Curious field modification of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) from 1943. On the chassis of an artillery tractor STZ-5 was fitted torso (body including tower) light tank T-26. This improvised tank was captured in 12/1943 in the Polish Kupiczowie. It is unknown to me as long as it was captured, but the source from which I draw mentions this construction in connection with the Polish resistance team ( 27th Wołyńska Infantry Division of Armii Krajowa). Although this unit was established in 1/1944, it is possible that the dating is not accurate and this unit, which was created in response to the violence perpetrated by UPA on the Polish population, is indeed a unit that captured this machine.
URL : https://www.valka.cz/T-26-STZ-5-t71737#252738
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Dear colleague to your post I remembered the story of my grandfather Jaroslav Ledvina who as a Volhynian Bohemian lived in the village of Kupičov. He told me that during the defence of the village by the Czech militia against the Ukrainian nationalists, they experienced the worst moments when an improvised tank attacked the village. This attack ended about 2 kilometres from the village, where the vehicle went off duty and was abandoned by the Ukrainians. As a curiosity, my grandfather mentioned that the weapons were bought by the Czechs at the German command post in Kovel. For a wagon of bacon a wagon of loot rifles and perhaps some machine guns and barbed wire. The village was surrounded by beech trees, barbed wire and trenches. They kept a night watch. Unfortunately this memory is about 25 years old and my grandfather has passed away.
URL : https://www.valka.cz/T-26-STZ-5-t71737#252789
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