HIRIART World War II Hungarian L3/33 Tankett (1 Viewer)

[ucla1967]

Hungary purchased Italian Ansaldo L3/33 tankettes prior to the start of World War II. When they employed them during Operation Barbarossa, they found them to be totally out dated and inadequate even against the lightest Soviet tanks and therefore used them only for a short period of time. Hiriart has made this non-catalog Hungarian version of catalog set 1207 which is Italian. Someone beat me to it, but I was going to commission this Hungarian tankett on my 2015 order. Note the early war, three-color Hungarian camouflage scheme and the green and red 1941 Hungarian national cross symbol. This is a very unusual and unique set.

 

[lancer]

Neat set. Really an obscure subject. -- Al

 

[ucla1967]

Neat set. Really an obscure subject. -- Al

Thanks, Al. It is an obscure subject. German Eastern Front allies are rarely covered by toy soldier manufactures which is why I have commissioned a series to include Hungarian (which I posted earlier) Slovak, and Romanian Infantry. I am going to try and talk Hiriart into making either a PZ35 (t) or PZ38 (t) tank in the future. I would order tanks from each of those countries, plus the German version, if they can or will make one..

 

[jager7080]

Thanks, Al. It is an obscure subject. German Eastern Front allies are rarely covered by toy soldier manufactures which is why I have commissioned a series to include Hungarian (which I posted earlier) Slovak, and Romanian Infantry. I am going to try and talk Hiriart into making either a PZ35 (t) or PZ38 (t) tank in the future. I would order tanks from each of those countries, plus the German version, if they can or will make one..

Mike ,

Such a true statement about Germay's allies being neglected ! Would love to see Hiriart do a 35t or 38t...You know I would be wanting in on that...There is a certain charm about the Czech tanks...
The K&C 38t is being released in May...I can hardly wait...
Would love to see how/if Hiriart runs with this !?
I built a 35t...See below...

Joe

 

[ucla1967]

Joe,

That is a very nice PZ35(t) you made there. Congratulations. I will send Hiriart a copy when I inquire about their ability to made larger tanks than anything they have done in the past. Previously, they have only made smaller Bren Gun Carriers, L3/33 tanketts, and PzII light tanks. I will probably order my Hungarian L3/33 with the crewman wearing the Italian-style leather tankers helmet which was worn by the Hungarians according to my Osprey refernce book.

Mike

 

[ucla1967]

Here is some additional information on the Hungarians during Operation Barbarossa in 1941 and later, according to the book "The Eastern Front Armour Camouflage and Markings, 1941 to 1945" by Zaloga and Grandsen. In 1938, Hungary acquired 104 CV 35 tankettes from Italy and began production under license of the Swedish Landsverk L60B light tank, which they called the Toldi. The three brigades which formed the Gyorshadtest (Fast Corps) attacked Russia with a total of 81 Toldis and 60 CV 33 tankettes plus 48 Csaba armored cars. During the drive on the Donets River, the Hungarians suffered severe equipment loses. Their armored vehicles were not heavily armed nor armored enough to stand up to Soviet weapons. The Hungarians had to purchase armored equipment from the Germans in order to field the 1st Armored Division in 1942. A total of 8 Pz Kpfw I Ausf B, 102 Pz Kpfw 38(t), and 22 Pz IV Ausf D were purchased. The Hungarians held the left flank on the German drive on Stalingrad. They were virtually destroyed in the Soviet counter-offensive, with only six tanks surving from the 1st Armored Division which returned to Hungary in early 1942.

A comment on the Italian tankett nominclature. The Italians tanketts were called Carro Veloce (fast) and were numbered according to the year they were produced (e.g., CV 33 in 1933). The CV 35 was virtually the same vehicle, but with different machine guns. In 1938, the Italians changed their designations to L3/33, etc.

 

[ucla1967]

Joe (jager7080) sent me these four historic photos of Hungarian tanketts that I thought I would share with you. The men with the feathered caps could be Frontier Guards, Elite Guards, or Gendarmerie, although the caption says Gendarmerie.

 

[ucla1967]

Although this might be too much like inside baseball for some of you, here is some information on World War II Hungarian camouflage and AFV insignia (I love this stuff). Hiriart is correctly showing the green Hungarian cross with a white border, but on a red circle which is not correct. It should actually be with red triangles filling in the spaces between the arms. When I order these Hungarian tankettes in 2015, I will ask them to correct this. Also, I believe their designation should be L3/35 and not L3/33, since the Hungarians purchased CV 35s and not CV 33s from Italy in 1938. If you look at the first tankett in the black and white photo above, it is painted with the Hungarian camouflage scheme of a dark olive green base with light ochre and red brown blotches. In addition, it has the green and red national insignia in use from 1941 through 1943. In 1944 and 1945, they changed over to the same insignia in use by the air force which was a white cross on a black square which can be seen in the second black and white photo in the previous post with the Gendarmerie crews.

 

[ucla1967]

Here is a photo from Hiriart of a grouping of four Hungarian L3/35 tankettes. This version shows the crewmen wearing the Italian-style leather tankers helmet.