Samochód pancerny wz. 34
| wz. 34 | |
|---|---|
Replica of a wz. 34 on the basis of a GAZ-69 |
|
| General properties | |
| crew | 2 |
| length | 3.62 / 3.75 m |
| width | 1.91 / 1.95 m |
| height | 2.22 m |
| Dimensions | 2.2 tons |
| Armor and armament | |
| Armor | 6-8 mm |
| Main armament | 1 × 7.92-mm- Hotchkiss-wz.-25-MG or 1 × 37-mm-SA-18-Puteaux-L / 21 |
| Secondary armament | - |
| agility | |
| drive | a four-cylinder petrol engine Citroën B-T4 or engine FIAT-108 20/24 HP |
| suspension | Leaf suspension |
| Top speed | 50/55 km / h (road) |
| Power / weight | 10.5-10.9 hp / ton |
| Range | 250 km |
The vehicle Samochód pancerny wz. 34 ( Polish for "Armored Car, Model 34") was a Polish armored car from the 1930s. The vehicle was first used in troop service in 1934.
history
After the First World War , the still young state of Poland was initially equipped exclusively with military equipment from abroad. The weapons came mainly from the defeated German Reich and from France . The war against the Russian Soviet Republic in 1919/20 also brought weapons from this country with it. Of all these vehicles, the Russian Austin Putilow armored car was considered particularly suitable for Poland's poor infrastructure because of its structure with wheels and chains ( half-track ). As a result, around 135 vehicles with Kegresse half-track chassis were purchased in France . 90 of these vehicles were equipped with a tank structure in the Baildon ironworks and were given the designation Wz. 28 ; they were used in the independent armored car departments. Due to the limited durability of the Kegresse rubber band chains and the low speed (maximum 30 km / h), the first vehicles were converted to wheels in 1933. The conversion program began at the end of 1933 and the first vehicle could be tested between April and July 1934. The tests were successful, although the vehicle was weak off-road. On the other hand, the road handling characteristics were significantly better than those of the wz. 28 and so it was decided to use the vehicle as wz. 34 to be introduced into the Polish Army. By 1938, 87 wz. 28 to the status of wz. 34 converted. The fact that the vehicles were converted by several workshops resulted in different versions.
variants
The wz. 34 were available in a total of three different versions, which actually only differed in the design of the body, the gearbox, individual small technical details and in the motorization. A total of 87 of all three vehicle versions were built.
wz. 34
The first version of the wz. 34 still had the original Citroën engine from the wz. 28. The only change to the chassis concerned the rear axle, which came from the FIAT-614 light truck .
wz. 34-I
The model wz. 34-I received the new FIAT-108 engine and again the rear axle of the FIAT-614
wz. 34-II
The last version of the wz. 34 was the wz. 34-II, which with 60 built vehicles also represented the mass of the vehicles. The vehicle received the more powerful FIAT -108-III engine and the rear axle of the FIAT-618 . The vehicle also had hydraulic brakes and better electrical wiring. Some wz. 34 from previous production were upgraded to the wz version in 1938. 34-II upgraded.
technology
chassis
The chassis came completely from the French Kegresse half-chain tractor ; however, the rear part was exchanged for the rear axle of a FIAT truck .
Motorization
The first motorization of the vehicles consisted of the old Citroën B-T4, which developed 20 hp and allowed a driving speed of 50 km / h on the road. The second and third variant of the wz. 34 were fitted with a FIAT engine with 24 hp and a speed of 55 km / h. With a consumption of 23 liters per 100 km, the armored car could travel 250 or 180 km with a tank of 55 or 40 liters. All engines were 4-cylinder and had water cooling. Power was transmitted to the main clutch via a single dry disc. The transmission had three forward gears and one reverse gear or, in the other vehicles, four forward gears and one reverse gear. Only the rear wheels were driven. Braking was done mechanically, later hydraulically.
Structure and armor
The structure of the wz. 34 consisted of riveted and screwed armored steel plates that were 8 mm thick all around. The roof of the vehicle was armored 6 mm thick. There was no armoring of the ground and therefore no mine protection . The floor consisted of simple wooden planks that did not offer much protection. The earlier versions had a noticeable feature in the arrangement of the rear part of the superstructure. While the first versions had completely straight armor at the rear, the later versions received angled armor, which increased the effect of the armor. In addition, the structure was even narrower. In the first version, the driver could look ahead through two windows that could be closed by flaps. The later versions only had one disc.
Armament
For the wz. 34 there were two different armament variants that could be found in the turret on the rear of the vehicle. The armament was based on the wz. 28. The armament was adjusted in the ratio 1/3 to 2/3. About 30 vehicles were equipped with the 37-mm-SA-18-Puteaux-L / 21 cannon, which originated from the times of the First World War and was used as an infantry gun to combat machine gun nests. For the gun, 96 to 100 projectiles were carried, which were stored in boxes of 24 projectiles. The gun was aimed at the target using a sight with 1.5x magnification and a shoulder rest. The penetration of the projectiles was a maximum of 12 millimeters. So you couldn't even fight the German Panzerkampfwagen I , which had 13 mm armor. The maximum range of the HE shells was 2500 meters. The vehicles were primarily intended for squadron and squad leaders and not for fighting armored vehicles. The second armament variant that the rest of the vehicles were equipped with was the 7.92 mm Hotchkiss wz. 25 machine gun . The shooter had 2000 rounds available for this weapon. Each of the two armament variants also had two different suspension variants for the weapons, the newer being the predominant part.
crew
The crew consisted of two men: the driver, who sat in the front part of the vehicle, and the commander of the vehicle, who was also a gunner and loader. During the journey under normal conditions, the commander was able to sit on a small bench on the left side of the vehicle. During the fight he was able to sit on a cloth strap that was stretched in the vehicle. The commander could use colored flags to communicate with the outside world.
camouflage
The camouflage painting changed between 1934 and 1939. Between 1932 and 1936, the vehicles of the Polish army had a camouflage scheme called "Japanese camouflage". The vehicle was covered with sand-colored, brown and dark green spots separated by black stripes. From 1936 the vehicle was given a spotted camouflage with greyish sand and dark brown on the base color brown-green. The spots ran horizontally and had smooth transitions. The interior of the vehicles was painted sand-colored. The chassis was painted olive green or black.
Combat missions
Before the war, the wz. 34 used for training in the following units:
- 1st Armored Battalion in Poznan (9 vehicles)
- 4th Armored Battalion in Brest Litovsk (9 vehicles)
- 5th Armored Battalion in Krakow (9 vehicles)
- 6th Armored Battalion in Lviv (17 vehicles)
- 7th Armored Battalion in Bydgoszcz (9 vehicles)
- 12th Armored Battalion in Lutsk (9 vehicles)
These battalions were large peace battalions that formed ten armored squadrons during the mobilization in 1939 , which were divided among the cavalry battalions. Each squadron had seven vehicles. With the wz. 34 were equipped with squadrons number 21, 31, 32, 33, 51, 61, 62, 71, 81 and 91.
The combat value of the vehicles was very low in 1939. The vehicles were outdated and also heavily worn from the training in previous years. According to the plans of the Polish army , they were to be used for reconnaissance or to support poorly armed troops. In fact, they were used to make up for the general lack of armored vehicles and were sent into combat with the German Wehrmacht , in which they suffered heavy losses. The vehicles were more suitable for use on the road than off-road. Another major disadvantage was that they could not wade through deep rivers, which was the undoing of the vehicles of the 62nd and 71st Battalions, which did not cross the Bzura and had to be destroyed. The lack of radio equipment in the vehicles brought further disadvantages, whereby the commander might have been even more overwhelmed. Then there was the lack of fuel.
Although the fight with the German units was not as spectacular as that of the wz. 29 , they were the workhorses of the Polish armored units. With great courage, the commanders of the vehicles often enough opposed the German units in hopeless situations. The vehicles with the guns were even able to destroy some enemy armored vehicles. Some vehicles that could not be mobilized were later used in thrown together units. According to the statistics on the loss of armored vehicles, including the eight wz. 29 55% of vehicles destroyed in combat; 35% of the vehicles were abandoned due to technical defects (the vehicles that were left on the banks of the Bzura were probably one of them) and 10% were abandoned due to lack of fuel.
Re-use
All wz. 34 were captured by the Germans. Most of the vehicles had either been disabled or damaged. Vehicles that were undamaged or that could still be repaired were repaired and used by the German police in occupied Poland. 18 vehicles were handed over to the Croatian military in 1941 and used there in the fight against partisans . None of the vehicles survived the war and so there are only replicas of the wz to this day. 34 on other chassis.
literature
- Military vehicles . Atlas Verlag / MM Literary Rights International, Inc. (folder)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Samochód pancerny wz. 34 (derela.pl)
See also
Web links
- Samochód pancerny wz. 34 (derela.pl)