38M Toldi

The 38M Toldi was a Hungarian light tank, based on the Swedish Landsverk L-60 tank, but developed independently. It was named after the 14th century Hungarian knight Miklós Toldi.

38M Toldi
Command 38M Toldi I with antenna
Type	Light tank
Place of origin	Kingdom of Hungary
Service history
Used by	Kingdom of Hungary  Kingdom of Romania
Wars	World War II
Production history
Produced	1939–1942
No. built	202
Variants	Toldi I, Toldi II, Toldi IIa, Toldi III
Specifications
Mass	Toldi I: 8.5 t Toldi IIa: 9.3 t
Length	4.75 m (15 ft 7 in)
Width	2.14 m (7 ft 0 in)
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Crew	3
Armour	Toldi I: 20 mm maximum Toldi II: 35 mm
Main armament	20 mm gun (Toldi I and Toldi II) 40 mm gun (Toldi IIa and Toldi III)
Secondary armament	1x 8 mm machine gun
Engine	Büssing-NAG V8 7.9 litres 155 bhp
Suspension	torsion bar
Operational range	200 km (120 mi)
Maximum speed	47 km/h (29 mph) on road
Steering system	clutch braking (all variants)

Production history

The 38M Toldi was produced and developed by Hungarian engineers after the army bought the license of the main base hull and turret from Swedish company AB Landsverk between 1939 and 1942. At first, 80 vehicles were ordere from Mávag, then an order for 110 more vehicles were placed in 1940.[1] In total, 202 units were produced.

Variants

• Toldi I (k.hk. A20) - first variant armed with a 20 mm Solothurn anti-tank rifle,[2] 80 made.
• Toldi II (k.hk. B20) - variant with thicker front armour, 110 made.
• Toldi IIa (k.hk. B40) - modification developed in 1942, armed with 40 mm gun - 80 tanks of earlier variant were rearmed this way.
• Toldi III (k.hk. C40) - improved variant, only 12 made.
• Toldi páncélvadász (Toldi tank destroyer) - Toldi main hull with a 7.5 cm Pak 40. Only 1 prototype made.[3]

Combat history

Toldi tanks entered Hungarian service in 1940. They first saw action with the Hungarian Army against Yugoslavia in 1941.[1]

These tanks were mostly used against the USSR between 1941 and 1944. Because of their light armour, armament and good communications equipment, they were mostly used for reconnaissance. The design was effective against Soviet light tanks widespread during the early stages of Operation Barbarossa, such as the obsolete T-26 and BT-5. However it was totally inadequate against the Soviet T-34 medium tanks encountered widespread during the later stages of the war on the Eastern Front. From 1942, the Toldi's were reassigned as reconnaissance, command and ambulance roles. [1]

A number of Toldi tanks were captured by the Romanians after the 1944 Royal Coup.[4]

Survivors

Two known surviving 38M Toldi tanks (one Toldi I and one Toldi IIa) are preserved on display at the Kubinka Tank Museum.

References

1. "Toldi Tank". tanks-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
2. Zaloga, Steven J. (2018). The Anti-Tank Rifle. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-4728-1722-8.
3. "Toldi tank destroyer". tanks-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
4. Axworthy, p. 221

External links

• War Is Over - Russian Army Database