The Armored train Hurban was an

armored train An armoured train is a railway train protected with armour. Armoured trains usually include railway wagons armed with artillery, machine guns and autocannons. Some also had slits used to fire small arms from the inside of the train, a facilit ...

used during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, during the

Slovak National Uprising The Slovak National Uprising ( sk, Slovenské národné povstanie, abbreviated SNP) was a military uprising organized by the Slovak resistance movement during World War II. This resistance movement was represented mainly by the members of the ...

. The Hurban was constructed on September 25, 1944, in the Railway Manufactory in

Zvolen Zvolen (; hu, Zólyom; german: Altsohl) is a town in central Slovakia, situated on the confluence of Hron and Slatina rivers, close to Banská Bystrica. It is surrounded by Poľana mountain from the East, by Kremnické vrchy from the West an ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, and was the last armored train used in the Slovak National Uprising. A replica is displayed as a monument in a park next to the

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

, and an original preserved machine gun carriage is at the Museum of the

Banská Bystrica Banská Bystrica (, also known by other alternative names) is a middle-sized town in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica Mo ...

.Images from Google maps are availabl
here

Combat history

The

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

of the train was Captain J. Kukliš, and his assistant was Lt. J. Belko, together commanding a crew of 71 men. Hurban operated in the

Brezno Brezno (; 1927–1948 ''Brezno nad Hronom'', german: Bries or ''Briesen'', hu, Breznóbánya) is a town in central Slovakia with a population of around 21,000. Geography Brezno is located within the Geomorphological division of Slovakia, Horehr ...

– Červená Skala area against the 18th division SS Horst Wessel and from October 23–24, 1944, was the main factor in the fight for the upper flow of the

Hron The Hron ( sk, Hron; german: Gran; hu, Garam; la, Granus) is a long left tributary of the Danube German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

attacks. It was pulled to

Harmanec Harmanec ( hu, Hermánd) is a village and municipality in Banská Bystrica District in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. History The village first appears in historical records circa 1540. Geography The municipality lies at an alti ...

, where it was abandoned in a railway tunnel, the crew fighting on as a

partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...

detachment.

References

Slovak National Uprising Armoured fighting vehicles of World War II Armoured trains of Slovakia {{Slovakia-stub

Combat history

See also

References