Photos of Romanian tanks in Moravia, '45?

[Ruy Aballe]

Hi again,

Sorry for this late reply Sid. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the article you mention, not only in the general index, but also in the magazines - I searched it for a good while and nothing...
Are you sure the magazine was HPM? I found a short feature on the Maresal tank destroyer, with a couple of photographs and a rough plan (HPM 5/1998 - "Rumunský stíhač tanků Maresal M-05"); no article on Romanian armour in Moravia in the last days of the war, however. Maybe the photos were included in some other article...
Cheers,

Ruy

This post has been edited by Ruy Aballe on September 21, 2005 03:07 pm

[sid guttridge]

Hi Ruy,

I am 99% certain it was in HPM, because it was the only Czech modelling magazine I came across. I will have to do some more research myself.

Cheers,

Sid.

[Ruy Aballe]

Hi Sid,

I will do a search in magazines, issue by issue. I will do this at a table, instead of standing by the book-shelf.
Cheers,

Ruy

[sid guttridge]

Hi Ruy,

Cheers. I do not think it can have been later than 1997, when I was in Prague.

Many thanks,

Sid.

[nox]

an index 1990-98
http://www.volny.cz/air.lz/HTML/hpm90-98.htm

[sid guttridge]

Hi Nox,

Many thanks. The link covers exactly the period I am talking about.

I have worked through the list systematically twice, but still can't find the article.

Maybe I am hallucinating, but I am sure such an article exists.

I will keep digging.

Cheers,

Sid.

[Ruy Aballe]

Hi Sid,

I cannot find the article either. And I didn't look at the index again - I took a close look (twice) at all HPM issues published until January 1998.
Strangely, I also recall having seen some photos like the ones you described and something (can't tell whether it was a complete article or just some info scattered along other pieces...) on Romanian armour, but possibly not in HPM... Maybe my memory is playing tricks on me.
Other Czech magazines from the same period (say, early to late 1990's) were mostly aviation-oriented, like, for instance, the defunct APKR.
Anyway, there was also a bi-monthly Polish magazine on military history subjects, "Militaria" (not to be confused with "Militaria XX wieku", currently published by Kagero) with a very high quality, where armour articles could also be found. This periodical also ceased to be published after not too many issues... It was available in some Czech hobby shops in 1996 (I bought one issue in Brno).

Ruy

This post has been edited by Ruy Aballe on September 22, 2005 09:25 am

[nox]

from an email that I received
"that article you mentioned was published in HPM No.7/1998. There are pictures of destroyed rumanian Pz IV, soviet Stuarts and SU-76M as well there. It is the first article from a serie of articles on fights in southern Moravia in April 1945, i.e. advance of the Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front. Next articles from that serie are in 10/1998, 10/2000, 8/2001, 12/2002 (destroyed Soviet Valentine for example), 1/2003, 2/2003 (wreckages of Soviet Shermen) and 3/2003. "
There are article on TACAM T60 in 10/2000, on rumanian afv in 11/98.
I have just the index 1990-12/2004 :
from an another email "By the way in HPM no. 10/05 will start the first part of an article about the Romanian army in Moravia during the 1945 campaign"

I would like to see the pictures if you could.
Monday, I will post a new picture of stug with rumanian tankers.

[sid guttridge]

Hi Nox,

Thank you very much, especially for proving that I am not completely mad!

I will now try to get a copy. I thought HPM was an excellent publication and it is good to see that it has survived.

Cheers,

Sid.

[Ruy Aballe]

Hi Sid and Nox,

Well, you were right, Sid; I wasn't much careful when I searched the article - maybe because I was looking for a feature on Romanian armour. I didn't saw the colour profiles printed in the glossy paper, on the back of the cover!!
Thanks Nox, for clarifying the issue!
The article title is "Boj o «pevnost» Brno"; the author is Vlastimil Schildberger. It contains the following photos: a M3 and a SU-76 destroyed in Lanzhot, two photos of Soviet 122 howitzers M 1938 firing against German positions, two shots of US-made M-16 AA mount on half-tracks; there's also a photo of a destroyed Romanian Pz.IV Ausf.J.
The profiles include a Romanian R-35, re-fitted with a Soviet 45mm gun (the red start should be khaki green instead (they corrected this in a later issue, published in 2004) and a rather dull depiction of the destroyed Pz. IV.

By the way, the feature published in the issue 11/1998 is a generic, two page article, completed with both b&w(6) and colour photos (5), on the Military Museum in Bucharest: "Rumunské Národni vojenské muzeum", by Jiří Rajlich.

Cheers,

Ruy

P.S.: If anyone is interested, I can provide scans of the article by Mr. Schildberger.

[Victor]

Any number on that Pz IV ?

[nox]

Yes, you will be great Ruy.
I would like to have scans of of the article by Mr. Schildberger, and "Rumunské Národni vojenské muzeum"
Thanks a lot
No photos of R2, R35.....???
I send my email adress on your mailbox

[Ruy Aballe]

Hello again,

Victor - unfortunately, no number is visible in the photo of the destroyed Pz. IV. The only distinctive marking is the star on a white circle. The profile inspired by the photo shows a one colour camouflage scheme, as per the then usual German practice of applying dark yellow (dunkelgelb as base, uniform colour for all vehicles; reddish brown and dark green were supposed to be applied over, but in some cases this rule wasn't followed due to paint shortages.
However, and given the state of the tank in the photo (with traces of fire), maybe other colour were used, who knows?...

Nox - very well then. I will contact you via PM!

Ruy