojska.net/
http://srpsko.fastbb.ru/
http://m1kozhemyakin.livejournal.com/4580.html


To be continued ...
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7 comments
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  1. +3
    16 February 2015 09: 21
    The photo of the Yugoslavian tank M28 "Renault-Kegres" abandoned by the crew is just super
  2. +3
    16 February 2015 10: 07
    And they would buy T-26 and BT in the USSR. Anything better than the trash described.
  3. +5
    16 February 2015 10: 29
    An interesting article, facts unknown to me.
  4. +3
    16 February 2015 11: 43
    Photos of both types of pre-war Yugoslav cars are something! Both French and Italian look like scenery from the pavilion for filming the then black and white silent NF film. They should not ride on their own (especially French), but they still managed to take part in hostilities.
    We look forward to continuing a good informative article.
  5. jjj
    +4
    16 February 2015 16: 09
    Such materials, and even with well-chosen images, speak not only about the condition of the troops of various European states before the Second World War. They talk about the adequacy and responsibility of the Soviet leadership, who managed to choose the most optimal option for the rearmament of the Red Army. And what would we do with such pepelats, how would we win?
  6. +3
    16 February 2015 22: 02
    Germans quickly captured Yugoslavia. And all the blame is not bad tanks, but the usual self-confidence of the ruling class. So it is in Poland and France, and, unfortunately, partially in the USSR. It’s not enough to have a good technique. It is also necessary to be able to use.
    1. +2
      17 February 2015 13: 55
      Quote: Mixweb
      the usual self-confidence of the ruling class

      The fault is not overconfidence: there was a military coup in the country. As a result, the purges of the unwanted began. In addition, pay attention to the map: the Kingdom did not have a single chance to withstand at all - the north-west, north, north-east, the sick part of the southeast are the borders of hostile states. Slightly better only in the southwest / west direction - the sea. But this is a sea ruled by the Italian Navy and the German-Italian Air Force. In general, the balance of forces is such that the Serbs must be credited with saying that they resisted at all. Belgium, Holland and France, possessing equal or greater (France) military potential, in a shorter time period (possessing the odds of the Strange War) were simply "merged".
  7. PXL
    0
    6 August 2020 18: 47
    Hi everyone! Has anyone heard of the Yugoslavs' attempt to adapt the Christie suspension to the FT-17? It seems that even a prototype was built in the early 30s.

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