Soviet armour support for Romanian Infantry Divs?

Hi,

My first post on the forum.

Was there any Soviet Armoured Support for the Romanian Infantry Divisions 8/44+?
If so is it known which units were involved and what tanks did they use?

Andrew

It definitely was; however, not in August, but from Sept. 1944 on, during fights in Transylvania, chiefly T-34/85s. Which units, I cannot tell right now.
Do you need this info for wargames or such?

Gen. Dénes

This post has been edited by Dénes on January 09, 2009 06:41 am

Yes I am a wargamer, how did you know???
I am the proud owner of a new Romanian army!
It is for 1941-2 currently but i am hoping to expand it to use it through to 1945.

I just found out that the romanian armour was subordinated to the 27th Guards Tank Brigade of the 7th Guards Tank Army (3rd Axis 4th Ally-Mark Axworthy).
I didn't know if this unit supported the Infantry Divisions, but it doesn't appear to be the case.

I haven't had time to read the book properly yet, but I have just seen several maps with ID's of soviet units on them, so I think I had better read the chapter properly, make some notes and reply to my own post for others benefit.

Thanks for your reply
Andrew

The subordination you are refering to for the 2nd Tank Regiment is valid for March - May 1945. Only Soviet infantry received support from the 2nd Tank Regiment.

There were however some Romanian armored detachments in Transylvania in September 1944 supporting Romanian troops.

Among them the armour units Detasamentul Niculescu and Detasamentul Matei.See link below

http://www.worldwar2.ro/arme/?language=en&article=246

This post has been edited by Cantacuzino on January 09, 2009 11:19 am

In early 1945, the Romanian 8th Cav. Division was the only Romanian division permanently referred to as "Purtata" in archival documents. "Purtata" loosely translates to "motorized".

It was also often held in reserve of the 4th Army and utilized in heavier battles.

This implies that it probably also had some mechanized, if not armored elements in its organic structure.

However, I do not know what specific kind of mechanized/armored vehicles it carried, and in what quantity (if any). I would be interested in finding out, if someone has more info on the subject.

Rumanian infantry action was occasionally coordinated with Soviet armour starting from September 1944. There are numerous account from the Axis side referring to Rumanian infantry being supported by Soviet tanks (or vice versa).

Gen. Dénes

Among them the armour units Detasamentul Niculescu and Detasamentul Matei.See link below

http://www.worldwar2.ro/arme/?language=en&article=246

Actually this link is probably better: http://www.worldwar2.ro/organizare/?article=24

The Lt-col Gheorghe Matei (2nd in command of 1Romanian Tank Regiment) Detachment was formed from 1 Romanian Tank Division units captured by Soviets on 25August and had 20 Panzer IVJ (T4) and 11 Assault guns also including 7 Heavy Artillery Regiment (24 pieces 105mm guns and 150mm howitzers) as well as 1 tank hunter battalion and 1 company (divizion) of 75mm antitank artillery. The detachment was subordinated to the 18th Guards Tank Corp and was one of the few units which were not taken to Siberia. By the end of September the unit lost most of its tanks and assault guns mainly due to lack of technical support (all technical equipment was kept by soviets) combined with the use of the unit to break through the Ghimes - Palanca mountain pass which is situated at high altitude (about 1100m). The detachment was created on hurry most of the tank crews were pull out from prisoner camps and some of them directly from the prisoner transport heading over the Prut, the hurry was justified by heavy soviet tank loses during the Iasi - Chisinau offensive as well as the redeployment of some soviet tank units on some other fronts. The rest of units of the 1 Romanian Tank Division which were not incorporated in the detachment or did not escaped from prisoner camps, were sent to Siberia along the rest of the unit of 4th an 3rd Romanian Army units captured by the Soviets after 23rd August.
On first week of October the detachment received as reinforcement 17 Assault Guns 9 T4 tanks 1 battery of TACAM-R2 (7 units), the 62nd TACAM-T60 battery as well as 7 T4 which survived from the initial detachment.

An interesting book of memories, regarding the actions of 1-st Tank Rgt. alongside the Red Army is "Tancuri in flacari" (Burning Tanks) by Ion S. Dumitru. Well worth reading, I think. Among other stuff, it depicts the "colaboration" between the Romanian forces and the Soviet commanders.

Cedarvet,

Some concrete info which may be of help to you:

According to Axworthy/Scafes, in the fall of 1944, following the destruction of the Romanian 4th division (of the 1st Army) in Transylvania, the Soviets recognized (surprisingly!) the shortage of AT & Armoured capability of the Romanian VII Corps.
Therefore, the Soviet 114 AT Regiment was placed under the direct command of the Romanian VII Corps.

I am not sure what the OOB of the Soviet 114 AT Regiment was at the time or what hardware it included (perhaps some tank destroyers?).