Book Review of
39/40 M. Csaba Armoured Cars in WWII
Author: Peter Mujzer
Kagero Books
In Combat Series No. 88009
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $26.95
In Combat Series No. 88009
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $26.95
HISTORY:
Hungarian expatriate Nicholas Straussler designed several armored cars for Britain while living there between the two world wars. Straussler came to an agreement with the Weiss Manfred factory of Csepel, Budapest to produce vehicles from his designs for use in his home country – the most prominent was the Csaba (named after the son of Attila the Hun) which was designed based on his experience of the Alvis AC2 armored car.
After successful trials in 1939, the Hungarian Army placed an order for 61, and a further order for an additional 40 vehicles was placed in 1940. Of these, twenty were used as actual fighting vehicles, with the remainder serving as armoured command cars and reconnaissance vehicles.
The Csaba had a 20 mm Solothurn anti-tank rifle and an 8 mm machine gun fixed on a centrally mounted turret, with 9 mm armored-plating. The vehicle was also equipped with a detachable 8 mm light machine gun fired through the rear hatch in the anti-aircraft role.
The crew could dismount and carry this MG when conducting reconnaissance on foot. It also had two driving positions – one at the front as normal, and an additional one at the rear. The 40M Csaba was a command version armed only with the turret-mounted 8mm machine gun. This vehicle was fitted with a second R-4T radio, which had a large lattice radio.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Type: Armored car
Place of origin: Kingdom of Hungary
In service: 1939 - 1945
Used by: Hungarian Army
Wars: Second World War
Designer: Nicholas Straussler
Designed: 1930s
Manufacturer: Weiss Manfred, Csepel
Produced: 1939 - 1944
No. built: 102-137
Mass: 5.95 tonnes
Length: 14 ft 8 in (4.52 m)
Width: 6 ft 10 in (2.1 m)
Height: 7 ft 4 in (2.27 m)
Crew: 3
Armor: 9 mm
Main armament: 20mm Solothurn anti-tank cannon
Secondary armament: 2 x 8 mm MG
Engine: Ford, 8-cylinder of 90hp
Operational range: 93 mi (150 km)
Maximum speed: 65-85 km/h (40-53 mph)
THE BOOK:
Kagero Books is located in Lublin, Poland.
This book is of soft-cover of 76 pages in 8” x 11 ¾” page format.
The cover art shows a 40 M Csaba moving across a dirt field with forest in the background. Flying above it are 2 Messerschmitt Bf-109’s in Hungarian markings and gray mottle-camouflages.
The Csaba is overall olive-green, with a black square with a white large white cross on it on its sides. It has a banister antenna on it and the driver is looking out the top of the turret.
The book contains 108 black and white war-time photos and 15 color ones. There are 3 maps, 39 line-drawings, 24 color unit badges, 8 color side view illustrations and 10 charts of unit compositions.
Pre-war of the late 20’s are the 29 M Vickers, a dummy armored car built on a Fiat chassis, the Hungarian Minister of Defence, General Vilmos Roder standing beside an Austrian-made ADKZ heavy armored-car, a Polish WZ 24 armored-car, a prototype of the AC-2 armored-car, Nicholas Straussler designer of the Csaba’s, Fiat and Opel command cars, a MT light artillery tractor, lots of 39 M and 40 M Csabas and their crews, a photo of the radio gear inside a Csaba.
The color side views show 4 side views of Casaba's.
1.A 40-M command/signal armored car belonging to the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, which fought at Galicia in April 1941. It is the cover art subject (already described above).
2.A 39M Csaba Armored-car. It too is overall olive-green with a black square with a large white cross on it on its sides. It belonged to the armored-car company of one of the reconnaissance battalions.
3.A prototypal 40 M Csaba command/signal armored-car in a camouflage of olive-green, dark-yellow and red brown blotches.
4.A 29 M Csaba armored-car that belonged to the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion with a Maltese type cross on the sides of the turret and hull. It is also in the three tone camouflage like the 3rd profile above. It is shown as it looked in September 1940, during the occupation of Transylvania.
5.A 39 M Csaba armored-car, in the 3-tone camouflage with a white skeletal cross on the sides of its hull. It belonged to the Mobile Corps during the operation in the Ukraine, in the summer of 1941.
6.A 39 M Csaba that is overall dark-yellow. It is an armored-car that belonged to the Armored-Car Company of the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion. Shown as it looked during the operations around Nadworna in April of 1944.
The 14 color illustrations of unit badges are done with white images on dark green squares. Shown are:
The 1st Reconnaissance Battalion 1940-1941. It has a white lightning bolt on it.
The 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion 1941 ? It has a white side view of a tank on it.
The 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion 1942-1945. It has a white eagle on it.
Maltese cross insignia in white, 1940.
Hungarian expatriate Nicholas Straussler designed several armored cars for Britain while living there between the two world wars. Straussler came to an agreement with the Weiss Manfred factory of Csepel, Budapest to produce vehicles from his designs for use in his home country – the most prominent was the Csaba (named after the son of Attila the Hun) which was designed based on his experience of the Alvis AC2 armored car.
After successful trials in 1939, the Hungarian Army placed an order for 61, and a further order for an additional 40 vehicles was placed in 1940. Of these, twenty were used as actual fighting vehicles, with the remainder serving as armoured command cars and reconnaissance vehicles.
The Csaba had a 20 mm Solothurn anti-tank rifle and an 8 mm machine gun fixed on a centrally mounted turret, with 9 mm armored-plating. The vehicle was also equipped with a detachable 8 mm light machine gun fired through the rear hatch in the anti-aircraft role.
The crew could dismount and carry this MG when conducting reconnaissance on foot. It also had two driving positions – one at the front as normal, and an additional one at the rear. The 40M Csaba was a command version armed only with the turret-mounted 8mm machine gun. This vehicle was fitted with a second R-4T radio, which had a large lattice radio.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Type: Armored car
Place of origin: Kingdom of Hungary
In service: 1939 - 1945
Used by: Hungarian Army
Wars: Second World War
Designer: Nicholas Straussler
Designed: 1930s
Manufacturer: Weiss Manfred, Csepel
Produced: 1939 - 1944
No. built: 102-137
Mass: 5.95 tonnes
Length: 14 ft 8 in (4.52 m)
Width: 6 ft 10 in (2.1 m)
Height: 7 ft 4 in (2.27 m)
Crew: 3
Armor: 9 mm
Main armament: 20mm Solothurn anti-tank cannon
Secondary armament: 2 x 8 mm MG
Engine: Ford, 8-cylinder of 90hp
Operational range: 93 mi (150 km)
Maximum speed: 65-85 km/h (40-53 mph)
THE BOOK:
Kagero Books is located in Lublin, Poland.
This book is of soft-cover of 76 pages in 8” x 11 ¾” page format.
The cover art shows a 40 M Csaba moving across a dirt field with forest in the background. Flying above it are 2 Messerschmitt Bf-109’s in Hungarian markings and gray mottle-camouflages.
The Csaba is overall olive-green, with a black square with a white large white cross on it on its sides. It has a banister antenna on it and the driver is looking out the top of the turret.
The book contains 108 black and white war-time photos and 15 color ones. There are 3 maps, 39 line-drawings, 24 color unit badges, 8 color side view illustrations and 10 charts of unit compositions.
Pre-war of the late 20’s are the 29 M Vickers, a dummy armored car built on a Fiat chassis, the Hungarian Minister of Defence, General Vilmos Roder standing beside an Austrian-made ADKZ heavy armored-car, a Polish WZ 24 armored-car, a prototype of the AC-2 armored-car, Nicholas Straussler designer of the Csaba’s, Fiat and Opel command cars, a MT light artillery tractor, lots of 39 M and 40 M Csabas and their crews, a photo of the radio gear inside a Csaba.
The color side views show 4 side views of Casaba's.
1.A 40-M command/signal armored car belonging to the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, which fought at Galicia in April 1941. It is the cover art subject (already described above).
2.A 39M Csaba Armored-car. It too is overall olive-green with a black square with a large white cross on it on its sides. It belonged to the armored-car company of one of the reconnaissance battalions.
3.A prototypal 40 M Csaba command/signal armored-car in a camouflage of olive-green, dark-yellow and red brown blotches.
4.A 29 M Csaba armored-car that belonged to the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion with a Maltese type cross on the sides of the turret and hull. It is also in the three tone camouflage like the 3rd profile above. It is shown as it looked in September 1940, during the occupation of Transylvania.
5.A 39 M Csaba armored-car, in the 3-tone camouflage with a white skeletal cross on the sides of its hull. It belonged to the Mobile Corps during the operation in the Ukraine, in the summer of 1941.
6.A 39 M Csaba that is overall dark-yellow. It is an armored-car that belonged to the Armored-Car Company of the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion. Shown as it looked during the operations around Nadworna in April of 1944.
The 14 color illustrations of unit badges are done with white images on dark green squares. Shown are:
The 1st Reconnaissance Battalion 1940-1941. It has a white lightning bolt on it.
The 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion 1941 ? It has a white side view of a tank on it.
The 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion 1942-1945. It has a white eagle on it.
Maltese cross insignia in white, 1940.
White cross on black square insignia, 1943-1945.
The 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, with a white 2.F on it, 1940-1941.
The 1st Armored Cavalry Battalion, with a white half circle with a dot below it, 1939-1941.
3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, with white stenciled triangle on it.
Red circle with white skeletal cross on it, 1941.
1st Mountain Brigade, Armored-car Platoon, with a white rhomboid shape with a lightning bolt on it, 1942-1945.
1st Armored Pioneer Battalion, with a white rhomboid shape with a half circle on it, 1943-1945.
White skeletal cross, 1941-1942.
Mechanized Brach sign insignia. That is a cannon, with a sword and rifle crossed over it, inside a wreath, with a shield that has a crown at the top and is red with 3 horizontal stripes and a Maltese cross on a hill on it.
There are 8 small line drawings of:
An AC-1 armored-car Weiss Manfred
AC-1 armored-car Alvis Ltd.
AC-2 armored-car British Army
AC-3D armored-car Dutch Army
Borbaca Light Artillery Tractor Weiss Manfred
AC-2 armored-car Weiss Manfred
39M Csaba armored car
40 M Csaba armored-ca
No scale is given for these 8.
A 4-view line-drawing of an AC-2 armored car with Alvis Ltd. made hull & turret, with Vickers machine-gun.
A 4-view line-drawing of an AC-2 armored-car, with Hungarian-made hull & turret.
A 4-view line-drawing of a 39M Csaba armored-car.
A 4-view line-drawing of a 40 M Csaba armored-car.
A 3-view line-drawing of an AC-1 armored-car, with a wooden superstructure made by Weiss Manfred Factory.
A 3-view line-drawing of the frame antenna of the 40 M Csaba Command/signal armored-car.
A 3-view line-drawing of a police-version of the 39M Csaba armored-car.
A side and top line-drawing of a PAM armored minesweeper boat of the Hungarian River forces, with a 39M Csaba turret.
A 2-view line-drawing of the transmission and running gear of a Csaba armored-car.
Line drawings of Csaba tires, showing 2 different tread patterns.
Two illustrations of 90 hp Ford engine that powered the Csaba.
A cut-away side view line-drawing of the inside of a 39M Csaba.
An illustration of an 8 mm 31 M Solothurn gun used in dual anti-aircraft and ground roles on the Csaba.
An illustration of 8mm 31 M Mannlicher carbine used for defence by Csaba crews.
Another cutaway line drawing showing the insides of a 39M Csaba.
A line-drawing of a cut-away of the 39M Csaba turret.
Two Hungarian 9mm 39 & 43 M Kiraly machine-guns.
Line-drawing of a Csaba turret with guns named.
Another line-drawing of the interior of the 39M Csaba turret.
Two line-drawings of a 20 mm 36 M Solothurn anti-tank rifle with bipod.
Two line-drawings of an 8 mm 34/37 Gebauer machine-gun.
A line-drawing of a 20 mm shell.
A line-drawing of a 9mm 37M pistol.
Again there is no scales mentioned for these line-drawings.
Three illustrations of the radio inside the Casaba's, with the parts all labeled and named, but in Polish.
An illustration of the battery in Casaba's.
Black silhouette drawings show the breakdown of Hungarian units:
1st & 2nd Armored Cavalry Battalions
1st & 2nd Reconnaissance Battalions
3rd Reconnaissance Battalion
Bicycle Company
2nd Hussar Company in various years.
The back cover of the book shows 2 more color side view illustrations:
A 40 M Csaba that is overall olive-green with a much worn-away winter white-wash coating.
A 39M Csaba armored-car in the 3 color camouflage scheme of earth-yellow, olive-green and red-brown wave pattern camouflage. It has the red circle with white skeletal cross on the side of its hull. It was with the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion.
This is a neat book on the Csaba. It will be of interest to both modelers and military historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Kagero Books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
The 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, with a white 2.F on it, 1940-1941.
The 1st Armored Cavalry Battalion, with a white half circle with a dot below it, 1939-1941.
3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, with white stenciled triangle on it.
Red circle with white skeletal cross on it, 1941.
1st Mountain Brigade, Armored-car Platoon, with a white rhomboid shape with a lightning bolt on it, 1942-1945.
1st Armored Pioneer Battalion, with a white rhomboid shape with a half circle on it, 1943-1945.
White skeletal cross, 1941-1942.
Mechanized Brach sign insignia. That is a cannon, with a sword and rifle crossed over it, inside a wreath, with a shield that has a crown at the top and is red with 3 horizontal stripes and a Maltese cross on a hill on it.
There are 8 small line drawings of:
An AC-1 armored-car Weiss Manfred
AC-1 armored-car Alvis Ltd.
AC-2 armored-car British Army
AC-3D armored-car Dutch Army
Borbaca Light Artillery Tractor Weiss Manfred
AC-2 armored-car Weiss Manfred
39M Csaba armored car
40 M Csaba armored-ca
No scale is given for these 8.
A 4-view line-drawing of an AC-2 armored car with Alvis Ltd. made hull & turret, with Vickers machine-gun.
A 4-view line-drawing of an AC-2 armored-car, with Hungarian-made hull & turret.
A 4-view line-drawing of a 39M Csaba armored-car.
A 4-view line-drawing of a 40 M Csaba armored-car.
A 3-view line-drawing of an AC-1 armored-car, with a wooden superstructure made by Weiss Manfred Factory.
A 3-view line-drawing of the frame antenna of the 40 M Csaba Command/signal armored-car.
A 3-view line-drawing of a police-version of the 39M Csaba armored-car.
A side and top line-drawing of a PAM armored minesweeper boat of the Hungarian River forces, with a 39M Csaba turret.
A 2-view line-drawing of the transmission and running gear of a Csaba armored-car.
Line drawings of Csaba tires, showing 2 different tread patterns.
Two illustrations of 90 hp Ford engine that powered the Csaba.
A cut-away side view line-drawing of the inside of a 39M Csaba.
An illustration of an 8 mm 31 M Solothurn gun used in dual anti-aircraft and ground roles on the Csaba.
An illustration of 8mm 31 M Mannlicher carbine used for defence by Csaba crews.
Another cutaway line drawing showing the insides of a 39M Csaba.
A line-drawing of a cut-away of the 39M Csaba turret.
Two Hungarian 9mm 39 & 43 M Kiraly machine-guns.
Line-drawing of a Csaba turret with guns named.
Another line-drawing of the interior of the 39M Csaba turret.
Two line-drawings of a 20 mm 36 M Solothurn anti-tank rifle with bipod.
Two line-drawings of an 8 mm 34/37 Gebauer machine-gun.
A line-drawing of a 20 mm shell.
A line-drawing of a 9mm 37M pistol.
Again there is no scales mentioned for these line-drawings.
Three illustrations of the radio inside the Casaba's, with the parts all labeled and named, but in Polish.
An illustration of the battery in Casaba's.
Black silhouette drawings show the breakdown of Hungarian units:
1st & 2nd Armored Cavalry Battalions
1st & 2nd Reconnaissance Battalions
3rd Reconnaissance Battalion
Bicycle Company
2nd Hussar Company in various years.
The back cover of the book shows 2 more color side view illustrations:
A 40 M Csaba that is overall olive-green with a much worn-away winter white-wash coating.
A 39M Csaba armored-car in the 3 color camouflage scheme of earth-yellow, olive-green and red-brown wave pattern camouflage. It has the red circle with white skeletal cross on the side of its hull. It was with the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion.
This is a neat book on the Csaba. It will be of interest to both modelers and military historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Kagero Books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Highly recommended.