Romania 1940 - the Possible War: Romanian Army, Romanian Army (land forces) in 1940

The main purpose of this topic is to reconstitute the organization diagram of and to present the equipment (models, quantity) used by the Romanian army (land forces) in 1940. Any INFOS and PHOTOS are welcome.

Before or after the reorganization which started in September 1940, after the territorial losses ?

This is a good point, thanks. I'm interested in and ask for your cooperation for the period BEFORE September 1940 (so also before the reorganization). I think the period after the organization in big lines already covered by the site, being its main focus. For this topic, we should focus on the period around the Soviet ultimatum and the Vienna dictate, when Romania could have been involved in an open conflict with its neighbors (thus in the general European war).

ROMANIAN ARMY 1940 - ORGANIZATION&ORDER OF BATTLE


ORGANIZATION:

- 21-22 infantry divisions (including 2 guard divisions, 1 created in 1940); another 9-10 divisions to be formed in case of general mobilization, constituting a total of 31-32 divisions
- 4-5 cavalry divisions (or 4 divisions and 1 brigade), 1 created in 1940
- 4 mountain brigades
- 1 (2?) mechanized brigade(s) - the first created October 1939, 2 mechanized brigades planned
- 2 tank regiments
- 6 pioneer brigades: 7 pioneer regiments, 1 bridge regiment, 2 railways transport/construction regiments, 1 aerial pioneer regiment (airfield construction), 2 mountain pioneer battalions, 1 fortifications pioneer battalion
- 3 communication regiments
- 1 frontier-guard division (+ or including 2 brigades?): 7 groups (22 battalions)
- 1 fortification brigade: 2 regiments

- Artillery:
• 21-22 artillery brigades (9-10 to be formed in the case of general mobilization?): approx. 21-22 artillery (cannons) regiments and 21-22 howitzers regiments - horse drawn
• 4-5 horse artillery regiments
• 6 (8) mountain guns groups (“divizioane”) + 3 mountain howitzers groups (“divizioane”)
• 7-8 army corps artillery regiments - motorized
• 1 fortification artillery regiment (brigade?)


ORDER OF BATTLE:

- 4 armies

- 10-11 army corps

- 26-28 divisions + 6(12*)-10(16*) brigades + 2(5**) independent regiments; in case of general mobilization, another 9-10 divisions would have been added to this total

and

- 21-22 artillery brigades + 13-16 artillery groups + 8-10 artillery regiments; in case of general mobilization, another 9-10 brigades would have been added to this total (?)



Notes:
* including the pioneer brigades which, by the French doctrine, were not combat/assault units
** including the communication regiments



Bibliography:

- Pascu, S., Ceausescu, I., Musat M.., Ardeleanu I. (coord.) - Istoria militara a poporului roman, Editura Militara, Bucuresti, 1989 (vol. VI)

- Pascu, S., Ceausescu, I., Musat M.., Ardeleanu I. (coord.) - Romania in anii celui de-al doilea razboi mondial, Editura Militara, Bucuresti, 1989 (vol. 1)


Observation: although the books mentioned were published before 1989, the data I used were backed by archive sources.


Any suggestions/corrections/detailed informations are welcome.

This post has been edited by Agarici on July 21, 2005 03:41 pm

In the book 'Documente privind istoria României intre anii 1918-1944', published by Editura Didactica si Pedagogica, Bucharest, 1995, on page 534 and 535, there is a summary of a report compiled by the Rumanian Army's General Headquarters regarding the politcal-military situation of Rumania, report dated August 26, 1940. In it, a summary of the existing and necessary armed forces is listed. It might help your quest.

Gen. Dénes

Both topics are nice!

I read your post, Agarici, and i have a question: at that time was or was not some motorized artillery units?

I will check at home in "Istoria artileriei romane in date" book about that.

Iama

The process of motorization of the Romanian artillery was initiated in 1937, when at the autumn maneuvers, the field guns were towed by Fiat tractors and the 150mm howitzers were towed by Skoda tractors. The first motorized heavy artillery batteries were formed in 1938, and in two years (1938-1940), almost the entire heavy artillery (8 regiments and 6 battalions) was motorized.

Source: http://www.worldwar2.ro/organizare/?language=en&article=36

Artillery "divizion" is equivalent with battalion.

Exactly! In my mind was Skoda type tractors.

Iama

Thanks Iama, your help will be appreciated. You can also see above, quoted from my previous post, the situation of the motorized artillery.


ROMANIAN ARMY 1940 - MOTORIZATION:

According to the quoted sources, there were various plans at the level of the Army General Staff regarding the motorization/mechanization of the armed forces. The Decree no. 828 from 10 February 1938 stipulated the creation of two motorized/mechanized brigades. Afterwards this solution was refined by planning:
- the motorization of the army corps artillery (at least 7 regiments, attached to the 7 army corps existing in 1938-1939 - so at least 90 motorized batteries, 45 Schneider “long” 105 mm model 1936 cannons and 45 Skoda 150 mm model 1934 howitzers batteries)
- the creation of motorized/mechanized cavalry detachments (regiments) for the cavalry divisions
- the creation of motorized recon groups for the infantry divisions
- the motorization of the division an army corps staffs
- the motorization of some supply columns

From these plans, until the beginning of 1940 was realized:
- the creation of the 1st Mechanized brigade (20 October 1939)
- the motorization of 7-8 heavy artillery regiments (subordinated to the army corps)
- the creation of motorized/mechanized cavalry detachments (regiments) for some cavalry divisions/brigades (?)
- the partial motorization of the divisionary recon groups (?)
- the motorization of corps (division?) staffs (?)

Also by the end of 1939 there were at least 4-5 motorized infantry regiments in the Romanian army. Since they exceeded the number of regiments normally allocated to an infantry brigade (3 regiments) the question is what happened to the second planned mechanized/motorized brigade? During 1940 the action of motorization continued. The creation of a “rapid” (motorized) division is also speculated, but was it organized prior or after September 1940, and what was its relation with the already existing mechanized/motorized infantry brigade(s)? Were there new heavy motorized artillery regiments organized (subordinated to the newly mobilized army corps/infantry divisions - from 7 army corps in 1939 up to 10-11 army corps in Summer 1940)?

Also was there any relation between the mechanized/motorized infantry brigade(s) and the 2 existing tank regiments?

This post has been edited by Agarici on July 20, 2005 08:40 am

ROMANIAN ARMY 1940 - ARMORED UNITS:

There were 2 tank regiments and 1 independent tank battalion, the later relegated to the training role since 1936-1937. The official formula used in the Romanian army was of French inspiration, “care de lupta” (“chars de combat/chars d’assault” in French).

The Army General Staff plans from 1937-1939 aimed to the organization of 2-3 tanks regiments and 1-2 tank divisions, seen as a mobile reserve at the General HQ disposition. For this purpose, different procurement orders were placed to different foreign manufacturers (Skoda, Renault, CKD) and there were also some initiatives to produce tanks or armored vehicles under license in Romania. Only a part of this procurement orders/initiatives produced material results.

In 1940, the existing situation was:

- “Regimentul 1 care de lupta” (1 tank regiment), created in early 1920’s: 2 battalions, 126 Skoda R 2 tanks (and a number of light recon tanks/armored cars - Skoda R 1, Skoda vz.27, Tatra?)
- “Regimentul 2 care de lupta” (2nd tank regiment), created at 1 November 1939: 2 battalions, 76 Renault R 35 tanks (and a number of light recon tanks/armored cars - Skoda R 1, Skoda vz.27, Tatra?)

The “FT training battalion” consisted in 76 Renault FT 17 tanks (45 armed with 37 mm guns and 31 with 8 mm MG’s).

Also according to an article from “Modelism” magazine (no. 25 - 4/1989), page 23, in 1937 a number of 75 modified CKD AH-IV light tanks (designated as “tancheta Skoda R 1” in the Romanian army) were purchased. They were distributed as follows: 10 pieces to the 1st Cavalry division, to the 2nd and 3rd cavalry divisions 11 pieces each, 9 pieces to the 4th Cavalry division and 35 pieces were retained by the Cavalry Training Center. It is possible that some of these 35 pieces were given (for recon missions) to the tanks regiments or to the mechanized/motorized brigade(s).

In the last half of 1939, at Malaxa factories started the production (under license) of a batch of 300 (ordered) Renault UE Chenillette - a light unarmed vehicle, projected to be used for supplying the motorized cavalry detachments/regiments with ammunition and fuel and for towing some of the imported or license produced Schneider 47 mm AT guns. According to this site, until the first half of 1941 a total of 126 pieces were delivered.

This post has been edited by Agarici on July 21, 2005 02:57 am

Thanks, Denes. I haven't seen the book yet and I don't have acces to it right now, but I'll try to take a look at that document in the near future.

There si another source you may want to consult (I haven't seen it myself):
Vartic, Gheorghe: 'Consideratii cu privire la starea inzestrarii armatei Române inaintea declansarii celui de-al II-lea razboi mondial', published in 'Studii de securitate, aparare nationala si istorie militara', Bucharest, 1999.
If you could find this source, let us know.

Gen. Dénes

This post has been edited by Dénes on July 21, 2005 02:40 am

Does anybody have some relevant information about the organization of the Romanian armored and mechanized units, until Autumn 1940? More exactly:

- Were the two tank regiments included in larger units (brigades) or linked with a higher echelon, until the constitution of the 1st Armored division?

- What was the organization of the Moto-mechanized brigade (created in October 1939)? Was there a second unit of this type created until September 1940, as initially planned?

- What was the official doctrine of Romanian armoured&mechanized units? Even more specific, where were the young tank officers sent for specialization/studies abroad (if there was the case)?

This post has been edited by Agarici on August 18, 2005 08:38 am

Hi Guys,

For some time I have been trying to establish the organisation of the various Romanian armies at the start of the withdrawal from Basarabia and Northern Bucovina in June and Northern Transilvania in September. (Southern Dobrogea is more straightforward.

However, although there are various general history books with maps, and a three volume edition of documents (Anul 1940......) I have never been able to establish which divisions were subordinate to which corps.

(For anyone wanting the Soviet order of battle by front, army, corps and division in June, see the book by Meltyukhov, which can also be found on the internet in full. It also seems to have a fair amount on the Soviet parachute drops around Bolgrad and Reni. If anyone can translate Russian, this might be of some interest here.)

Cheers,

Sid.

The 1st Mechanized Brigade, based at Turda, was made up of the:
-4th Motorized Vanatori Group
-11th Motorized Vanatori Group
-1st Motorized Artillery Regiment
-Special Tasks Battalion
-Recon Detachment
-Armored Car Company
-Motorized MG Platoon
-Motorcycle Platoon
-AT and AA Platoon

Each group was made of:
-2 vanatori battalions, each of 3 rifle companies, one machine-gun company, one heavy weapons company, one automobile company
-one tank battalion (31 tanks)

The artillery regiment had 3 battalions of 12 artillery pieces each.

There was a 2nd Brigade created in Targoviste for a short while.

Since October 1919, all the tank instructors were Romanians. The doctrine they taught was French as were the tanks (FT 17s).