Hungarian Armoured Forces in WWII (Photosniper 26, Kagero)

Hungarian Armoured Forces in WWII  (Photosniper 26, Kagero)

Author: Peter Mujzer

Publisher: Kagero

A4 soft back in format, 131 pages

ISBN:  978-83-65437-65-5

After WWI, the Allied Powers gave the Hungarian delegation their conditions for peace. This agreement, the Treaty of Trianon, was very similar to the one already imposed on Germany at Versailles. The peace conditions for Hungary reduced the area of the country from 282,000 square kilometres to 93,000 square kilometres and the population from 18 million to 9.5 million. Thus 3,263,000 Hungarians became citizens of foreign countries under hostile administrations. The provisions of the Treaty of Trianon reduced Hungary’s 1914 industrial base by about 80%.

The Treaty of Trianon was a huge shock for the whole Hungarian society. The Treaty has left a never ending scar on the Hungarian national consciousness. Everybody was affected, at least emotionally by the harsh conditions of the Treaty. Hungary had lost its imperial status and was reduced to a small country surrounded by hostile states. She lost nearly half its population and more than 60% of its territory to hostile boarding nations - which is the reason she joined the Axis forces in WWII.

The book looks at Hungarian armed forces between the wars, and then in WWII, through the various campaigns they fought in. There is a wealth of black & white photos of the forces in action and details of equipment they used. The book examines both locally produced armour and foreign vehicles in Hungarian Service, and of course Hungarian Markings & Camouflage.

The text makes for some interesting reading, from the background of the results of being on the losing side in WW1 and the penalties imposed by the Treaty of Trianon. Like Germany after Versailles, Hungary didn't like the Treaty and her ways around it are explained. Hungarians went on to build some armoured vehicles of their own and these are all included. There is the historical story of the operations and units of the Hungarian Army during the course of WW2, and the vehicles which those units operated.

The vehicles featured do include armoured trains as well as the more numerous AFVs. These include the Csaba armoured cars, the Toldi Light tank and the SP AA Nimrod variant, along with the Turan 1 and II Medium tanks, plus the Zrinyi SP guns built on the same chassis.  As well as the detailed text information, the book is well illustrated throughout with lots of archive photos, most of which we have not seen before.  It gives the numbers that were built along with information on camouflage and markings. This is then followed up with 11 pages of scale drawings/plans, then 6 pages filled with archive photos which have been 'colourised'.  Finally, we get 9 more pages filled with some fine colour profiles.

This is an excellent book that really delivers a wealth of information and covers the subject in great detail with many photographs, backed up by scale drawings of all major types and colour artwork. The background detail of the introduction is fascinating, all adding to the enjoyment of the book. The Toldi and Turan series, Zrinyi assault howitzer, plus the Nimrod AA tank, and the Csaba armoured car, as well as German supplied equipment and captured material, all are very interesting to the reader.

Not only are the AFVs covered, but also uniforms, weapons, ‘B’ vehicles and personalities. With the advent of Hungarian armour kits in both 1/72 and 1/35 scale, from Hobby Boss, Bronco & IBG, plus crew figures, this book is essential reading for both the modeller and armchair historian.

This book should provide readers with a better understanding of the Armoured forces of Hungary and the equipment they used. The wealth of photographs, together with drawings and colour plates will be of great use to the modeller, and of great interest to anyone studying one of the less well known Axis powers. 

Highly Recommended and extremely good value!

You can order it online here.