Hungary Hungarian Unit history help

[Chris Liontas]

Hi all!

I have a series of photographs dealing with a Hungarian unit and its deployment to the Soviet Uniion, 1942. I know they went through Kiev, as there is several shots of wrecked buildings there. The only information I have is:

A 37./III/zlj

This is marked on most photos of the unit or the units cemetary. Can anyone give me a history of (what I assume) is the 37 Infantry regiment? I have found the III Hungainian Corps unit history, but the 37th isnt listed as a reigment. Can anyone help? Thanks in advance!

[hunyadi]

Hi all!

I have a series of photographs dealing with a Hungarian unit and its deployment to the Soviet Uniion, 1942. I know they went through Kiev, as there is several shots of wrecked buildings there. The only information I have is:

A 37./III/zlj

This is marked on most photos of the unit or the units cemetary. Can anyone give me a history of (what I assume) is the 37 Infantry regiment? I have found the III Hungainian Corps unit history, but the 37th isnt listed as a reigment. Can anyone help? Thanks in advance!

Hi Chris - can you post a scans? 'Getting the whole picture' may help?

[Chris Liontas]

Hi Hunyadi!

Here are two scans of two of the photos. Each has the designation I am curious about. Each photo in the set has some kind of dedication on it. I will scan in the whole set and post them in the near future Thanks again!

1st photo

[Chris Liontas]

Rev

[Chris Liontas]

2nd photo

[Chris Liontas]

Reverse. The photos seem to start out with the deployment of this unit to the east. There are several photos from the train ride, along with names of the areas. Each cemetary is labled also with the area the unit was in, so I am hoping if nothing else, I can try to track the progress of the Hungarian Infantry regiments and see which one matches these photos.

[hunyadi]

Ok - looking at my reference material - the way it is written it is the 37th Infantry Regiment, III Battalion, (Battlaion = zaszloalj - zlj?) So its with the Second Hungarian Army of the Vth Corps out of Szeged.

Do you need help translating the backs?

[Chris Liontas]

Thanks you for the reply! I would love help with the translations if possible! Thank you so much for offering!

I am looking through what charts I have, and I dont see the Vth corps or the 37th IR mentioned on them. I see the III IV and VII corps, but not the Vth Corps. Do you have any history of where teh 37th might have been stationed during the winter of 1942?

Thanks a ton for this info!

[hunyadi]

Hi Chris - the 37th IR was part of the 13th Infantry Brigade (considered a Division at times) of the Vth Corps from June 1941 to April of 1942. The 13th did take part in the April 9th, 1941 Yugoslavian Campaign and constituted part of the right flank of the Hungarian offensive in Bacska. Thier launching point was Szeged and they were commanded by General Graf Stomm. They were alongside the German XXXXI Motorized Corps on the day. From what I can gather they were mostly in a reserve positions. Their sister brigade, the 14th took part in the sucessful attack on Szabadka. In May of 1942 the 13th IB was transefed into the IV Corps and departed from Hungary on May, 30th 1942 for the 1942 German offensive. As the Germans pushed everything into the region, the long line of Hungarian trains became bottlenecked and they had to detrain at Gomel and march 1000 Km to the Don River front. From there they took part in the 1st Battle of Karotyak (with the disaterious lack of anti-aircraft weapons!) on August 7th, 1942. Then from Aug 12th to Sept 3rd, 1942 they took part in a much better supported Second Battle of Karotyak. Then - in order secure victory (as the Germans thought) the German XXIV Panzer Corps was brought in to bolster the Hungarian 13th IB (and the 7th, 12th & 20th) for the 3rd Battle of Uryv that was launched on Sept 9th and lasted until Spet 13th, 1942. These actions had finally stabilized the Don River Front until the Soviet Winter Don offensive of Dec 1942 to January 1943 dislodged the bridgehead. According to a map that I have the 13th IB (by 1942 it is listed as a 'light division') during November 1942 was situated around Polyana and Karotyak. When the Sovet Offensive was over by the end of January the IV Corps was completely destroyed, with its elements killed, wounded, prisoners or scattered.

[hunyadi]

First Photo -

"The Soviet School that we stayed at"

Second Photo -

"The 37th IR, III Brigade heros resting (stop) place at Boldervieka"

Edited June 4, 2007 by hunyadi

[hunyadi]

IF you look at #29 of the Large Golden Bravery Medal you can see that a man in the Artillery won this coveted award near the cemetary

http://www.akm.externet.hu/rendjel/adatok/vitez.htm

But he was with the IIIrd Corps of the General HQ Artillery. Not with the 13th IB. But its a reference.

Edited June 4, 2007 by hunyadi

[Chris Liontas]

Outstanding!! Thank you so much for this information! THis is exactly what I was hoping for!! I'm going to post the whole set here this week so everyone can take a look. Its actually a pretty neat set of photographs.

However I never knew just what unit this was and what the individual was doing in Russia. Thank you again for this help!

[hunyadi]

Chris - do you have the book 'The Royal Hungarian Army 1920-1945"? Its a very dry history, but about the most complete out there to this day on Hungarian units (in English). Plese post away on the photos - love to see them!

[Chris Liontas]

Chris - do you have the book 'The Royal Hungarian Army 1920-1945"? Its a very dry history, but about the most complete out there to this day on Hungarian units (in English). Plese post away on the photos - love to see them!

Actually no I dont. My library has gotten fairly slim in the past few years. I would really like to expand it to include the Hungarian units. I really dont think the "minor" axis forces in the Second World War are very well covered in the US histories of the Ost Front. Is the book availible or is it out of print?

Thanks again! This is more than I had hoped for!

[hunyadi]

As far as I know its still available from Amazon (at times) or from Axis Europa Books www.axiseuropa.com

I will say it is a very complete book, but it was written as a disertaion for a doctorate and the text is very very dry - not one to read at bedtime

[Chris Liontas]

Awesome!! Thanks Hunyadi--I am ordering it today. I am also looking for a good book on the Romainian forces; have any ideas

It cant be as dry as the complete history of Byzantium I am reading. I use this book along with my Medically Relavent Fungus book to put me to sleep

I have my photos covered in nice acid free sleves and will scan them this weekend -- thanks again!

As far as I know its still available from Amazon (at times) or from Axis Europa Books www.axiseuropa.com

I will say it is a very complete book, but it was written as a disertaion for a doctorate and the text is very very dry - not one to read at bedtime

[Gordon Craig]

Chris,

The only book I can suggest on Romania is the Osprey book "The Romanian Army Of World War 2". It is #246 in their Men-At-Arms series. Not an exhaustive study of the Romanian army in WWII but a good start.

Regards,

Gordon

[Carol I]

I am also looking for a good book on the Romainian forces; have any ideas

It cant be as dry as the complete history of Byzantium I am reading. I use this book along with my Medically Relavent Fungus book to put me to sleep

A very good book I have heard mentioned is Third Axis Fourth Ally by Mark Axworthy, Cornel Scafeş and Cristian Crăciunoiu.