The tank units of the armed forces of pre-war Yugoslavia trace their history back to a platoon of armored vehicles formed as part of the army of the Kingdom of Serbia in 1917 during its operations as part of the Entente forces on the Salonika front. In this unit, there were two machine-gun armored vehicles "Peugeot" and two "Mgebrov-Renault" (according to other sources - only two "Renault") of French production. In 1918, they proved themselves well during the march through Serbia, and some of them, together with the Serbian troops, reached Slovenia itself.
Realizing the promise of this type of weapon, the Yugoslav generals from 1919 conducted intensive negotiations with the French side on the supply of tanks and training of personnel. As a result, in 1920 the first group of Yugoslavian military personnel was trained as part of the 303rd tank company of the 17th French colonial division, and up to 1930 groups of officers and non-commissioned officers were repeatedly sent to study in France.
In 1920-24. The army of the Kingdom of CXS received from the French within the framework of a war loan, as well as free of charge, several lots of used Renault FT17 light tanks with both machine-gun and cannon armament. The total number of delivered tanks is estimated at 21 vehicles. Renault FT17s came in scattered batches, were not in the best technical condition and were used primarily for training personnel in the interests of the planned deployment of armored units. The first experience of creating a separate unit was undertaken in 1931, when the 10 remaining "on the move" tanks were brought together to the "Company of Combat Vehicles" stationed in the city of Kragujevac. However, the deterioration of equipment, especially the tracks and chassis, in the absence of spare parts led to the fact that in July of the same year the company was disbanded, and combat vehicles were transferred to the infantry and artillery school. The rest rusted sadly in warehouses until they were disassembled for parts for new tanks that appeared in the Yugoslav military in 1932-40.
Light tank Renault FT17 at the Belgrade War Museum
In 1932, on the basis of a military agreement, Poland transferred 7 FT17 light tanks and a batch of spare parts to Yugoslavia, which came in handy to the dilapidated tank fleet of the Kingdom. Continuing negotiations with France, the Yugoslav government was able in 1935 to conclude an agreement on the supply of another 20 FT17, incl. and an improved modification of the M28 Renault Kegres, which was carried out by the French before 1936.
Equipped with a Renault 18 four-cylinder engine, FT17 two-seater light tanks could reach speeds of up to 2.5 km / h over rough terrain (M28 - twice as much) and had armor protection of 6-22 mm. Approximately 2/3 of them were armed with 37-mm SA18 guns, the rest carried machine-gun armament - 8-mm "Hotchkiss". In the conditions of modern war, they were ineffective and were only suitable for supporting the infantry against an enemy who did not have heavy weapons (partisans, etc.). However, in the second half of the 1930s, when Yugoslavia considered Hungary as its main likely enemy, such combat vehicles might seem quite adequate: the Magyar armored vehicle fleet was not much better.
Tank "Renault" FT17 of the improved modification of the M28 "Renault-Kegres" on the pre-war maneuvers of the Yugoslav army
Yugoslavian FT17s had the standard French dark green color, and only a few M28s received three-color camouflage - green, "chocolate brown" and "ocher yellow" spots. The increase in the number of tanks made it possible in 1936 to form in the Yugoslavian army a "battalion of combat vehicles", organized according to a "triple" principle: three tank companies (the fourth - "park", that is, auxiliary) with three platoons of three tanks each. The third platoon of each company consisted of the improved FT17 M28. One tank platoon was also attached to the headquarters, one "park" company, and each tank company had a "reserve" tank. In total, the battalion consisted of 354 personnel and officers, 36 tanks, 7 cars and 34 trucks and special vehicles, and 14 motorcycles with sidecars.
The "battalion of combat vehicles" was at the direct disposal of the Ministry of War (in wartime - the High Command of the Yugoslav Army), but its units were scattered throughout the kingdom: headquarters, 1st and "park" companies - in Belgrade, 2nd company - in Zagreb (Croatia) and the 3rd company in Sarajevo (Bosnia). Tanks were supposed to be used exclusively for "escorting infantry", which limited their combat role - a common misconception in European armies of the pre-war period! Nevertheless, in September 1936, when the battalion was shown to the public and foreign observers at a military parade in Belgrade, it, according to the memoirs of contemporaries, "caused a stir."
In 1936, a document appeared that determined the further development of the armored forces of Yugoslavia - the Regulation on the Peaceful and Military Composition of the Army. According to him, it was planned to form two battalions of medium tanks (66 vehicles in total) in the near future, another light battalion and a squadron of "light cavalry tanks" of 8 vehicles. In 1938, it was planned to deploy seven tank battalions (a total of 272 vehicles) - one for each army, and a battalion of heavy tanks (36 vehicles) subordinate to the High Command. In the future, each tank battalion was to receive a fourth "supplementary" tank company.
As part of a project to transform one of the two Yugoslavian cavalry divisions into a mechanized one in 1935, negotiations began with Czechoslovakia on the supply of "light cavalry tanks" - in other words, tankettes. A loan agreement in the amount of 3 million dinars was signed with the Czech plant Skoda, as part of which 8 Skoda T-32 tankettes were delivered to Yugoslavia in 1937. The Yugoslavs demanded that the standard samples of this military equipment be modified specifically for them, the maximum armor protection increased to 30 mm, the armament was strengthened, etc., which was done by the Czechs.
In 1938, T-32s were tested in Yugoslavia, which received the official name of high-speed cavalry combat vehicles and they formed a separate squadron directly subordinate to the cavalry command. Until February 1941, he was stationed together with a tank battalion near Belgrade, and then was transferred to the cavalry school in Zemun. Quite modern for the late 1930s. Czech tankettes, which had good speed and carried armament from the 37-mm Skoda A3 cannon and 7, 92-mm Zbroevka-Brno M1930 machine guns, were serviced by a crew of two.
Tankette T-32 at the pre-war parade of the Yugoslav army
All of them were painted in tricolor camouflage.
The military authorities of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia on the eve of World War II were aware of the insufficiency and imperfection of the armored vehicles at their disposal. In this regard, vigorous attempts were made to obtain a batch of more modern tanks. The choice was made in favor of the Renault R35, which entered service with the French troops to replace the outdated FT17. At the beginning of 1940, the Yugoslav military delegation was able to conclude an agreement on the supply on credit of a batch of 54 Renault R35s, which had previously been in the armored reserve of the French armed forces. In April of the same year, the cars arrived in Yugoslavia. The fall of France under the blows of the troops of Nazi Germany freed the Yugoslavs from the need to repay the loan.
"Renault" R35, armed with a 37-mm gun, 7, 5-mm machine gun М1931 (ammunition - 100 rounds and 2,400 rounds) and equipped with a four-cylinder Renault engine, was a relatively good vehicle for its class ("light tank accompaniment "). It could develop a speed of 4-6 km / h over rough terrain, and armor protection from 12 to 45 mm was able to more or less successfully withstand the hit of a 37-mm projectile - the main caliber of the then anti-tank artillery. The crew consisted of two people, and the difficulty was that the commander, who also had the functions of a gunner-gunner, an observer, and, if the tank was radio-equipped, and a radio operator, had to be a downright universal specialist, while the position of a driver could be prepared for any civilian driver. However, its low maneuverability and small-caliber armament made the R35 obviously the weakest side in a duel with the German PzIII and Pz. Kpfw. IV, which carried 50 and 75 mm guns, respectively, and had excellent driving characteristics.
Yugoslav King Peter II personally "drives around" the first Renault R35 tank received from France
The new Renault vehicles became part of the Second Combat Vehicle Battalion of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia formed in 1940. The already existing FT17 battalion was appropriately named "First". However, there was some confusion in the names of the battalions. To avoid misunderstanding, the Yugoslav military themselves preferred to call the tank battalions simply "Old" and "New".
In December 1940, new staffs of tank battalions were approved, the same for both. The battalion now consisted of a headquarters (51 soldiers and officers, 2 cars and 3 trucks, 3 motorcycles); three tank companies, four platoons, three tanks in a platoon plus one "reserve" for each company (each has 87 soldiers and officers, 13 tanks, 1 passenger and 9 trucks and special vehicles, 3 motorcycles); one "auxiliary" company (143 soldiers and officers, 11 "reserve" tanks, 2 cars and 19 trucks and special vehicles, 5 motorcycles).
On March 27, 1941, the "new" tank battalion played an important role in the coup d'etat in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which was carried out by a group of senior officers led by General D. Simovic. The pro-British and pro-Soviet part of the Yugoslav political elite came out under the broadly supported Serb slogan "Better a war than a pact" against an alliance with Hitler's Third Reich and overthrew the pro-German government of Prince Regent Paul and Prime Minister D. Cvetkovic. Tanks R35 entered Belgrade and established control over the area of the buildings of the Ministry of the Army and Navy and the General Staff, and also took under protection the residence of the young king Peter II who supported the coup "Beli Dvor".
Renault R35 tank of the Yugoslav army on the streets of Belgrade on March 27, 1941
The turret of the Renault R35 tank during the coup in Belgrade on March 27, 1941, with the patriotic slogan "For the King and Fatherland" (FOR KRANA AND OTAKBINA)
Another unit of the military vehicles of the army of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a platoon of armored vehicles purchased in 1930 and attached to the cavalry school in Zemun. These vehicles, of which there were probably only three (2 French Berlie UNL-35, and 1 Italian SPA), were classified in Yugoslavia as an auto-machine gun and were intended for fire support and escort of cavalry units and for reconnaissance and patrol service. …
French armored car "Berlie" UNL-35 on the pre-war maneuvers of the Yugoslav army
Italian armored car SPA of the Yugoslav army
The bulk of the personnel and officers of the Yugoslav armored units were the servicemen of the "titular nation" of the kingdom - the Serbs. Among the tankers there were also Croats and Slovenes - representatives of peoples with rich industrial and artisan traditions. Macedonians, Bosnians and Montenegrins, natives of the least technically advanced areas of Yugoslavia, were rare.
Yugoslav tank crews wore the standard M22 army gray-green uniform. The headdress for the "service and everyday" uniform for the personnel was a traditional Serbian cap - "shaykacha"; for officers there were options with a cap of a characteristic shape ("kaseket"), a cap and a summer cap. The instrument color for the servicemen of the tank battalions was "combined arms" red, for the crew members of tankettes and armored vehicles - cavalry blue. In 1932, a distinctive sign for wearing on shoulder straps was introduced for tankers in the form of a small silhouette of the FT17 tank, made of yellow metal for the lower ranks, and of white metal for officers. The working and marching uniform of the tankers consisted of a gray-green overalls and a tank version of a French-made Adrian M1919 steel helmet. Special dust-proof goggles with leather frames were worn with the helmet.
T-32 tankette commander
By the time the aggression of Nazi Germany against the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began, the Yugoslav armed forces included 54 R35 light tanks, 56 obsolete FT17 tanks and 8 T32 tankettes. The "new" tank battalion (R35) was stationed in the town of Mladenovac south of Belgrade in the reserve of the High Command, except for the 3rd company, which was transferred to Skopje (Macedonia) under the control of the Third Yugoslav Army. The "old" tank battalion (FT17) was dispersed throughout the country. The headquarters and the "auxiliary" company were located in Belgrade, and three tank companies were distributed between the Second, Third and Fourth Yugoslav armies, respectively, in Sarajevo (Bosnia), Skopje (Macedonia) and Zagreb (Croatia). A squadron of tankettes was stationed in Zemun near Belgrade with the task of anti-amphibious defense of the military airfield located there and covering the operational direction to Belgrade.
The combat readiness of the armored units and the state of the equipment could hardly be considered satisfactory. The old equipment had long depleted its resource, the new one had not yet been properly mastered by the crews, the tactical training of units left much to be desired, the provision of combat vehicles with fuel and ammunition during hostilities was not debugged. The greatest combat readiness was demonstrated by a squadron of T-32 tankettes, however, ironically, throughout the fleeting campaign, it never received armor-piercing shells for its 37-mm guns.
On April 6, 1941, the troops of Nazi Germany launched an invasion of Yugoslavia, operating from the territories of Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. In the following days, the Italian and Hungarian troops allied with them launched an offensive, and the Bulgarian army began to concentrate on the starting lines for entry into Macedonia. The Yugoslav monarchy, torn apart by national and social contradictions, was unable to withstand the blow and collapsed like a house of cards. The government lost control over the country, command over the troops. The army of Yugoslavia, considered the most powerful in the Balkans, in a matter of days ceased to exist as an organized force. Many times inferior to the enemy in terms of technical support and mobility, inadequately guided and demoralized, she suffered a monstrous defeat not only from the enemy's combat impact, but also from her own problems. Soldiers and officers of Croatian, Macedonian and Slovene descent deserted en masse or went over to the enemy; Serb servicemen, left by the command to fend for themselves, also went home or organized themselves into irregular units. It was all over in 11 days …
Against the background of the monstrous catastrophe of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, some of its armored units fell victim to general chaos and panic, but others showed a strong will to resist, repeatedly entered into battle with superior forces of the invaders and sometimes even achieved some success. After the fighter pilots of the Yugoslav Air Force, who became famous during these tragic days for their desperate bravery, tankmen can probably be considered the second kind of weapon of the kingdom's army, more or less adequately fulfilling their military duty in April 1941.
According to the Yugoslav military plan "R-41", the headquarters of the First ("Old") battalion of combat vehicles and the auxiliary company had to wait until the beginning of hostilities for the approach of the 2nd and 3rd tank companies of the battalion. Following this order, the battalion commander with subordinate units arrived in the designated area. However, until April 9, none of the companies did not appear, he decided to join the stream of retreating troops and refugees. On April 14, near the Serbian city of Uzice, Major Misic and his subordinates surrendered to the advance units of the German 41st Mechanized Corps.
Of all the units of the "Old" tank battalion, the most stubborn rebuff to the enemy came from the 1st company stationed in Skopje (Macedonia). On April 7, the company, having lost one tank on the march due to a technical malfunction, took up defensive positions. By this time, the retreating infantry units had already withdrawn from defensive positions, and 12 obsolete FT17 tanks turned out to be the only obstacle to the advance of the German 40th Army Corps. The location of the Yugoslav tanks was discovered by the reconnaissance patrols of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler brigade, but the company commander gave the order not to open fire. Soon followed by a raid of German Ju-87 dive bombers, during which the company suffered serious losses in equipment and manpower, and its commander disappeared without a trace (according to some sources, he fled). But then Lieutenant Chedomir "Cheda" Smilyanich took over command, who, acting with surviving tanks and an improvised infantry detachment (made up of "horseless" tankmen, company technical personnel and a group of Serb soldiers from other units who had joined them), entered into a fire fight with the advancing SS vanguard. The tankers managed to delay the advance of the many times superior enemy for several hours. However, their weak means were not able to inflict significant damage on the Germans: the total losses of the Leibstandart SS in the Yugoslav campaign did not exceed several dozen people. In turn, the SS anti-tank weapons managed to destroy several more FT17s, and their infantry and armored vehicles began to bypass the Yugoslav strongholds. Lieutenant Smilyanich was forced to give the order for a retreat, complete in perfect order.
On April 8, the remnants of the 1st company of the "Old" tank battalion crossed the Yugoslav-Greek border. On April 9, during the battle, 4 surviving company tanks, left without fuel, were dug in and used as fixed firing points. Probably, then they were all destroyed or captured by the Nazis.
Destroyed Yugoslavian tank M28 "Renault-Kegres"
The 2nd tank company of the "Old" battalion, located in Zagreb (Croatia), during the war did not leave its place of deployment. When on April 10, 1941, the fighting units of the Croatian right-wing nationalist organization "Ustasha" (Ustashi), with the approach of the Wehrmacht units, established control over the Croatian capital, the tankmen of the 2nd company, among whom there were many Croats and Slovenes, did not offer resistance. They handed over their equipment to German officers, after which the Croatian servicemen went to the service of the "Independent State of Croatia" formed under the patronage of the occupiers, the Slovenian servicemen went home, and the Serb servicemen became prisoners of war.
The 3rd company of FT17 tanks, stationed in Sarajevo (Bosnia), with the beginning of the war, according to the "R-41" plan, was sent by rail to central Serbia. Upon arriving at the scene on April 9, the company was dispersed for cover from German air raids. Then the tankmen were ordered to make a night march to cover the retreat of one of the infantry regiments. During the advance, the tanks of the company "burned" almost all the fuel remaining in the tanks and were forced to stop without establishing contact with the infantry. The commander of a tank company asked the headquarters for refueling, but received an answer that all the reserves of fuel and lubricants were "already captured by the Germans." An order followed to remove the locks from the tank guns, dismantle the machine guns, refuel the trucks and, leaving the combat vehicles, retreat.
Abandoned by the crew of the Yugoslav M28 "Renault-Kegres"
One of the tank platoons did not obey the order and, with the last liters of diesel fuel, moved towards the enemy. However, he was ambushed and shot by German anti-tank artillery. An indirect confirmation of this heroic, but useless gesture is the famous photograph from the April War, which showed the burned FT17 tanks, frozen on the road in a marching order, on the hulls of which holes from armor-piercing shells are clearly visible …
Retreating in trucks, the remaining personnel of the company arrived at the railway station, where they witnessed the following spectacle: the fuel, which their tanks had just lacked, was drained from the railway tanks. The remnants of discipline after that finally collapsed, and the company commander dismissed his subordinates "to their homes with personal weapons." A group of servicemen from the 3rd tank company of the "Old" battalion, operating on foot, several times entered into skirmishes with the forward detachments of the Wehrmacht and, after the surrender of Yugoslavia, joined the Chetniks (Serbian monarchist partisans).
All units of the "New" tank battalion equipped with Renault R35 combat vehicles put up stubborn resistance to the Nazis. With the outbreak of the war, Major Dusan Radovic was appointed battalion commander.
On the night of April 6, 1941, the 1st and 2nd tank companies of the "New" battalion were sent to Srem, a region on the border of Croatia and Vojvodina near Hungarian territory, at the disposal of the headquarters of the 2nd Army Group of the Yugoslavian Armed Forces. Due to the Luftwaffe air raids and the chaos that reigned on the railways with the outbreak of the war, the tank companies were able to unload at their original destination only when the German units of the 46th Mechanized Corps were already on the way, and the Yugoslav infantry divisions, with which the tankers were to act according to the plan, were defeated and actually ceased to exist as organized units.
The headquarters, with which it was possible to establish radio contact, gave the order to the commanders of the tank companies to retreat to the south on their own. Having made a march in this direction, both tank companies soon took up their first battle. However, not with the Germans, but with a detachment of Croatian Ustasha who attacked the marching columns of tankers in order to seize their military equipment. According to Croatian data, the Ustash, to whose side a number of servicemen of tank companies - Croats and Slovenes - went over, managed to capture several combat vehicles and vehicles. However, the attack was unsuccessful, and 13 Ustasha were killed in a battle with tankers in the Doboi area.
After repelling the attack, both companies of R35 tanks took up positions and entered into battle with the advancing units of the German 14th Panzer Division, supported by the Luftwaffe. In turn, together with the Yugoslav R35, an infantry detachment, created from retreating military personnel, gendarmes and volunteers from the local Serbian population, who spontaneously gathered around the center of resistance, fought. Acting in a maneuverable defense, the Yugoslav tank crews managed to hold out almost until the very end of the war - until April 15. In these battles, they lost up to 20 Renault R35 tanks, both for combat and technical reasons. There is no data on German losses.
The remaining 5-6 tanks and a group of personnel began to retreat, but were soon overtaken and surrounded by the advanced units of the 14th Panzer Division. Having practically exhausted the reserves of fuel and ammunition, the Yugoslav tankers were forced to surrender after a short battle.
The 3rd company of R35 tanks, attached to the Third Yugoslav Army, also fought bravely on the territory of Macedonia. On April 6, with the beginning of hostilities, the company left its place of permanent deployment in Skopje, and, skillfully hiding from German air raids in the forests, by the beginning of April 7 arrived at the disposal of the headquarters of the infantry division. The divisional commander sent tankers to reinforce the 23rd Infantry Regiment, which was on the defensive. At dawn on April 7, a fierce battle began with the advancing units of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler brigade. By noon, when the Nazis deployed Ju-87 dive bombers and introduced a significant amount of armored vehicles into battle, the Yugoslav 23rd Infantry Regiment began to retreat, and the 3rd Panzer Company was in the rearguard, covering its retreat. Constantly entering into fire contact with the enemy, she retreated to new positions, where she gave her last battle. Surprisingly, the fatal blow to the Yugoslav tankers was inflicted not by dive bombers or German "panzers", who could not break their resistance, but by a company of SS 47-mm anti-tank guns PAK-37 (T). Taking advantage of the combat situation, the German artillerymen managed to take an advantageous position, from which they literally shot the Yugoslav R35s. The 12-40 mm Renault armor proved to be ineffective even against such a small caliber. Armored vehicles and infantry of "Leibstandart" completed the rest, and by the night of April 7, the 3rd company of the "New" tank battalion ceased to exist. The surviving tankers, incl. their commander was captured.
47-mm Czech anti-tank gun PAK-37 (T)
The legendary episode of the participation of Yugoslav tankers in the April 1941 war fell to the lot of the commander of the "New" tank battalion, Major Dusan Radovic, who in a few days managed to create a combat-ready unit from the remaining 10-11 R35 tanks at his disposal.
On April 10, the High Command ordered Major Radovich and his tankmen to move forward to cover the close approaches to Belgrade from the southeast from the troops of the 1st Panzer Group of Colonel-General Ewald von Kleist, which were rapidly advancing towards the capital of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
On April 11, a Wehrmacht reconnaissance detachment suddenly attacked a Yugoslav platoon. Caught by surprise, the Yugoslavs began to retreat, but quickly organized a counterattack, in which dismounted tankers also took part. The Serbs rushed with bayonets, and the German soldiers hastily retreated, leaving in the hands of the victors six of their wounded comrades (freed in the evening of the same day during the retreat of the Yugoslav units).
Major Dusan Radovich decided to personally conduct a reconnaissance of the area. Having sent forward a squad of scouts on motorcycles, Radovich himself followed him on a command tank. And at the crossroads there was a dramatic clash between Major Radovich's reconnaissance patrol and the vanguard of the 11th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht.
Noticing the approach of the German vanguard patrol on motorcycles in time, the Yugoslavs met the enemy with rifle and machine-gun fire. Having suffered serious losses, the Germans retreated.
At the same time, the R35 command tank took up an advantageous firing position and met the German combat vehicles approaching the battlefield with the aimed fire of 37-mm guns. With well-aimed shots, he managed to disable two light tanks Pz. Kpfw. II. Supporting their commander, other Yugoslav tanks and an anti-tank battery opened fire. The advance of the advance detachment of the German 11th Panzer Division was stopped. Having learned about the appearance of enemy tanks on the way of his offensive, the commander of the German division ordered the vanguard to immediately sort out the situation and "clear the way."However, the armored vehicle Sd. Kfz.231 of the commander of the German forward detachment came under fire from the tank gun of Major Radovich, and the German officer was killed.
The Germans pulled up to the battlefield Pz. Kpfw. IV tanks armed with powerful 75-mm guns, and when trying to change the position of the Renault R35 of the commander of the "New" tank battalion, was knocked out. Major Radovich managed to get out of the burning car, however, when he helped the driver wounded by shrapnel to leave the tank, a machine-gun burst shot through both of them.
After the death of Major Radovic, the defense of the Yugoslav units, which began to fire from the German howitzer artillery, fell. The surviving R35 tanks left their positions and retreated, the personnel were soon disbanded on all four sides, and the military equipment, partially disabled, was abandoned. The reconnaissance squad of the tank battalion was the first to enter the battle and was the last to leave. The road to Belgrade was now actually open, and the capital of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrendered to the Nazis on April 13.
The fate of the T-32 tankette squadron was tragic. At the beginning of the war, together with a platoon of armored vehicles, it was attached to the reserve cavalry regiment, which provided anti-amphibious defense of the military airfield in the Belgrade suburb of Zemun. On April 6-9, tankette crews took an active part in repelling Luftwaffe air raids, firing at low-flying enemy aircraft from Zbroevka-Brno machine guns removed from their vehicles and arranging fire ambushes where, in their opinion, German Ju-87s should have come out of diving. and Messerschmitts. In connection with the invasion of German troops from the territory of Bulgaria on April 10, the squadron was sent in the direction of the city of Nis (southern Serbia). On the way, the combat vehicles were refueled, but they never received armor-piercing ammunition.
The squadron met early in the morning on April 11 at the intersection of roads. Unaware of the operational situation, the squadron commander sent two tankettes to reconnaissance along the highway to Kragujevac. Soon one of the cars fell behind due to a technical malfunction.
abandoned Yugoslav tankette T-32
The second continued to move and suddenly collided with a mechanized column of the Wehrmacht. After a short skirmish, the tankette pulled out of the battle and rushed across rough terrain to warn the main forces of the squadron about the approach of the enemy. However, she was unable to cross the irrigation canal. The advanced units of the German 11th Panzer Division appeared completely unexpectedly. Most of the crews of the tankettes at that moment were outside their vehicles and, when trying to take combat positions, were mowed down by the machine-gun fire of the Germans. Several T32s entered the battle, however, not having time to take advantageous firing positions and not having anti-tank shells, they were soon destroyed. Having got out of the padded tankette, the squadron commander shot a pistol clip at the enemy and put the last cartridge into his temple …
A platoon of Yugoslav armored vehicles on April 13 as part of the so-called "Flying Squad" created by the command of the Second Yugoslav Army to fight the Croatian Ustasha (commander - Colonel Dragolyub "Drazha" Mikhailovich, the future leader of the Serbian Chetnik movement). On April 13, the detachment managed to clear the settlement of Bosanski Brod from the Ustasha, and on April 15, for a whole day, it fought a heavy battle with the Germans, but the role of combat vehicles in these clashes is not reported.
After the April War, the German command actively used the captured Yugoslav armored vehicles in the anti-partisan struggle. The captured FT17s made up to 6 "independent tank platoons", of the R35, which received the complex name Pz. Kpfw.35-R-731 / f /, made up "Tank company for special purposes 12". Of the T32 tankettes, only two were included in the occupation forces, renamed Pz. Kpfw.732 / j / in the Wehrmacht. All these units were disbanded by the beginning of 1942, when the losses in tanks, mainly due to technical malfunctions, reached 70% in them. Remaining on the move and "non-working" equipment was subsequently transferred by the invaders to the armored formations of the armed forces of the Independent State of Croatia and the collaborationist Serbian Volunteer Corps.
