Fifth Gear - Polish Cars
Peugeot platoon on maneuvers in 1932 Biedrusk The vehicle in the foreground, No. 1116, named Jadwiga, is armed with a 37mm gun Second Wanda probably also has a gun 2.
E ighteen French armored cars Peugeot Vintage World War, purchased in 1920, was the main type of Polish armored car in the 1920s, later they were used by the police, and some even saw combat against the Germans in 1939.
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T he first few armored vehicles Peugeot chassis were built in France in August 1914 is no standard model at the beginning, so that the first cars differed chassises, armor and armament Most were armed with machine guns 8 mm, so they have been designated as AM in French armored gun automatic machine at the end of 1914, the French army decided to work on a standard type of armored vehicle.
Two similar vehicles have been designed AM Renault 20HP mod E1 MG-armed and AC Peugeot 18CV Peugeot was armed with 37mm gun, it was designated as Autocanon AC french It was built on the chassis of the Peugeot 146 or 148 cars 1 according other sources, Peugeot 153 2 About 120 AM Renault and Peugeot 150 AC were ordered from their armored hulls were designed by Cpt Reynaud that the hulls of the two types of armored vehicles were very similar, and armament was interchangeable as they are mixed armament in service and Peugeots have become the first Peugeot and armored gun cars were sent to the front in January 1915 to the 6th and 7th Groups armored vehicles assigned to the 7th division cavalry and the 1st cavalry Corps after the war, the French army had 28 Peugeot cars 1 some cars were given to White Russian units Denikin 1 Then little French cars were used in the fighting in Morocco in 1920 in 1923, a car was rebuilt experimentally Kegresse half-track chassis.
At that time, Poland was at war with Soviet Russia W The situation was difficult, especially in summer 1920 when the Soviet offensive seriously threatened Warsaw From 1919, the Polish government tried to buy armored cars in France, but only in August 1920 the french agreed to sell 18 Peugeot cars and spare parts cars were sent by sea on a Dorrit ship and arrived in Poland in September-October, only three cars had guns at first, but by following three were rearmed this way Finally, Poland had 12 Peugeot armed armored vehicles with machine guns and 6 armed with official reports cannons count 18 cars 16 built on the 146 KC chassis, and the other two on the 148 KC chassis However there are 19 known record numbers 810, 812, 815-824, 1114-1116 and 1118-1121 1 it is possible that a vehicle was from piè these alternatives In some publications, the vehicle is called Peugeot 1918 model 2.3 but it doesn t seem justified in terms of their wartime Acc ording to source vintage 3 vehicles were an improved model of post war, however, it seems that they must have been the original war vehicles, because one of them had painted the war Cross french decoration.
When the cars arrived in Poland in the fall of 1920 they were sent to the base armored vehicle Poznaс Unlike some publications, they do not see combat use in the Polish-Soviet war, which drew to a close currently Soon they form the 8 1 cars and 2nd of 10 armored car units over the next few years, the Polish armored units were reorganized several times, and Peugeot cars were divided into several units, mainly used for the formation.
MG-armed Peugeot 829, during the coup in May 1926 in Warsaw, Poland, on Plac Trzech Krzyїy Three Crosses.
Peugeot with a 37mm gun in the early 1930s, when obstacles suppression tests Note a canvas rolled on a roof, and a lack of an anti-ricochet left band, an armored car WZ 28 is visible.
Peugeot 2nd Squadron, with the second probably Peerless armored car, were assigned to the officer school in Warsaw, at the time of the coup Marshall Jуzef Piіsudski nd state in May 1926 W fighting lasted three days, budgeted up '400 killed, and ended with the victory of Piіsudski and implementation of a system in Poland authoritary appointed sanation two armored cars were used by government forces against Piіsudski Peugeot commander, Lt has a Szymaсski was killed, unfortunately throwing a hand grenade that bounced and fell inside the car despite his sacrifice, Pilsudski won.
In the 1920s, Peugeot was the main type of Polish Armored car outside combat value Fords limited, all other were fewer vehicles captured Soon it emerged that despite a thin armor, the chassis was overloaded , so the main gear had to be strengthened in the CWS workshops another drawback was a crew compartment opened in 1930, it became an idea of covering the car with an armored roof, but it was abandoned because it would cause overload many chassis cars were considered obsolete while and in 1928 replaced by WZ 28 half-track cars began a Peugeot, not 1120 was burned and was scrapped from 1930, cars were sometimes lent to the police, for tasks of training and maintaining order in 1935, twelve cars were sent the company of armored vehicles Bydg oszcz only as a training vehicle A vehicle No. 810 has been designed for the Museum of the Polish Army, but during the renovation, it appeared, he wore French painted decoration Cross of War as W ide The car had to be sent to France as a gift of 2, it is possible that it was not sent, because in 1938 he was still in the 5th armored battalion in Cracov Polish Museum got another vehicle instead unfortunately none of museal cars survived the war by the end of 1935 all the cars were removed from the army in 1937, three cars were to be sold to the police in Portugal, but it is not known if the operation was successful 1.
At the end of some thirty cars were given or sold to the Polish police, and located in Upper Silesia Polish industrial province with Katowice, inhabited by a strong German minority before the war, these cars were used the first day of as World War II army crossed the German Polish borders at dawn on 1 September 1939 and fought the battles of the borders with the Polish main forces, the bodies German francs - a fifth column well equipped, including local German Nazis and saboteurs trained in Germany, tried to capture targets behind the front line one of them was a power plant in Chorzуw city, defended by a Obrona Narodowa W national Defense police Peugeots the company supported the poorly equipped defenders morning, and managed to repell the attackers later that day, one of Car Police tried to enter the Michaі Maxgrube coal mine in Michaіkowice W near Chorzow, support the Polish police and infantry against a strong sabotage group Sonderformation Ebbinghaus It wa s burned with hand grenades while trying breaking a closed door the crew, the commander Cpt Walenty Fojkis, bail, but were injured; the coal mine itself temporarilly later returned to Polish hands, and the German commander SS-Obersturmbannfьhrer Wilhelm Pisarski was killed.
No cars survived World War II Recently, an armored car Peugeot replica is being built in Poland.
A platoon of armored cars WZ 28, followed by Peugeot platoon of the 1st Armored Car Unit Brzesc, 1930 or 1932 The first 37mm gun nr 1116 Jadwiga Peugeot, the second - MG Last Wanda also has a firearm A car head is a Citroлn-Kegresse staff B2 10CV 2.
Three MG-armed and armed gun Peugeot in a cavalry school Grudziadz in the background, four WZ 28 cars.
Two cars Brzesc the 3rd Squadron, named Wanda and Witold 1121 1118.
Six Polish Peugeot armored cars were armed with 37mm WZ 18 SA-18 Puteaux L 21 pistol at low speed with 40 rounds in France, there were up to 300 revolutions drive 1 The rest were armed with an 8 mm Hotchkiss Mle WZ 14 14 MG, with 2,500 towers in France until 6000 machine gun rounds were changed to standard 92mm Hotchkiss 7 WZ 25 in 1930 3 the two weapons had 360 horizontal angle of fire arms were protected by armored shields shield for MG was greater two types, the shield gun was lower and deeper both arms with their shields can be mounted on each vehicle reserve or MG LMG was carried in a vehicle 1 is not known if it was kept in the Polish service.
The armor is riveted steel plates rolled to 5 mm thick 5 an upper part of the crew compartment was opened there is no information, if a background is shielded.
Body armored body had a back door opening on the left side opposite side was no door A driver had a large window, protected by an armored door A front plate before the driver was well slope, which seems to be the due to a vertical shielding tape before it probably its role was to catch rebounds before hitting the open window of the driver This band was also a base to mount rear view mirrors was also often painted vehicle name in the Polish Service radiator was before an engine, protected by an armor grille visible difference in armored cars Renault was a radiator motor after an open top of the vehicle, with the shield of arms could be covered with a canvas on it - usually it was rolled up and fastened above the driver.
Frame body sitting on a frame, the suspension was on springs semi-elliptic leaf The car had steel wheels radiated The tires were 880x120 mm, and there was double wheels at the rear.
Peugeot engine 146 18CV - 40-45 HP based on French data, only 24 HP January 2800 ccm, 4-stroke, inline 4-cylinder, water-cooled, gearbox gasoline four forward gears and a step rear axle rear engine fuel tank only - approximately 45 liters.
equipment vehicles had two large headlights grill, and two smaller ones on the sides of the hood probably gas lamps; they are seen on rare pictures at least one car No. 1114 was also a big searchlight on the right side before the machine gun The car was not been equipped with a radio.
Crew Jan. 4 or 5 - other sources, but the car could take 2-5 more 1 soldiers.
Polish camouflaged MG-armed Peugeot No. 823 in coup in May 1926.
It is difficult to say for sure a Polish Peugeot cars camouflage For the most part, they were probably looking dark green most of the pictures, the cars were in uniform color and not have visible camouflage pattern There is a Photo of a vehicle camouflaged in a pattern with two colors in the mid 1920s in late 1930 the remaining vehicles could have been repainted in the new schema standard army, described in articles about other Polish vehicles.
A nationality sign in the 1920 mid-late was the white and red shield with a tilt dividing line; painted on the side in the 1930s, vehicles were not wearing sign of nationality.
Some of the vehicles had their own name painted on anti-ricochet strip This was particularly evident in the 3rd armored squadron in Brzesc the W Bug late twenties MG-cars had the names of Polish and Lithuanian kings and princes 1121 W Witold Kiejstut while gunboats cars had female names queens etc. Jadwiga 1116, 1118 Wanda.
Retromodels 72021 - Autocanon 37mm Peugeot 1915 - French Peugeot AM with 37mm gun.
Retromodels 72023 - armored Peugeot 1915 - very nice kit of the Peugeot French MG-armed.
Retromodels also kits look great like other French armored cars, mentioned in the text - 72024 72022 armored car Renault 1915 - Renault Autocanon 37mm in 1915.
Sources 1 Janusz Magnuski, Samochody pancerne Wojska Polskiego 1918-1939 SIO; Warsaw 1993 Tarczyсski January 2, K Barbarski, A Joсca, Pojazdy w Wojsku polskim - Polish Army Vehicles - 1918-1939; ajaks; Pruszkуw 1995 3 A Joсca, R Szubaсski, J Tarczyсski, Wrzesieс 1939 - Pojazdy Wojska Polskiego - Barwa i broс; WKЈ; Warsaw 1990.
All photos and images are the property of their owners and are published in educational purposes and non-commercial research whose photos are presumably public domain because their copyright text Michal Derela age.
Peugeot armored cars in the Polish Service, Peugeot armored cars.