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Croatian Armor - A discussion

by H.L. deZeng IV

Since the end of World War II, there has been very little to appear in print concerning the acquisition and employment of armored fighting vehicles by the Independent State of Croatia, 1941-45. The very little that has appeared has not been well researched and the information presented has been incomplete and misleading at best. The following is an attempt to present the facts discovered during many years of research in the primary documentation and then let each reader come to his own conclusions. At the very least, it is hoped that it might motivate a few to do some additional research and thus add to what is known on this subject.

The discussion is restricted to armored fighting vehicles obtained and used by the Croatian armed forces and does not include those that belonged to the German-Croatian Legion formations (i.e., 369., 373. and 392. Infanterie-Division (kroat.)) and the Kammerhofer German-Croatian police organization. These joint formations were in fact German units that simply used large numbers of Croatians and Croatian Volksdeutschen to fill up the ranks. They were at all times supplied and equipped by the Germans, commanded by German officers and the Croatian state had absolutely no authority or control over them.

Croatian Armor - Chronology of Known and Probable Deliveries

10 Apr 41: 1.ceta/1.Bataljon bornih kola (1st Co./1st Armored Battalion) of the Royal Yugoslav Army surrendered to German forces without a fight in Zagreb with approximately 16 Renault FT-17s; rather than scrap them, the Germans subsequently “gave them to the Ustasha.” (1)

1 Jul 41: the Croatian Army general staff Zagreb asked the Germans (Gen. Glaise von Horstenau in Zagreb) this date if they could “borrow” 25 captured Yugoslav tanks until such time as they received some tanks from the Italians. (2)

10 Oct 41: Croatia had already, or was about to take delivery of 18 ex-Polish TKS tankettes with “Ursus” engines, probably distributed by German Feldzeugstab 41 z.b.V. Aussenstelle Agram (Zagreb). Strong evidence suggests that these were evenly divided upon receipt between an independent and unnumbered tank platoon then forming for employment in Bosnia (later called Tank Platoon/III Corps), and the tank company of the Motorized Bn./PTB in Zagreb. (3)

31 Dec 41: According to Vrančić, total Croatian armored strength consisted of “100 men equipped with 18 ex-Polish tankettes” on this date. (4)

Early 1942: Croatian General Headquarters plans called for equipping Ustasha Brigades I -V with a tank company for each, and a tank platoon with 3 medium and 2 light tanks for each of the 4 mountain brigades and each of the 4 Jäger brigades then in formation or soon to be formed. (5)

1 Jun 42: according to a British intelligence report of this date, “the Croatian Army has 12 old Renault tanks taken over from the former Yugoslav Army; these are probably FT-17s (7-10 tons).” All available evidence points to these having been dismantled and the turrets removed, or otherwise incorporated into the Croatian armored trains. There is absolutely no evidence that any FT-17/18s were ever used by the Croatians in their normal ground role.

First half of Jul 42: “The Croatian Army has obtained from the Germans an allotment of 21 x 5-ton tanks, which are supposed to be destined for the III Corps in Sarajevo for use in Bosnia.” (See the entry below for Autumn 1942 for LT-34 tanks). (5)

Second half of Jul 42: “20 Croatian soldiers recently left Karlovac to attend an armor course in Bjelovar. At the conclusion of the course they are to return to Karlovac with the tanks.” (6)

Autumn 1942: Croatia obtained 10 Hungarian L 3 (L 33/CV 33) Italian tankettes, with 15 spare “Kovacs” engines and 500,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition. (7)

Autumn 1942: Croatia ordered 20 ex-Czechoslovak LT-34 (P-II) tanks from Germany, but these had to be refurbished at the Skoda factory first. On receipt at Skoda, they were found to be in such bad condition that they were scraped and never delivered to Croatia. (8)

14 Feb 43: according to a German report, total Croatian armor strength this date was approximately 40 light tanks. (Inescapably, these must all be Italian tankettes and the ex-Polish TKS tankettes). (9)

14 Jul 43: by this date the NDH had established a Command (or Headquarters) for Armored Troops (Kommando der Panzertruppen) located in the Customs Building (next to the Veterinary Faculty) on Hainzlova Ulica in Zagreb. The Command came directly under the Inspector of Technical Troops (Pukovnik Čiril Danda) in the Ministry of the Armed Forces. It was responsible for all matters concerning the procurement of armor, training and maintenance of armored vehicles. (10)

Late 1943: a number of captured Italian L6/40 (PzKpfw. L6/40 733(i)) tanks were given to Croatia sometime after the Italian surrender on 8 September. (11)

15 Dec 43: a German intelligence document lists the types of armored vehicles in the hands of the Croatian forces on this date as follows:

PzKpfw. I Ausf. A (6-ton, 1 light machine gun Model 13),

PzKpfw. Renault (ex-Yugoslav) (1 x 3.7 cm gun and 1 light machine gun),

Pz.Spähwagen Fiat (2 light machine guns) (this is the L 3 (L 33) tankette).

(Comment: it is not believed that this information is either accurate or complete, since it was prepared by OKW/Abwehr is far-off Berlin and seems to conflict with the known facts). (12)

15 Jan 44: describing the types of tanks used by the Croatian mountain and Jäger brigades, Croatian general staff Podpukovnik Ivan Babić, who was directly concerned with the equipping of the Croatian forces, told Allied intelligence in Italy immediately following his defection by plane that these were “French Hotchkiss” (H-39s?), “Ursus” (ex-Polish TKS tankettes), and “Ansaldo” (L 33s). (13)

Late spring 1944(?): a number of captured Italian Semovente L/40 DA47/32 (StuG L6 with 47/32 770(i)) self-propelled guns were given to the Croatian Army. Limited evidence suggests that these, possibly no more than 4 of them, were assigned to the Artillery Rgt./PTD. (14)

Spring 1944(?): a few Hotchkiss H-39 tanks may have been delivered to Croatia through German Army channels, and assigned to the mountain and Jäger brigades. Zaloga says these may have numbered 10 to 16 in total. (15)

Mid-1944: postwar sources state that the Germans delivered 12 to 15 Hanomag SdKfz. 251 armored half-tracks to Croatia in mid-1944. No documents have yet been seen to support this.

By autumn 1944: some postwar sources state that Croatia received from the Germans 20 to 25 PzKpfw. III Ausf. N (25-ton, 75mm L/24 gun), but no documents have been seen to support this.

Autumn 1944(?): Croatia received a few Pz.Kpfw. IV medium tanks from Germany, according to Chamberlain. Postwar sources state that these were 10 x PzKpfw. IV Ausf. F (24.5-ton, 75mm L/24 gun) and 5 x PzKpfw. IV Ausf. G (26-ton, 75mm L/43 gun). Unfortunately, no documents have been seen to support this. (16)

1 Dec 44: the Croatian Armed Forces had a total of 85 armored fighting vehicles on this date, according to the German staff directly concerned with equipping Croatian units. These were allocated and distributed as follows: (17)

Units Authorized On Hand

Poglavnikova tjelesna divizija (PTD) 54 35

14 Ustasha Brigades 84 26

4 Mountain Brigades 18 9

3 Jäger Brigades 18 0

3 Replacement Brigades 26 7

Mobile Brigade (Brzi Zdrug) 24 5

Miscellaneously assigned 0 3

Total authorized: 224

Total on hand: 85

Jan 45: according to Croatian veteran Slavko Skara, the tanks provided to the Croatians by the Germans were sent to the front in Syrmia to help halt the Russian and Bulgarian advance

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