38M Toldi III

The Hungarian 38M Toldi family of light tanks was based on the Swedish Landsverk L-60, which Hungarian military officials trialed in 1937. It featured a fully-rotating turret containing its main armament plus one coaxial 8 mm Gebauer machine gun. A crew of three operated the vehicle, which could attain a top speed of 31 mph. Variants weighed from 8.5 to 9.3 tonnes. Because of their light armour, armament, and good communications equipment, they were mostly used for reconnaissance. Toldi tanks first saw action with the Hungarian Army in the 1941 invasion of Yugoslavia, and then extensively against the USSR between June 1941 and 1944. The design was effective against Soviet light tanks widespread during the early stages of Operation Barbarossa, such as the obsolete T-26 and BT-5. However it was totally inadequate against Soviet T-34 and KV tanks. This unit represents the 38M Toldi IIA and III, both armed with a 37/42M 40 mm (L/45) gun in a larger turret and having thicker frontal armor (with the III also having schürzen side armor). Manufacturers MÁVAG and Ganz Works converted 80 earlier vehicles to the IIA variant, and produced an additional 12 of the III variant in 1942.