OA vz. 30
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The OA vz. 30 (full name Obrněný automobil vzor 30, en, Armoured Car Model 30, , italic=yes) was a
Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...
-designed armored car used by
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
in the 1930s and by
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
,
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 ...
,
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
and
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
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 ...
. Fifty-one were built, of which the Germans seized twenty-four when they occupied
Bohemia-Moravia The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The Cz ...
in March 1939 and the
Slovaks The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak. In Slovakia, 4.4 mi ...
captured eighteen when they declared independence from Czechoslovakia at the same time. Romania acquired nine when Czech troops sought refuge in Romania after the Hungarian invasion of Carpatho-Ukraine that same month. Slovak vehicles saw combat in the Slovak-Hungarian War, the
invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
, the opening months of
Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
and the Slovak National Uprising.


Description

The OA vz. 30's armored body was mounted on a Tatra 6 × 4 T-72 truck chassis. The chassis design was unusual as it was a central tube design with independently sprung rear half-axles which gave good cross-country performance. The driver sat on the right side using an observation port protected by an armored shutter with a vision slit. The assistant driver sat on the left and had a small vision port for his
ZB vz. 26 The ZB vz. 26 was a Czechoslovak light machine gun developed in the 1920s, which went on to enter service with several countries. It saw its major use during World War II, and spawned the related ZB vz. 27, vz. 30, and vz. 33. The ZB vz. 26 influe ...
light machine gun. It was mounted in a firing slit directly to his front. There were similar vision ports on both sides. The crew accessed the fighting compartment from a door in the rear of the vehicle. The gunner sat in a small, cylindrical turret with 360° of traverse. It had an observation port in the front and vision slits on both sides and the rear. The turret had another ZB vz. 26 in a ball mount. Another machine gun was carried inside the vehicle. 3000 rounds were stored for the machine guns. The armor ranged between thick; this was deemed enough to deflect ordinary bullets fired from over distance. The , air-cooled, , four-cylinder
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...
Tatra 71 engine was mounted in the front. It gave a top speed of . The vehicle could cross a ditch wide, climb an obstacle high and ford a stream deep.


Development

The development history for the OA vz. 30 is difficult to sort out, but the Czech Army had been evaluating various Tatra truck chassis for use as armored cars since 1926 with a number of prototypes built over the years with both wooden and metal bodies to test vehicle layouts. An order was finally placed on 6 March 1933 for fifty-one for delivery in December. Tatra was late and only delivered the first six on 29 January 1934 followed by sixteen more in February and the rest in July because their garages in
Milovice Milovice (; german: Milowitz) is a town in Nymburk District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. In the 20th century, the history of the town was influenced by the presence of a military base. In ...
were not yet complete.


Operational history


Czechoslovakia

In service they proved to have some serious shortcomings. The engines were weak and did not allow the vehicle to fully exploit the abilities of the chassis, not even being able to cross the ditches at the sides of roads. The armor was thin and could be penetrated at close range by rifles and the ZB vz. 26 machine guns were not capable of sustained fire. The Army decided to organize them in three-vehicle platoons assigned to the reconnaissance companies of the four ''Mobile (Rychlá) Divisions'' and assigned the extra platoons to support the border areas. These platoons were heavily used suppressing the protests and violence instigated by
Konrad Henlein Konrad Ernst Eduard Henlein (6 May 1898 – 10 May 1945) was a leading Sudeten Germans, Sudeten German politician in Czechoslovakia. Upon the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German occupation in October 1938 he joined the Nazi Party as well ...
's Sudeten German Party (''Sudetendeutsche Partei'' - SdP) and the ''Sudetendeutsche Freikorps'' (paramilitary groups trained in Germany by SS-instructors) between May and October 1938. After the
Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, Germany, the United Kingdom, French Third Republic, France, and Fa ...
two companies of ''OA vz. 30s'' were sent to reinforce Slovakia and Ruthenia where they were used to repel Hungarian and Polish border-crossers, sometimes up to a battalion in strength. They helped to screen the infantry when they had to evacuate southern Slovakia after the First Vienna Award on 2 November 1938. Ten armored cars, no longer needed once that the border areas had been annexed by Germany and Hungary, were sold to the Gendarmerie in February—March 1939. Two companies defended Carpatho-Ukraine in March 1939 from a Hungarian attack, but were forced to seek refuge in Slovakia and Romania. One OA vz. 30 was captured by the Hungarians during the fighting, but they made no known use of it.


Germany

The Germans captured one OA vz. 30 in October 1938 that was being repaired in the
Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...
when they occupied that area. Another twenty-three, including the prototype, were seized in March 1939 when they occupied Bohemia-Moravia. Seven were used by the propaganda companies as radio cars.Kliment and Francev, p. 33 Ten were taken over by the ''Uniformed Police (Ordnungspolizei)'' and three equipped a platoon of the ''14th Armored Police Company (Polizei-Panzer-Kompanie)'' in
Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
in January 1944.


Slovakia

Ten armored cars were seized by the
Slovaks The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak. In Slovakia, 4.4 mi ...
when they declared independence in March 1939, but eight additional OA vz. 30s fell into their hands from Czech troops who sought refuge in Slovakia after fighting the Hungarians in Carpatho-Ukraine. One was destroyed during the Slovak-Hungarian War that began a week later. The seventeen surviving OA vz. 30s formed one company in the Armored Battalion "Martin" formed by the Slovak Army in mid-1939, but that was reduced to a platoon by late 1939. Four armored cars reinforced the 2nd Infantry Division during the
invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
and three others reinforced a cavalry reconnaissance unit in the vicinity of Sanok. A company of six OA vz. 30s was part of Mobile Group Kalinčiak that was formed on 5 September to work with the 2nd Infantry Division, but saw no combat before being withdrawn back to Slovakia on the 21st. A platoon of three was assigned to the Mobile Group that joined the Germans in
Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
on 24 June 1941. Two more were added when the Mobile Group was reinforced and redesignated as the Mobile Brigade on 8 July. The only serious combat encountered by the Slovak armor was at Lipovec in late July where they failed to dislodge the Soviet 44th Mountain Rifle Division from its positions. One OA vz. 30 was destroyed during this battle and two others were heavily damaged. All of the armored cars were withdrawn together with all the other armored vehicles and returned to Slovakia in early August. A company of six OA vz. 30s was sent to reinforce the Security Division on anti-partisan duties in Ukraine in August 1942. Two were destroyed in combat and there was only one running when the survivors were withdrawn back to Slovakia on 12 January 1943. Once the
Panzerkampfwagen II The Panzer II is the common name used for a family of German tanks used in World War II. The official German designation was ''Panzerkampfwagen'' II (abbreviated PzKpfw II). Although the vehicle had originally been designed as a stopgap while la ...
s that the Ministry of Defense had ordered to replace them arrived in January 1944 they were put into storage although they were still carried on the books. They saw some use by the insurgents when the Slovak National Uprising began in September 1944, but little is known of their activities.


Romania

Almost nothing is known about the career of the OA vz. 30 in Romania after one Czech company of ten sought refuge there in March 1939. One unconfirmed report says that some were on the strength of the Romanian dictator Antonescu's bodyguard unit (''Batalionul de gardă al mareşalului Antonescu'' or ''Regimentul de gardă al Conducătorului Statului''). Supposedly three were destroyed during American bombing of Ploieşti in the summer of 1944 while being serviced at the depot there.Ronald L. Tarnstrom, ''Balkan Battles'', Trogen Books, 1998, p. 341
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Notes


References

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External links




Czech-language article on the OA vz. 30s in the Gendarmerie



Czech-language Replica OA vz. 30
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Armoured cars of Czechoslovakia Military vehicles introduced in the 1930s World War II armoured cars Armoured cars of the interwar period Tatra vehicles