"WW2 Yugoslav Army vehicles and guns" Topic

I'm raising a Yugoslav force for the spring of '41. Can anyone help me to know what color(s) to paint their FT 17s and guns such as 37mm Bofors A/T gun?

I believe they also had about 50 French R-35 tanks too

Here is a plate of an FT-17 from the 1st Armored Battalion of the Royal Yugoslav Army in 1941:

link

On the other hand, here is a photo from 1940 showing a RYA vehicle with a disruptive pattern:

From mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks

Renault FT17

There were a total of 56 units. Eight units were received in 1920 from French troops stationed in Bulgaria. The remainder were purchased in 1930.

Late in the 1930's, Poland sold a number* tanks to Spain, Uruguay, Yugoslavia, and China. It is not known if these FT-17 were obsolete French made units or Polish made. There is some mention of the Polish made CWS-FT-17 being exported. CWS means "Centralne Warsztaty Samochodowe" – Central Car Workshops – and between 1925 to 1927 they manufactured 26 or 27 tanks from French spare parts, and Polish iron plates and other parts. The Polish production model used normal iron instead of steel used in French manufacture. The Poles used the CWS made tanks for training as the armor was inferior for actual combat usage. There were two or three companies (some 30-45 tanks) sold to China.

* Some reports state "about 30", others state 64, still others claim 90. It is believed that Poland, with the agreement of Uruguay, sent some of the tanks to Spain. There were two or three companies (some 30-45 tanks) sold to China, and one (probably only one) company sold secretly to Spain via Uruguay. The tanks sold to China were sold officially.- the tanks sold to "Spain/Uruguay" couldn't be sold officially, because Poland was in so-called "non-intervention committee", which was formed by some European countries and didn't allow military sales to Spain during their civil war. Exactly how many made it to Yugoslavia is unknown.

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Renault NC27

9 units purchased from France. Also known as the NC-1.

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Renault-Kegresse M.28

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Renault R35

54 units were purchased from France in April 1940.

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T-32 (Skoda S-I-d) Assault Gun

In 1937, eight Skoda S-I-d where ordered. The units were delivered in 1937. The T-32 were delivered to the Cavalry School in Zemun. They where used for training. Some units became involved in the war between Germany and Yugoslavia. Their exact story is unknown. There were some surviving units as the Germans gave this tank an official designator of PzKpfW 32 (j). The J stands for Yugoslavia. This tank was not accepted for the Czech army. Export only.

Specifications Crew 2
Weight 4.8 tons
length 3.58m
Width 1.95m
Height 1.76m
Range 250km
Armor 5 – 22mm
Armament 3.7cm Skoda A3 Gun, 1 x ZB vz.30J MG
Engine Skoda 6cyl air cooled 3770cc 60hp
Performance 41km/hour

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T-3D (Skoda S-I-j) Assault Gun

In 1938 this vehicle design for Yugoslavia was produced at prototype level and accepted for production. Before production, the breakup of Czechoslovakia began. The prototype was purchased by the German Waffen SS. No other vehicles were produced. This vehicle has the distinction of being the last assualt gun ever designed by Skoda.

Specifications Crew 2
Weight 5.8 tons
length 3.59m
Width 2.05m
Height 1.8m
Range unknown but said to be able to travel for 6 hours before needing fuel.
Armor 8 – 30mm
Armament 4.7cm Skoda A9j Gun, 1 x ZB vz.30J MG
Engine Skoda diesel, 4cyl water cooled 3770cc 60hp
Performance 31km/hour

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Polish 7TP

Ordered but not delivered prior to the fall of Poland.

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Soviet BT-7

Ordered but not delivered prior to the fall of Yugoslavia.

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Yugoslav/Soviet T34-85

Operated here by Tito's partisans. They had 65 units.

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Italian CV.33 & CV.35

Once Yugoslavia fell to the Germans, partisan units were formed. Using captured equipment, they formed the 1st Tank Brigade in July 1944. All that is known is that Italian tanks of this class were captured and used. Exact numbers of each model are unknown.

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French SOMUA S35 Medium Tank

One, possibly two, of these vehicles were captured by partisans from the Germans. The vehicle had it's turret removed and a British 6pdr gun installed.

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French Hotchkiss H-39

Once Yugoslavia fell to the Germans, partisan units were formed. Using captured equipment, they formed the 1st Tank Brigade in July 1944. All that is known is that French tanks were captured and used. Exact numbers are unknown.

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British Bren Gun Carrier

The carrier was rearmed with twin MG-81Z Machine Guns from a crashed German Ju-87.

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The American M3A1 and A3 Stuart

Once Yugoslavia fell to the Germans, partisan units were formed. Using captured equipment, they formed the 1st Tank Brigade in July 1944. 75 American M3A1 – A3 Stuart light tanks were supplied by the British.

The Yugoslav 1st tank brigade was organized near Bari, on the Adriatic coast, and equipped with the M3A3 and a handful of the older M3A1 version of the Stuart family. A total of 56 tanks and 9 AEC armored cars were delivered by the Allies to the town of Dubrovnik, and supported the Yugoslav 4th Army. In November 1944, the unit captured the town of Sibenik, and found a variety of German equipment, still in working order. This included, a German 7.5 cm Pak 40 anti tank gun, some Renault UE carriers and some 2 cm quadruple flak guns. A brigade mechanic named Vlajko suggested that they use the captured weapons to upgrade the Stuarts. The upgrades simply removed the turrets and added supports for the guns as well as some armor to protect the crew. The tank destroyer version with the Pak 40 lasted throughout the campaign and were encountered by New Zealand troops in the contested city of Trieste at the end of the war.

Daniella Carlsson adds this information about the conversions:

"About the M3A3 with an Pak50 75mm gun, Bow MG was removed, ammo storage was ~25 rounds, side armor around gun was made from destroyed SdKfz-251. Total of 5 were converted and 3 were still operational in 1949. Other interesting conversions of 1st Tank Brigade included:
- M3A3 with quad 20mm Flak-38V (four converted)
- M3A1 with 81mm mortar (two converted)
- M3A3 with 150mm sIG33 (one, destroyed in first action)"