What sample of Spanish armored vehicles was the most widespread in those years? This is the armored car "Bilbao", which was named after the city in the Basque Country, where the plant that produced it was located. It entered service with the Carabinieri in 1932, but the Spaniards managed to produce only 48 vehicles in four years. For the whole army! They were used by both nationalists and republicans, and so intensively that by the end of the war only seven cars survived, and the rest were killed in battles, and only one such armored car has survived to this day. By design, it was an extremely primitive machine: a box-shaped body, placed on the chassis of a Ford 8 mod. 1930, with a cylindrical turret, with a 7-mm Hotchkiss infantry machine gun, plus five shooters inside, who could fire through the embrasures on the sides from their personal weapons.
Armored car "Bilbao".
Thanks to the help of Soviet engineers Nikolai Alimov and Alexander Vorobyov, the Spaniards were able to establish production of their own armored cars UNL-35 or "Union Naval de Levante T-35", also named after the plant, where their production began in January 1937. Some of the vehicles had a chassis from a Chevrolet-1937 commercial truck, while others from the Soviet ZIS-5, so they differed in size, as well as in power reserve and speed. But their armament and armor were the same: although the Republicans installed two 7.62-mm Napo machine guns on them, and the nationalists preferred the German Dreise MG-13. They were used on the Madrid front and in other places, the nationalists really liked and became a very valuable trophy for them. And how they valued them is evidenced by the fact that they were in the Spanish army until 1956.
UNL-35
Those BAs that were made on the chassis of the "Chevrolet" SD, which had a three-axle base, were designated as ACC-1937 - "Chevrolet machine-gun and cannon vehicle", although at first its armament was only machine-gun. The future General Pavlov insisted on replacing the turrets with machine guns with cannon ones, with 37-mm Puteaux guns from the FT-17 tanks. All of them were actively used in battles and eventually ended up in the hands of the nationalists. They considered the ACC-1937 unarmed, put MG-13 Dreise machine guns on it, and on some machines … towers with BA-6, T-26 and BT-5, which could not be restored! These machines were very similar to the BA-Z / BA-6, but close up that it was not them, it was noticeable. Two ACC-1937 vehicles entered France along with the retreating republican units. In 1940 they were in the hands of the Germans, and they, firstly, gave them the names "Jaguar" and "Leopard", and secondly, … sent them to fight in Russia! The Leopard had a 37 mm cannon in the turret, but then it was removed, leaving the machine gun behind the shield. They were used against the partisans, and there is information that in the end they were captured by our own units!
UNL-35 (Projection)
A separate chapter in the Spanish epic is armored cars made by the hands of Spanish workers, and they were made there by everyone and everyone. In almost every city or even a small village, it was considered necessary to have an armored car. There is a truck chassis, there is sheet armor, there is "boiler iron" - which means that we are making our own armored car. No matter how many Spanish historians tried to count them, nothing came of them, as well as to classify them. There are armored vehicles that look like a "barn on wheels", while in some photos we see a BA with a dome-shaped turret and even with turrets taken from T-26 and BT-5 tanks.
Tank T-26 nationalists with an anti-aircraft machine gun.
Interestingly, nationalists in general were skeptical about improvised BAs, but they still used them. So, on the chassis of the "Ford Times" 7V, they released a BA, which was used as a self-propelled mortar. The 81-mm mortar on it was located in an armored body, in addition, it had an armored hood and cockpit. A machine gun could also be installed, and if the mortar was removed from it, then soldiers were transported in the car. It is believed that such BAs have worked well in battles.
The most, perhaps, monstrous "tiznaos".
The Spaniards called all these BAs "tiznaos" - "gray", and, judging by the photo, many were really gray, while others were painted with unthinkable camouflage. The fact is that there was an instruction from 1929, according to which all armored vehicles in the Spanish army were to be painted in "artillery gray" or medium gray. But the Spaniards called the German tanks "Negrilos" (black), which clearly indicates that in comparison with the light Spanish color, they were much darker.
Spotted "tiznaos".
"Bilbao" was also "tiznaos", as it was painted in the same way. Then they did not pay attention to this, but it should be noted that many home-made BAs also carried various inscriptions on their armor, and abbreviations for the names of various syndicalist organizations - UHP, UGT, CNT, FAI - to which their creators belonged. If there were several of them on one car, then this indicated their "unity" at the time of the construction of this armored vehicle. Chains attached to the armor plates near the wheels became an original solution for protecting tires from bullets and shrapnel where they were not covered by armor. Later, the Israelis will protect their tank "Merkava" with the same chains from RPG grenades.
"Tiznaos" on the basis of a tractor.
It should be noted that tanks and armored vehicles in Spain were destroyed by such primitive weapons as bottles of gasoline, and Italian tankettes and German Pz. Is skillfully undermined the famous "dynamiteros" (dynamite), for which they used packages and sacks of dynamite, which there were plenty of Spanish miners. But the main damage to armored vehicles in Spain was caused by artillery. It was in Spain that the 88-mm anti-aircraft gun RAK-36 (which appeared there already in October 1936) first began to be used, and, in addition, many different-caliber guns from various countries of the world: the 70-mm mountain guns of Schneider M. 1908, 75 -mm Krupp guns M. 1896, 65-mm mountain howitzers M. 1913 Italian production were also there, and they were sent to Spain 248 pieces.
Among the most effective are Soviet and German anti-tank guns of 45- and 37-mm caliber. The Italians used the 47-mm infantry gun Breda M-35 as an anti-tank gun, and the Spaniards themselves with the 40-mm also used the infantry gun "Ramirez de Arellano" mod. 1933. The Bofors and McLean 37mm automatic cannon of the 1917 model was also used in Spain, so the arsenal of anti-tank weapons in the Spanish Civil War was quite extensive.
65-mm mountain howitzer near Guadalajara.
All these guns had armor-piercing shells, but only the German and Soviet anti-tank guns of the 37- and 45-mm caliber and the Bofors cannon were truly anti-tank. Their small size allowed them to be easily camouflaged, so that they could hit enemy tanks long before they noticed them.
Moreover, the destructive power of the shells of the 37-mm and 45-mm guns on the tanks affected literally immediately, but … and this is the most amazing thing, for some reason nothing was done during the entire war in Spain to strengthen the armor of tanks! It can be assumed that it was difficult, say, to put additional armor on tanks that were supplied from the USSR, because these were production vehicles, but … what prevented you from taking care of this on the spot? After all, the Spaniards found armor for their home-made BA! The factories of Spain could well produce 5, 8- and 12 mm armor, the sheets of which could increase the armor to 25 (13 + 12), 33 (8 + 12 + 13) and even 55 mm (8 + 12 + 13 + 12) ? Later, BT-5s were armored in this way during the Great Patriotic War in Odessa and even in besieged Leningrad. And what prevented you from doing the same in besieged Madrid, Barcelona, or in the same Valencia? Well, at worst, it was possible to "book" tanks with sandbags. The Americans did not hesitate to use such armor on Sherman tanks. But in none of the photos of those years we see a single tank with additional armor. What is this, stupidity, ordinary carelessness or something else, of course, now it is impossible to say.
The only example of the conversion of tanks in Spain is the installation on some German Pz. Is of the 20mm rapid-fire Breda cannon, which was replaced by machine guns that were ineffective against tanks. At the same time, the tower was added with an armor plate curved in its shape, increasing its height and dimensions, however, no additional armor was installed on them either.
There were no attempts to strengthen the armament of Italian tankettes. Coaxial machine guns Fiat-14 or 35 caliber 8-mm, as well as a pneumatic flamethrower with a 125-liter fuel supply (25% gasoline and 75% gas oil), with a firing range of only 50-60 m, were probably considered quite sufficient weapons until end the war!
SOME CONCLUSIONS
The Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, which ended in victory for the nationalists, became the number one event for Europe in the 1930s. In our country, the Franco regime, which was established there, was condemned for many years very skillfully, but only over time they began to notice the fact that Franco was able to lead his country in such a way that Hitler and Mussolini could not drag him into the World War, but also the Western democracies considered it acceptable until his death. But in the military sphere, Spain has ceased to play any role.
Soldiers of the Republican Army and the Soviet T-26.
As for the conclusions made by military experts from different countries of the world, they were very interesting. Thus, the German generals * fully believed in the superiority of their military doctrines and new military equipment. After all, they even started the war against the USSR with the same RAK-36 37-mm caliber, which coped well with the T-26 and BT-5 in Spain, but against the T-34 and KV, it was frankly weak. The Germans increased the thickness of the frontal armor on their tanks to 30 mm, which gave them protection from 45-mm shells at the distance of their direct shot, that is, they had … a clear "dizziness with success." Certain technical shortcomings, in the opinion of German military authorities who studied the experience of the Spanish war, were to be compensated for by the excellent tactics of German generals and the discipline of soldiers.
But in the USSR, the defeat of the Republicans caused an obvious shock, because of which those who reported "upward" about their observations, first of all, emphasized the shortcomings of technology and only then talked about miscalculations in the command. This is where the assignments to the designers for such thick-armored tanks were sent so that no shells could hit them, so that even in the case of the most inept command, they could win at the expense of their exceptional power. But this also became the reason for the shyness in choosing the calibers of the anti-tank defense artillery, so that even the mere rumor about German tanks with 100-mm armor was enough to remove the quite successful "magpies" from service. The Stalinist leadership understood that Russia's decisive advantage had always been its truly inexhaustible human resources. Hence the obvious conclusion - to transfer all tanks to the infantry, and to disband large mechanized units. A huge mass of tanks, sweeping away any enemy in its path, the infantry moving behind them - that's what was supposed to bring victory in the coming war. Well, the supply of military personnel depended on many reasons **.
The most interesting thing is that in the end everything turned out exactly like this, and the view of the tank as a combat vehicle capable of fighting with any crew and with any command (it is clear that it was never official) remained and then for quite a long time. What the Soviet publications wrote about even in 1988 ***.
* Having already returned to Germany, von Thoma repeatedly said and wrote that Spain for Germany is the same “European Aldershot”, that is, he directly hinted at the weapons test range located in England.
** A good example of the organization of the "life" of pilots among the Francoists is the daily routine of the pilot M. Ansaldo, who fought on the Northern Front, given in the monograph by Hugh Thomas: 8.30 - he has breakfast surrounded by his family; 9.30 - arrives at his unit, then a flight to bombard Republican positions; 11.00 - he has a rest - playing golf in Lazart; 12.30 - then swimming and sunbathing on the beach in Ondarreto; 1.30 lunch - beer with a light snack in the cafe; 2.00 - second lunch at home; 3.00 - siesta (for the Spaniards it is sacred!): 4.00 - repeated combat mission: 6.30 - cinema; 9.00 - now there is also an aperitif with a good scotch-whiskey in the bar: 10.15 - the day finally ends with a dinner of pilots in the restaurant "Nicholas" with military songs by the chorus, warmed by wine vapors of the "fighting brotherhood" and general enthusiasm at the laid table … you can fight, right?
*** V. Shlykov. ARMOR KREPKA (Tank asymmetry and real security). INTERNATIONAL LIFE, No. 11, 1988. S. 39-52.
LITERATURE
1. Hugh Tomas. The Spanish Civil war. Penguin books. 1990, p. 1115.
2. Javier de Mazarrasa. Blindados en Espana. La Guerra civil 1936-1939. Quiron ediciones. 1991. S. 106.
3. Blindabos by Carros de Combate espanoles (1906-1939). Defensa. No. 45.1996, p. 64.
4. Artemio Mortera Perez. Los carros de combate “Trubia” (1925-1939). Quiron ediciones. 1994. S. 71.
5. Patrick Turnbull. The Spanish Civil war 1936-1939. Osprey. 1995. S. 40.
6. Ken Bradley. International brigades in Spain 1936-1939. Osprey 1994, p. 63.
