"Czech Army tank platoon, circa 1938" Topic
5 Posts
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Saginaw | 09 Mar 2015 7:41 a.m. PST |
Would anyone here have any information, please, about the number of tanks (Tančik vz. 33s, LT vz. 35s, LT vz. 38s) in a Czechoslovak Army armored platoon in 1938? Thank you. |
JasonAfrika | 09 Mar 2015 8:21 a.m. PST |
Wargame Vault- Micromark Army Lists #CZ3 link |
Texas Jack | 09 Mar 2015 1:18 p.m. PST |
According to my notes (though I have no idea what the source was!), a platoon would be made up of five tanks, with a company being 16 (3 platoons plus one command tank). As for which tanks, in 1938 the overwhelming majority would be the Lt vz. 35. In that year the Czech army had only received 20 of the Lt vz. 38s. Niehorster had a nice orbat but that site (orbat.com) seems to be down. |
hurrahbro | 09 Mar 2015 5:12 p.m. PST |
You also have earlier types available. English language wise, I have never seen anything add more than what is in the Wiki articles. 50 of the LT vz 34, compared to the 35 it was slower, less armour, 1 man turret but still had a useful 37mm cannon and machine gun. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LT_vz._34 "Each of the three armored regiments received between nine and twenty-four until replaced by the LT vz. 35 from 1937. … In November 1938 it decided to concentrate all of them in the Third Armored Regiment in Slovakia, but only eighteen had been transferred before the German occupation of Czechoslovakia and the Slovak" So chances that you might have a couple of platoons in each of the regiments still available in 38 (I speculate most possibly for replacements of combat losses or rear areas/supplies protection). And you have the 2 man tankette (about 70) in border units, operating as 3 vehicle platoons. link |
Dave Holden | 10 Mar 2015 7:17 a.m. PST |
The Micromark list referenced above says 3 platoons of 4 tanks in a company. According to Czechoslovak Fighting Vehicles 1918-45 by Doyle & Kliment a company was 16 tanks. I'm not sure you can take the Micromark lists as gospel as they also refer to Tatra 26-30 APCs, which I don't believe ever got past prototype stage, and towed 47mm A/T guns which I don't think were yet in service. Both sources agree that Infantry Divisions had one platoon of 3 tankettes. Doyle and Kliment say The Border Areas had 3 vehicle platoons of LT vz 34s or TK vz 33s 20 LT vz 38s were supposed to be delivered before the end of 1938 but D & K say none were actually delivered before The Germans took over in March 1939. `Germany's First Ally', Kliment and Nakladel's book on Slovak forces says The Czech Third Armoured Regiment had 27 of The LT vz 34s and these passed to The Slovak army. Hope this helps. Incidentally I'm building Czech/Slovak forces in 20mm. Having paid through the nose for an `HR Model' TK vz 33 and scratchbuilt a very rough LT vz 34, I wonder if anyone else would be interested in crowd funding or commissioning models of these vehicles ? |
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