FoW: The Slovakian Army

So... I have finally finished all of the modelling for my Flames of War Slovak army and thank God for that! I hit my wall around November time last year and have just been bashing away since.

“For social justice against capitalism and jewish-bolshevism!”

I started with an idea of a really small army with a couple of bits n' pieces that I could get done quickly but as is so often the case with my hobby, I woke up one day and said to myself 'Self! We must possess everything they used!' 

...and so began my latest odyssey!

Just a sneak peak of whats to come...

Anyway its over now and I thought it would be handy, as a prequel to the mountain of Slovak modelling posts that I plan to share with you all, to give an introduction to Slovakia and its armed forces that took part in the early part of the Second World War just to orientate you all to whom it is we will be looking at over the next God knows how many posts!

...so let us begin:

A long time ago in a newly created state not so far away there were a group of people called the Slovaks and they occupied lands that under Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points and the Treaty of Versaille was taken off of Austro-Hungary and Germany and formed a constituent part of the newly born Czechoslovakia. I won't bore you all with the minutiae of the interbellum politics that led to the breakdown of the Czech political system suffice it to say that Hitlers masses poured across the borders occupying the Sudetenland without a shot being fired and less than a year later occupied the rest of the country...

Slovak troops marching in a military parade before the war

... except for the south eastern part of the country who had a fait accompli slapped across their foreheads by the order of Hitler:

"Declare independence from the Czechoslovakian state and align yourselves as a protectorate of Germany... or we will occupy you as well!"

Led by Dr Jozef Tiso, Slovakia split from Czechoslovakia and formed its own state on 14 March 1939 under the sinister auspices of Nazi Germany subsequently becoming Germany's first ally when on 1 September 1939 it took a part in the invasion of Poland, reclaiming lost territory in Teschen.

Dr Jozef Tiso

Slovakia, after reclaiming some of its lost lands... receiving a bloody nose from Hungary and then having to give away more land to other European powers under the orders of Hitler, still sided with the Nazi's for the invasion of the Soviet Union...and finally went down in flames in 1945 after a mere 6 years of existence, before being recombined with the Czech Republic again in 1946 as a result of the Treaty of Paris.

Slovak Army Organisation

By the time the Czechoslovakian army was mobilised in 1938 it had expanded to over 1,250,000 men and it can be stated with some certainty that at this time, and given the weapons and training that it possessed, the Czechoslovakian army was one of the finest in Europe. At  the time of the Munich Crisis it was able to field some 17 front line and 17 reserve Infantry Divisions, four motorised Mobile (in Czech "Rychla" or "Rapid") Divisions and numerous independent artillery formations as well as a whole raft of Fortification and Border units. It can be postulated with some credibility that had Benes and his boys stood up to the Nazi strong arming in 1938 then World War Two may very likely have been averted. They were strong enough to stand up to the Nazi's with the potential of crippling Germany's military at least for the short term without having the mutual defence pacts and treaties that would have dragged Europe into the conflagration that took it down over the next six years.

A fine example of the Czechoslovakian defensive lines in the Sudetenland in '38

The Czech army was multinational although the Czechs comprised the majority of the military manpower, the NCO's, the Officers and most especially in the highly skilled technical branches although within the ranks of the army could also be found Slovaks, Ruthenes, Hungarians and ethnic Germans.

A point that will become important in our retelling a potted history of the Slovak state is that whilst they were considered statistically identical to the Czechs within the army there were a number of obstacles which proved telling in terms of military progression. The most telling perhaps was the endemic lack of education across the Slovak districts resulting in a lack of applicants to the military academy in Hranice. By 1937 only 3.9% of officers in the army were Slovak and only Rudolf Viest had risen to the rank of General.

General Rudolf Viest

In 1936 Czech General Snejdarek (Commander of the Czechoslovakian army in Slovakia) gave a sobering perspective of the Slovak troops under his command stating "The Catholic [Slovak] soldiers would not fight for the Republic. They wouldn't fight against the Czechs but nor would they fight for them either!"

Slovak troops in the Soviet Union in the winter of '41 sporting their blue banded helmets

During the 1938 mobilisation  the army had almost 25% of its forces stationed in Bohemia, 60% in Moravia where it was expecting to make its stand and only 15% in Slovakia which was considered a backwater.

In March 1939, after the demobilisation following the Munich Agreement, the V, VI and VII Corps were stationed in Slovakia comprising the 9th, 10th, 11th, 15th, 16th and 17th Infantry Divisions along with the 3rd Mobile Division. These formations were all under-strength following the demobilisation and the return home of the Czech troops BUT importantly, all of their equipment remained in country. On top of this the Czech state had situated many of their resupply depots on Slovak soil as it was deemed out of the way and safe from interference from invading hostile neighbours.

The Slovak military on parade with 10cm vz.30 batteries taking centre stage

All of this Czech equipment was valued at almost 270 million US Dollars out of which Germany confiscated almost 130 million US Dollars worth of equipment for their own use.

Slovakia was able to rebuild their armed forces with the remaining balance of equipment! Following the declaration of independence existing Slovak officers began to occupy the posts left vacant by the departure of the Czech officers. Major Jurech took command of V Corps, Lt. Colonel Malar took command of VI Corps and Major Imre took VII Corps. All of these command positions were originally held by Generals.

Lt-Colonel Augustin Malar

The newly appointed Slovak Minister of Defence, Colonel Catlos, in his first Order of the Day requested a peaceful separation of the Czech and Slovak forces, thanking the Czechs for the help given to the Slovak state and assured that any that wished to remain would be welcome. Most Czechs returned home, although by this time their homes had become a part of a Reich protectorate.

Between 1939-1942 the Slovaks expanded their officer pool up to a total of 1,537 officers, achieved by the end of 1942. Of these 432 were former Czech officers, 27 were reinstated Slovak officers, 532 Slovak reservists, 333 promoted NCO's and 212 Military Academy graduates (amongst whom were 36 Germans and 51 Czechs).

The Slovak army was reduced in size in 1939 from 15 infantry regiments and four mountain regiments to five infantry regiments and six independent infantry battalions which were subsequently reorganised into three regiments. The peace time strength of the army was planned to be a total of 25,000 to be expanded up to 52,000 in times of war.

Slovak infantry on parade

Each of the infantry units had assigned VKPL (Velkych Kulometu Proti Letadlum) companies armed with 2cm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns. The 3rd Armoured Battalion, the main combat unit of the 3rd Mobile Division was renamed the 'Martin' Armoured Battalion remaining in its original depot area along with the 3rd Bicycle Battalion. The army was provided with an anti-tank battalion with three companies. The army's cavalry was restructured into three cavalry squadrons of two troops each, three horse drawn transport squadrons and a dedicated stud farm. Engineers were concentrated into a single regiment of two battalions (with an additional battalion of reserves). There were also three communications battalions covering the telegraph and radio needs of the army. The Motor transport regiment had three groups with a replacement group in addition to the front line serving three battalions.

A Slovak heavy machine gun section with its two Schwarzlose M1907/24 heavy machine guns

The army's artillery was provided for by six artillery regiments and an anti-aircraft regiment,whilst the airforce (at this time a constituent part of the army) was organised into the 3rd Air Regiment comprising four groups and twelve squadrons.

Letov S-328 Squadron hidden at a Forward Air Base

On top of all of this there existed a whole raft of clerical and logistical service provisions such as clergy, railways and arms depots spread across the state.

The last Slovak armoured train in existence. Surviving the Slovak uprising 'Hurban' is now a museum piece in Zvolen

Each higher unit within the Slovak army maintained its original Czechoslovak established replacement unit. An infantry regiment for example, had a battalion as its replacement pool, an artillery regiment had an artillery group, an independent battalion had a company, an air force regiment had a group and so on. These replacement units maintained lists of all of their reservists, which also formed the mobilisation roster, with the replacement unit usually garrisoned near its main units headquarters where their arms and equipment would also be stored. During war time the replacement units would remain in their peacetime garrisons and train new recruits, both draftees and reservists, from whom replacement columns would be formed and sent to the front to replace the losses of their main units.

A battery of 8.35cm vz.22 anti aircraft guns (albeit in German use... but what a great photo of the guns!)

After Poland

Once the invasion of Poland had been concluded the MNO (Ministerstvo Narodnej Obrany - Ministry of National Defence) began a reorganisation of the army, starting in November 1939 and continuing through the first months of 1940. The MNO itself was reorganised along with the six independent infantry battalions being abolished and replaced by four new infantry regiments (6th,7th,8th and 9th). The number of artillery regiments was decreased to four with AR4 and AR52 being disbanded whilst many army support units were raised such as an air regiment, an anti-aircraft regiment, an armoured regiment, an automobile regiment and an engineer regiment. Aside from all of these AR51 became an infantry regiment and cavalry reconnaissance groups were established. The services formed central quartermasters and armaments depots.

A Slovak 10cm vz.30 battery laying the hammer down in the Soviet Union in 1941

From October 1940 the MNO was again reorganised as its Headquarters was abolished along with the Military Administration and the Administration of Labour Units. In place of the disbanded headquarters, the Army and Air Force Headquarters was formed externally to the MNO.

The army's three divisions were reorganised into two and the number of infantry regiments was again lowered from nine to six with the 7th, 8th and 9th IR's being disbanded. Also disbanded were the Bicycle mounted battalion, Cavalry reconnaissance group II, the headquarters of the Engineer regiment, the II armour regiment and the automobile regiment.

A Slovak bicycle battalion on the 'march'

The new organisation of the army specified the formation of corps and army level organisations. The Corps level units consisted of the Armoured Regiment, the 11th and 12th Artillery Regiments, the 11th Engineer Battalion, 11th Communications Battalion, 11th Automobile Battalion, 11th Decontamination Company and other supporting organisations and units.

Having to rescue an LT vz.35 from an attempt to ford a river in the Soviet Union

The Army level units consisted of the Presidential Guard, the Central Armoury, the Military Medical Depot, the Central Quartermasters Depot, the Military Chemical and Technical Institute and the Military Stud Farm amongst other organisations including the military schools.

The ethnic Germans living in Slovakia also had their own FS units, the Freiwilige Schutzdienst, a lightly armed civilian volunteer organisation. They wore standard Slovak uniforms except for the fact that they sported Swastikas on their collars. As time went by the majority of them opted to serve with the SS instead of serving in the Slovak army (almost all of whom served in the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Mountain Regiment. Over 6,000 of them ended up serving in the SS.

Ethnic German troops enrolled into the Slovak army

The Wehrmacht military mission in Slovakia had their instructors distributed amongst all Slovak military units, but as they usually had no ability to speak the Slovak language their ability to affect both the training or the spirit of the army ended up being negligible especially as the army was still very much steeped in the traditions of the Czechoslovakian armed forces.

The Mobile Group was formed on 22 June 1941 and comprised:

Headquarters
Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron II
Armoured Battalion (2 companies of tanks and 2 of anti-tank guns)
Artillery Battalion I/11
Infantry Battalion II/6
Communications Company
Engineer Platoon
Staff Automobile Platoon

Slovak armour in pre-war manoeuvres showing the whole range of armour the Slovaks possessed in 1939

Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the Field Corps was also assembled and placed under the command of General Catlos and comprised the following:

Headquarters

1st Infantry Division
1st, 2nd & 3rd Infantry Regiments
1st Artillery Regiment
1st Engineer Battalion
1st Communications Battalion
14th Light Anti-Aircraft Company
1st Anti-Tank Company
Cavalry Troop I

A Slovak Cavalry Reconnaissance Group fording a river

2nd Infantry Division
4th, 5th & 6th Infantry Regiments
2nd Artillery Regiment
2nd Engineer Battalion
2nd Communications Battalion
15th Light Anti-Aircraft Company
2nd Anti-Tank Company
Cavalry Troops II

A great view of a Slovak 3.7cm vz36 anti tank gun being set up to fire

Army Units
Headquarters
12th Artillery Regiment
11th Tank Company (24x LT vz.35 tanks)
11th Armoured Car Company
12th Anti-Tank Company
8th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery
11th Engineer Battalion
11th Communications Battalion
11th Quartermasters Park
11th Army Hospital
11th Veterinary Ambulance

A Slovak LT vz.35 light tank platoon negotiating a river in Southern Poland in 1939

On 8 July 1941 the Mobile Group was reorganised into a Mobile Brigade and by 21 July comprised the following:

Headquarters
Motorised Reconnaissance Group
Group Headquarters
Armoured Car Platoon
Anti-Tank Platoon
2x Bicycle Companies
Engineer Platoon

Slovak pioneers using a flamethrower in the Soviet Union in 1941

Motorised Infantry Battalion II/6
Headquarters
Radio Platoon
Anti-Tank Platoon
Mortar Platoon
7.5cm Gun Battery
3x Infantry Companies
MG Company

Armoured Regiment
Staff Company
2x Tank Companies
3x Anti-Tank Companies

A Slovak LT vz.35 tank company lined up in column before the war

Artillery Battalion I/11 (later the whole of AR11)
Headquarters
Radio Platoon
3x 10cm Howitzer Batteries
1x 10.5cm Battery

A Slovak 10.5cm vz.35 howitzer set up in its firing position in the Soviet Union in 1941

Engineer Company
Radio Company Anti-Aircraft Battery 15
Automobile Field Repair
Truck Column 315

Following the battle for Lipovec, the Mobile Brigade was stripped of its armour which was sent back to Slovakia for 'repairs' whilst the remaining parts of the Brigade were incorporated into the nascent Mobile Division:

Headquarters

Infantry Regiment 20
2x Infantry Battalions
HMG Company
Mortar Company
Anti-Tank Company
7.5cm Gun Battery

A Slovak 7.5cm vz.15 mountain gun set up and ready for action

Infantry Regiment 21
2x Infantry Battalions
HMG Company
Mortar Company
Anti-Tank Company

Artillery Regiment 11
4x 10cm vz.30 Howitzer Batteries
1x 10.5cm vz.35 Gun Battery

Reconnaissance Group 11
Bicyclist Company
Anti-Tank Platoon
HMG Platoon

Anti-Aircraft Group
8th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery (with 88mm AA Guns)
15th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery

A Slovak 2cm vz.36 set up and ready to rock and roll!

Radio Battalion 2
Engineer Battalion 11
Mountain Battery 11
Anti-Tank Company 11
Automotive Workshop
Quartermasters

The strength of the Mobile Division was expanded from 6,712 men to 8,741 men between April and November 1942.

Battle weary Slovak troops marching through the Ukraine in 1941.

On 1 September 1941 the 2nd Infantry Division became the Security Division and by 25 November comprised the following:

Headquarters
Infantry Regiment 101
Infantry Regiment 102
Replacement Battalion
Combined Reconnaissance Group
31st Artillery Regiment
1st Communication Battalion
11th Railway Construction Company
3rd Engineer Company
14th Anti-Aircraft Battery
Divisional Armourers Park
Field Bakery
Field Slaughterhouse
Medical Company
Field Hospital
Decontamination Column
Veterinary Ambulance

By April 1942 the Security Division had a strength of 8,082 men however a continuing problem with desertion resulted in a strength of only 7,745 men by November of that year.

A Slovak artillery battery in transit...

The Mobile Division and the Security Division were both placed under German operational control although their administration remained wholly Slovakian. The elite Mobile Division fought in campaigns such as Lemberg (Lvov), Kiev and on the Mius during the winter of 41-42 where one German officer is reported as saying that he found the Slovaks to be "brave soldiers with very good discipline" which when one considers their Czechoslovakian doctrine should not be surprising. The Mobile Division was always well thought of by the Germans and was consistently deployed into front line roles.

Slovak troops advance through the vast wheat fields of the Ukraine in 1941

The Slovak units fighting along the Eastern Front suffered very heavy casualties and by mid '43 had to be withdrawn to be deployed into security duties. As a result of this morale in the army slumped and both divisions began to lose men to desertion hand over fist. In 1944 they were put into reserve, disarmed and converted into construction brigades. Meanwhile the Slovaks had reorganised themselves into two divisions (1st & 2nd Infantry Divisions) in order to be able to defend the Carpathian passes. A third was also forming in central Slovakia when the partisan movement initiated the rising in late August '44. This was unfortunately premature from the army's point of view and the Germans were able to disarm the two field divisions completely.

A Slovak Security Division trooper on patrol

Through the course of the war much of Slovakia was devastated by American, British and German bombing all of which was exacerbated by the Slovak Rising as well as the military offenses and counter-offenses that raged across the land to be finally crushed under the Soviet boot and occupied...

After signing the Treaty of Paris, Slovakia lost its independence, being once again reunified with the Czech Republic.

A classic view of a Slovak LT vz.35 exhibiting its camouflage pattern

Slovakia fielded an armed force that was modelled under the Czechoslovakian pre-war army and as a result of this, despite having many obstacles to overcome as the army grew into its skin was always looked at by its allies as a solid and reliable force, if a small one.

As time went by their inventory of arms and equipment became more streamlined and was supplemented by the Reich as well.

I feel that the Slovaks have always been a somewhat overlooked army of World War 2. They have interesting camouflaged vehicles, funky looking artillery pieces, great looking infantry and aircraft that would probably have struggled in the First World War. Despite all of this, they were able to take the Soviet Bear in its own back yard and hand out more than a few bloody noses!

A Slovak bayonet with its supporting equipment...

Well worth the look.... so where do we begin? I'm going to present a whole pack of blog posts outlining each of the things that I have done for my Slovak army... and yes there will be a LOT of repeated material in there where how to paint the bits and pieces is concerned as I want each post to stand on its own merits as a resource for anybody who wants to create each of the elements that I will be addressing. For the majority of us who read all of the posts, once you have read how I paint them the first time, the rest of the posts become more of a picture book event! :D

Watch this space (and grab your bayonet!)