39M Csaba is a Hungarian Recon unit in Steel Division II.
Background[ | ]
Named after the legendary Prince Csaba, son of Attila the Hun in Hungarian mythology, the 39M armored car (pancelauto 39.M Csaba) was the brainchild of Miklos Straussler a Hungarian-born British engineer better known for his work on Allied amphibious operations during World War II. The M39 was the offshoot of the Alvis Straussler AC2 armored car designed for the British military. After the British rejected the vehicle, the AC2 was perfected in 1936 and adopted by Hungary a the 39M Csaba, with 102 vehicles produced at the Weiss Manfred factory in Csepel, Budapest.
Modeled closely on the AC2, it was a conventional design built out of riveted steel plates (9mm thickness) with a German Ford engine generating 90 horsepower and good all terrain capabilities. The protection was modest, at best, but the Csaba's main feature was the rotating turret, which housed a 20mm Solothurn autocannon paired with a coaxial 8mm Gebauer 37/38M machinegun and a secondary AA mount in the rear of the turret. The machine gun could be removed by the crew for use away from the vehicle.
The Csabas were used by Hungarian units during Operation Barbarossa, with the 1st and 2nd Mechanized Brigades, as well as the 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions. None have survived the war.
Elements of 1st Lovas Hadosztály served with Gruppe Harteneck during the beginning of Operation Bagration. 1st Lovas Hadosztály has a 3. Felderítőzászlóalj a Armored Reconnaissance Battalion which had two companies of 13 Csaba.
2. Páncélos was not planned to have Csaba in their Armored Reconnaissance Battalion in their 1944 planned configuration but had a Armored Car Company in their 1943 planned configuration.
The Infantry Division like 25. Hadosztály and 12. Tartalék were planned to have a Armored Car Platoon platoon of four Csaba in their Reconnaissance Battalion.