>> Pz.Kpfw. 38(t) - ve službách cizích armád

Bulgaria
The original request of the Bulgarian army was for the supply of ten medium tanks Pz.Kpfw. III. Instead, the German authorities allowed the supply of used Pz.Kpfw. 38 (t) in the required ten-piece amount. The tanks underwent repairs and on May 20, 1943, they were taken over in the Arsenali in Vienna by army representatives of the Bulgarian Royal Army. These tanks formed the armament of the 9th Company Armored Brigade.
After the transition of Bulgaria on September 8, 1944 to the Allied side, the tank brigade participated in the fighting against the former ally Germany. In the difficult terrain of Yugoslavia, light " boyna wheels Praga", as the Bulgarians called them, proved to be better than heavier German tanks. After returning to Bulgaria in 3/1945, three tanks were written off and the remaining machines served as auxiliary or training machines. They were decommissioned in the 1950s.


According to the Bulgarian source [* 1 *] below, these were the following versions and serial numbers:



According to the Czech source [* 2 *] below, these were to be the following versions and serial numbers:

[~ 1 ~] Kaloyan Matev - The Armored Forces of the Bulgarian Army 1936-45, Helion & Company, year of publication 2015, ISBN: 978-1-909384-16-3
[~ 2 ~] Vladimir Francev, Charles K. Kliment - Prague LT vz.38, MBI publishing house, year of publication 2002, ISBN: 80-86524-01-9
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Czechoslovakia 1945 - circa 1960 (+)
The paradox of the use of Czechoslovak tanks LT vz. 38 is that in reality their army used only as booty for the German army and their allies. In the post-war Czechoslovak army, this tank bore the designation LT-38/37.
After the end of the war, several dozen pieces of this pre-war Czechoslovak tank were found and used in Czechoslovakia. In the Czech territory, these tanks had only small security units, a spare section of armored trains. Other tanks were training vehicles from the training center for tank destroyers in Milovice. Five tanks were of Slovak origin, where they formed a protective platoon of the President of the Slovak state.
The first pair of tanks was captured by the Prague insurgents on May 8, 1945 in Milovice. These were tanks forming part of a pair of captured armored trains. As part of the protection of the border areas, just after the end of the war (5/1945), these armored trains were sent to protect the borders. Another pair of tanks was on another armored train (President Dr. E. Beneš) and was sent to the border areas in 6/1945. This four tanks remained in the state of the Company of Armored Trains (later the Battalion of Armored Trains) until 1949. They did not have registration numbers of the Central Committee.
In 9/1945 were created 21. tank brigade and 22. tank brigade and part of the tanks were assigned to them.
At the beginning of 1946, the total number of 29 pieces is stated (+2 in the repair of AZ 1 Přelouč), in 1948 and as of February 1, 1949, 31 tanks are given. Of this number, 19 were led in the state of the armored train battalion (POV), but only four were used, a pair of tanks were under repair in AZ 1 in Přelouč and 13 tanks were stored in warehouses. The machines deployed within the armored train unit were to be placed on tank wagons and in contact with the enemy were to get off the platforms and support the armored train in a combat situation. The original company of armored trains, which was created in Milovice immediately after the end of the war, was reorganized in 10/1947 into a battalion of armored trains. In 1950, POV received three more tanks from 21. tank brigade and 22. tank brigade, which increased the number of tanks to 25 pieces. The rest was concentrated in the Tank College.
The original intention was that the machines were to be used until 1949. Subsequently, the machines were offered to the Ministry of National Security, which did not take them over. It was a sale to Israel, but it didn't happen either.


In 10/1949 it was ordered to abolish 10 tanks and extract them for parts. However, this regulation has not been implemented.
In 1/1950, the paratroopers of the armored trains were scrapped and so the tanks became unnecessary.
From 3/1950, these unnecessary tanks were transferred to the state 23. tank brigade.
During the reorganization processes in the army in 1950/51, the tanks were decommissioned from combat units and concentrated at the tank base No. 1 in Vyškov. A total of 27 tanks underwent repairs (16 tanks underwent repairs when they were still in POV and 11 tanks underwent repairs at the 1st Circuit Repair Base in Pilsen), so it served reliably for several years.
As of April 1, 1952, 14 tanks were kept in the warehouses of the 1st Tank Base in Dědice near Vyškov.
As of March 15, 1955, 29 more tanks were registered, of which 18 pieces in the military organization Zväzarm and 11 tanks were stored on tank bases.
In 1959, a pair of tanks was led in the state of the J. Žižka military grammar school from Trocnov.
In 1959, one tank from the Prague branch of Zväzarm was handed over to the collections of the Military History Institute (ÚV 367/75.947). In the mobile state, he still participates in various military parades and events.
In 1964, one tank was included in the collection of the SNP Museum in Banská Bystrica (ÚV 357/75.944). He got to the museum from the deposits of the 2nd Tank Base in Žilina.
Some tanks have served in civil enterprises as platforms for various special-purpose superstructures, for example trencher.
Tower from LT vz.38 served in the creation of a prototype flamethrower tank PM-1.



Number of tank wagons (actual number of tanks LT-38/37)



List of tanks for which the serial number is known



Overview of tanks in the state of the Czechoslovak army



Other known ÚV numbers (unknown registration number):

Břetislav Nakládal - Organizational construction of tank units of the Czechoslovak Army 1945-50, HPM No.6/2001
Pavel Minarik - https://vojenstvi.kvalitne.cz/
[~ 1 ~] armada.vojenstvi.cz (Vladimir Francev - Kořistní obrněná vehicles in the Czechoslovak army (2nd part))
[~ 2 ~] https://www.valka.cz/topic/view/1863
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Juhoslávia


In povojnovej army Juhoslávie sa nachádzala a myriad of typov machines rôznych krajín. Ako korisť after the nemeckej army sa in the best nachádzali and Pz.Kpfw.38(t). Fotografia he comes from cvičenia juhoslovanských tank jednotiek from obdobia just after the end of the 2.svetovej war.



*source:


www.ww2incolor.com.

Hungary
The Hungarian Army received a total of 110 tanks Pz.Kpfw. 38(t). The tanks bore the registration numbers 1H-725 to 1H-727, 1H-729 to 1H-756, 1H-758, 1H-760 to 1H-832. Command tanks bore registration numbers 1H-728, 1H-757, 1H-759, 1H-876 to 1H-878.

Vladimír Francev, Charles K. Kliment - Praga LT vz.38, MBI publishing house, year of publication 2002, ISBN: 80-86524-01-9
Charles K. Kliment, Dénes Bernád - Hungarian Army 1919-1945, published 2007, Ares (978-80-86158-50-1), Our Army (978-80-206-898-7)
www.ebay.de

Romania
In May and June 1943, the Romanian army was handed over to the Cuban in addition to the losses of 50 pieces of Pz.Kpfw tanks. 38 (t). the machines were manufactured in the years 1939-42 in ČKD Prague and were heavily worn. Due to their poor condition, there was also a rift between the Romanians and the Germans, the Romanians pointed out that the supplied tanks are in poor condition and mainly have a slightly higher combat value of their then decommissioned R-2 tanks (ie LT vz. 35), in addition, are strongly threatened by any Soviet anti-tank gun and even anti-tank rifles. In Romania, the machines were designated T-38 (according to the German designation) and was built from them Tank Battalion T-38, which became part of the 2nd Tank Regiment. The battalion had companies 51, 52 and 53 in each served 15 machines. In the winter of 1943/44, the 54th Company was temporarily built, which used 5 machines of the battalion headquarters. The battalion was assigned to the Romanian Cavalry Corps from July 1943. In his ranks he took part in the battles of the Cubans and the Crimea. In 11/1943, the machines of the 51st and 52nd companies were evacuated to Romania, but the 53rd Company continued to provide support to the 10th Infantry Division in Crimea. The Romanians had heavy losses, so when the T-38 battalion was reformed, each company had only 9 machines. The battalion fought near Bucharest and Ploiesti (against the Germans) and in March, its tanks reached the Czechoslovak Republic and Austria. As of April 22, 1945, the battalion still had 5 machines, all in very poor condition. These last machines were confiscated by the Soviets. As far as is known, not a single one returned to Romania.

Slovak state
Original Czechoslovak designation: LT vz.38
Factory designation: 1st series TNH-Sl/I, 2nd series TNH-Sl/II
German designation: Pz.Kpfw. 38 (t)
Slovak designation: LT-38
Total number of delivered tanks: 74 (9 tanks were destroyed during the fighting on the Eastern Front. In the summer of 1944, the number of tanks was 65.)


Known serial numbers of delivered tanks:



List of delivered tanks:

Marian Uhrin - Assault Vehicle Regiment 1944, Museum of the Slovak National Uprising, year of publication 2012, ISBN: 978-80-89514-14-4 ([~ 3 ~] p.235)
I. Bajtoš - History of the Slovak Assault Vehicle Regiment 1939-1944, manuscript, Košice 1987
Vladimír Francev, Charles K. Kliment - Prague LT vz.38, MBI publishing house, year of publication 2002, ISBN: 80-86524-01-9
Thomas L.Jentz, Hilary Louise Doyle - Panzerkampfwagen 38 (t) Ausf.A to G und S Production, Modification, and Operational history from 1939 to 1942, Panzer Tracts No.18, year of publication 2007, ISBN: 0-9771643-6 -5
Jirka Tintěra - Overview of attack vehicle