Second Hungarian Army Position, 1942 A unit of Hungarian Second Army troops is shown here taking up a defensive position by the Don River in Russia during the summer of 1942, after having traveled long by train, marching many hundreds of miles, and fighting through Soviet defenses. The Honved Second Army was assigned the Hitler-directed role of securing the far-left flank of the German Sixth Army fighting for Stalingrad on the Volga River. But after winning at Stalingrad, the Red Army was now mainly interested in capturing a crucial east-west railroad line running though the 130 mile Don River front occupied by the 200,000 strong Hungarian Second Army, composed mainly of infantry units and with no armor at its disposal.
Second Hungarian Army Position, 1942
A unit of Hungarian Second Army troops is shown here taking up a defensive position by the Don River in Russia during the summer of 1942, after having traveled long by train, marching many hundreds of miles, and fighting through Soviet defenses. The Honved Second Army was assigned the Hitler-directed role of securing the far-left flank of the German Sixth Army fighting for Stalingrad on the Volga River. But after winning at Stalingrad, the Red Army was now mainly interested in capturing a crucial east-west railroad line running though the 130 mile Don River front occupied by the 200,000 strong Hungarian Second Army, composed mainly of infantry units and with no armor at its disposal.
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Hungarian AA Artillery, Don Front, 1942 Most likely during January, 1943, Axis traffic is shown here by a Russian cathedral located on the Don River -- I do not know the exact location. German style wagons pass by and a group of Hungarian soldiers are tending to a car (Opel?) -- probably all frozen in the winter cold.
Hungarian AA...
Hungarian AA Artillery, Don Front, 1942 When not attacked by Russian planes -- and for the Hungarian foot soldiers they were all called "Rata" -- the AA guns (probably Bofors here) were often pointed defensively at the Soviet ground forces.
Hungarian AA...
Hungarian Field Artillery Unit, Don Front, 1942 A sober-looking artillery unit posing by their MAVAG 105 (?) field artillery gun facing east toward the Soviet lines in south-central Russia. The accurate fire of these guns, plus of the few available AT artillery pieces, was the most effective means of slowing down the attacking Soviet tank and infantry units during January, 1943.
Hungarian Field...
Blacksmiths at Work by the Don, Russia, (Hungary) One of the chores for the Hungarian troops at the Don front was keeping their many horses in good working order, like these blacksmiths shown above in the process of shoeing a horse cast far into Russia by the (crazy) war during 1942.
Blacksmiths at Work...
Magyar Infantry in the Trenches by the Don, 1942 A scene of the cramped conditions existing in the Hungarian trenches running along the Don River
Magyar Infantry in...
Hot Hungarian Food on the Don Front, 1942 The Magyar cook must have put too much paprika in the gulyas (goulash) cooking on the stove, because the field kitchen shed caught on fire, now in the process of being doused down. Wonder if the goulash was eaten anyway?
Hot Hungarian Food...
Hungarian Danuvia 39.M Nicknamed the Király Géppisztoly (Royal Machine Pistol), this little-known Hungarian-made SMG is widely viewed as one of the best of WWII, and at least one source describes it as an intermediate step between the SMG and the assault rifle: the 39.M has the longest barrel of any SMG, providing better accuracy. Its sister weapon, the 43.M, was essentially the same weapon with a folding stock and a slightly shorter barrel. The gun is little known in the West; understandably so, as most copies were lost on the eastern front.
Hungarian Danuvia 39...
Vaccinating Don Army Soldiers, 1942 (Hungary) Dr. Emody. left front, is in the process of vaccinating soldiers of the 43rd Honved division of the Second Army. He is probably injecting them against typhus, a serious decimator of armies in the field since time immemorial.
Vaccinating Don Army...
Honved MG Position on the Don River, 1942 A unit of Hungarian machine gunners shown here manning a position by the Don. Magyar field artillery was effective here, but anti-tank guns were mainly small caliber and scarce, tanks were hardly present in any number, and self-propelled artillery was not yet available. But they had good Mosin Nagant rifles.
Honved MG Position...
Letters from Hungary, Don Army, 1942 In the noise, danger, and uncertainty of the war, letters sent by wives, mothers, daughters, and sweethearts were very much appreciated by the often lonely and despondent men at the front. As in the case of these Honveds resting behind the front lines, both reading and writing personal letters was was an important aspect of maintaining their emotional balance.
Letters from Hungary...
Field Kitchen, Don Army of Hungary, 1942 Honved cooks did their best to feed the 200,000 souls of the Second Army, with at least one warm meal a day. Food supplies transported over long distance from home were augmented by locally "obtained" additions, as the chicken legs in the pot show. Otherwise, canned and dried foods had to make do. But hunger was endless in the trenches.
Field Kitchen, Don...
Damaged Russian Railroad Yard, Don Army of Hungary Dr. Emody on our right and a fellow Hungarian officer look over burned out rolling stock at a Don region railroad yard in 1942. Railroads played a major role in transporting men, supplies, and equipment during the war and both sides regularly attacked trains by planes and heavy artillery.
Damaged Russian...
Don Army, Muddy Russian Road, 1942 (Hungary) In the relatively treeless Don River valley, firewood often had to be brought in from good distances. After a heavy rain, the unpaved roads turned into a quagmire, making life miserable for both the Hungarian soldiers and their horses.
Don Army, Muddy...
Second Hungarian Army Position, 1942 A unit of Hungarian Second Army troops is shown here taking up a defensive position by the Don River in Russia during the summer of 1942, after having traveled long by train, marching many hundreds of miles, and fighting through Soviet defenses. The Honved Second Army was assigned the Hitler-directed role of securing the far-left flank of the German Sixth Army fighting for Stalingrad on the Volga River. But after winning at Stalingrad, the Red Army was now mainly interested in capturing a crucial east-west railroad line running though the 130 mile Don River front occupied by the 200,000 strong Hungarian Second Army, composed mainly of infantry units and with no armor at its disposal.
Second Hungarian...
Honved General Gusztav Jany, 1942 At the center of the photo, gazing fiercely at the opposing Soviet lines at the Don River front, Hungarian General Jany (Yaa-nee) was the commander of the Hungarian Second Army. He spoke both German and Romanian, was brave at the front (wounded there), and understood too well the precarious position of his Honved army. Yet when the superior Red Army overwhelmed his under gunned, freezing, and starving divisions, he declined to order a systematic withdrawal, and added insult to the carnage by issuing a deeply disparaging military statement to his retreating troops. No wonder that General Jany remains a controversial historical figure even today.
Honved General...
Makeshift Don Front Rest Stations (Hungary) Dug into the sides of low hills located not far from the Don River defensive line, these makeshift rest stations provided some peace and quiet for Magyar troops rotating out of the front lines. Unfurnished, unpaved, cool in summer, and usually unheated in winter, here at least a soldier could lie down to rest and be out of the line of fire for a while.
Makeshift Don Front...
The Siege of Budapest Bishop Saint Gerard Sagredo’s (Szent Gellért püspök) damaged statue in Buda / Gellért Hill. On the opposite bank of the river Danube lies Pest, where you can see the stump of the Franz Joseph I bridge (today it is called Liberty Bridge) which was blown up in january the 16th 1945.
The Siege of...
Hungarian Cavalry, 1941 Following a centuries-old huszar tradition, Honved cavalry units participated in the rapid advances made by the German Army Group South in the USSR during the summer and fall of 1941.
Hungarian Cavalry,...
Hungarian Turan I Tank Crossing On what appears to be a partially destroyed bridge, a Hungarian Turan I medium tank is making a successful crossing while soldiers assist or look on, this all taking place in eastern Poland during 1943-1944.
Hungarian Turan I...
Honved Traffic at the Front Parked in the background, a Czech-made 38 (t) tank and its Hungarian crew are being passed by fellow Honveds handling a Trotze truck pulling a 37mm AT gun, somewhere in the East.
Honved Traffic at...
Anti-tank Artillery in Action (Hungary) A Hungarian 37mm AT crew during battle on the Eastern front.
Anti-tank Artillery...