Flames of War: The Black Brigade 5: The Anti-Tank Battalion

A bit of background to the Brigades anti tank assets

By now, those of you who have already read about the trials and tribulations of the Black Brigade through the fighting in Poland '39 will no doubt be aware of the pivotal role that the Brigades anti tank assets played in being able to stem the German advances so comprehensively.

Dug in Black Brigade Bofors wz.36 37mm Anti Tank guns

The development of the anti tank provisions in the Brigade began from the start in 1937 when the 10th Brigade was repurposed to demonstrate firstly the incompatible nature of motorised brigades with the Polish infrastructure but also to demonstrate that a motorised brigade could be maintained for a fraction of the cost of a Cavalry Brigade which, in 1937 was calculated at running at 88% of the cost of an infantry division for a fraction of the strength and weight of fire.

A good study of one of the Polski Fiat 508/518 tractors towing its Bofors wz.36 37mm anti tank gun...

Initially the Brigade was provided with a single squadron of anti tank guns (9 guns in 3 platoons of 3 guns each) and a platoon of 3 guns to each of the mounted cavalry regiments (24th Uhlans and 10th Mounted Rifles).

The Brigade quickly fell out of favour with the Polish high command as Colonel Antoni Trzaska-Durska proved himself not up to the task of commanding this new model Brigade, a problem compounded with the fact that the Brigade was proven to be incapable of meeting requirements as an offensive force given the paucity of armour.

Officer of the Anti Tank Battalion in Bohumin in '38. 

Franczisek Skibinski, the chief of staff for the Brigade cited in his memoirs that "it was a unit of modest size, representing the equivalent of two good battalions, heavily armed with anti tank guns although with a minimal provision of armour, tanks! The characteristic feature of the Brigade was its attachment to the roads, which was because all its vehicles were wheeled vehicles and not terrain vehicles. Thus, 10BK, due to its organisational structure and equipment, represented a considerable value in defensive combat. However it had very little impact force due to the lack of tanks and artillery!"

An anti tank gun set up in a camouflaged position during the Zaolzie reoccupation.

Following the 1937 Wolyn maneuvers it was recognised that a much more comprehensive provision of anti tank weapons needed to be provided for the Brigade and as such the single anti tank squadron was expanded to a two squadron battalion, effectively almost doubling the anti tank capabilities of the Brigade.

On top of this in July of 1938 the Reconnaissance Battalion was formed which had a further 6 anti tank guns provided for it although 2 of these are now known and confirmed as having been the TKS-D's which was designed to operate as a tow for the caisson and carriage whilst the gun itself was mounted in the vehicle body itself although in practise the gun was never removed from the vehicle body thus becoming the worlds first combat operational tank destroyer.

One of the Brigades TKS-D's fording a low river

What this actually means is that Poland's first Motorised Brigade was provided with a total of 30 anti tank guns (Anti Tank Battalion (18), Reconnaissance Battalion (6), 24th Uhlans (3) and 10th Mounted Rifles (3)) for a total strength of just under 4000 men. This is compared to a Cavalry Brigade that would be provided with 14 anti tank guns with a strength of just over 7000 men and compared to an Infantry Division with 27 anti tank guns for a strength of just over 15,000 men showing that the anti tank provision for the Black Brigade relative to its size was formidable indeed...

One of the Bofors wz.36 37mm Anti Tank guns set up on the Wolyn manoeuvres 

In September '39 the troops crewing the Bofors wz.36 37mm Anti Tank guns certainly made the Germans pay for their temerity!

Modelling the Anti Tank Battalion for the Black Brigade

As with most elements of this project there were certain elements of the anti tank assets that needed to be custom built and everything else that needed at least a small degree of conversion.

The easiest bit to explain is the mass of metal that I bought to tool up the anti tank guns and crews.

I bought the anti tank guns from Andy at Old Glory UK who stocks the True North figures that I am so keen on. They can be a bit of a ball ache to put together being constructed from so many pieces and sometime lacking in detail, I believe they take paint really well... you can judge for yourself!

Two full platoons of anti tank guns and their tractors with command elements.

The crews are all also True North miniatures. A simple selection of 10th Mechanised Cavalry anti tank gun crews (and yes I know its an incorrect label... but so long as you know what to look for no harm done eh?)

A closer look at a platoons Bofors wz.36 37mm anti tank guns

The command staff were provided by the normal command packs and of course all heads with Polish berets were sourced from Peter Pig's Heads n Odds range. 

A closer look at the home made Polski Fiat 508/518 Tractors

Wooden bases all provided by Tony at East Riding Miniatures

All of the vehicles, the Polski Fiat 508 Lazik staff car and the six Polski Fiat 508/518 light artillery tractors are all sculpted and cast by yours truly. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but when plastered with mud they fill a space.

Plan view!!!

...and finally the vehicle crews are all provided by Skytrex's German vehicle crews with a little nip and tuck here and there...

Not so plan view!!!

I wont bore you yet again with going over all of the same blow by blow accounts of which colours I used on which wheel arches suffice it to say that I followed exactly the same paint schemes for the crew uniforms and the vehicle colours as I did for everything else in the Black Brigade force that Ive put together.

A close up study of one of the guns... plenty of head swaps here!

So there we have it. Another post of Black Brigade stuff, but this time without all of the text.

A better look at a complete motorised anti tank platoon with its command element

Thought you may as well have a look at one of the command elements :D

Anybody who plays the Black Brigade in any of their games will almost certainly build the force around the anti tank guns. These weapons are absolutely nails in an early war conflict...

I would say 'Fix Bayonets!!!' but it seems mildly inappropriate under these circumstances... the soldiers of the Black Brigade always had their bayonets fixed!