Hungarian military uniform and medal photo

[Agrarian Hungarian]

Please find attached a photo of my father who fought in the Hungarian army. I would very much like to know if anyone can tell me anythnig about his iniform and the medal he is wearing.

I would also like to know the exact location where he was injured in fighting. I know that he was shot on 30th Sept, 1944 at a place called Jeszienovkanal, perhaps also known as Jeswenowka or maybe Jesrivenowka..its very diffucult to read the hand writing on the medical certificate I have. Is this in the Ukraine? If yes, can anyone tell me the nearest large town to this place?

Lastly, I know my father was in the 9th Infrantry Regiment ( Szeged Division) and re-assigned to 14th Light Division and then 13th Light division. Can anyone tell me where these Regiments and Divisions might have fought ( any general info would be great...)

Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to provide. Very much appreciated!

[Gothard]

when shot he was in the 13th Infantry. 14th light and 13th light were both long gone at this point.

It was attached to V corps , 1st army administratively. He was actually part of Armeegruppe Heinrici which was the combination of 1st Hungarian and 1st Panzerarmee. There was a lot of confusion at this point but suffice to say the 13th was shattered. iy was
shuttled between different corps in the carpathians during september and october but on sept. 30 was definetely part of V Hung. Corps. Commader 1st Army Was lt. Gen. Denos Laszlo. V corps was mj. gen. Zoltan Algya-Pap and the 13th Brig gen Jeno Sobvenyhazi-Herdiczky.

[Gothard]

13th Infantry was mobilized on 7-22-44 to Aid in the defense of the Hunyadi Line in the Eastern Carpathians. Assigned to III Corps they were given the task of defending the Verecke ( Oporzec ) Pass. Initially Combat was light thru August - limited to beating off patrols and consolidating the line. Remember this Pass was critical to the defense of Hungary and was entrusted to a newly mobilized division.. Even if it was your dad =). All eyes were on him and the entire nation was watching that pass.
Behind him was the szt. Laszlo line gaurding the old 1941 frontier ( a holding position ) and the stronger Arpad line further west. The end came on Black Wednesday. August 20, 1944 the Romananians to his south who were anchoring the line he was defending turned on the germans. Iasi was only 400km South of your dads positions. Your dad faced elements of the 1st and 4th Ukrainian fronts.. he was netween the 2. His fight started on Sept. 12 when the russians assaulted 1st pz Army at Kassa - Immediately to his north in an attempt at encirclement. Heinrici beat off the attack with the 23 and 24th Pz divisions. Your dad wouldve heard the Battle or seen it. on sept 28 1st Hungarian Army - threatened with a breakthrough in the South ordered its right wing your dads unit was on the left and stayed put, to fall back to the Arpad line. The Russians swept through romania and attemtpted to take out hungary from the rear. Their offensivwas finally stopped leaving your dad in an exposed salient in the Szekler mountain areas. You bet the russians made another attempt to encircle him. By now He was part of HG SudUkraine led by Friessner who didnt like Hungarians... 4th Ukrainian front was the Northern pincer an hit your dad head on. the second ukrainian went northeast through debrecen to link up.. Problem was they got their butts kicked at debrecen an your dad got out =). on 9-20 hitler made his ultimatum to hungary over 3rd army. on 9-24 hg sud ukraine was renamed hg sud.the pressure was building at arad to your dads southwest and to his north near the Dukla pass 1st panzer army was was fighting bitterly against overwhelmining force. 14 german divisions were rushed to the area to bolster the defenses. must have been a time of incredible apprehension. he was really exposed out there. The Main attack came october 6th. he had already been wounded by then. There were 3 major combat areas around him. Dukla to the North under 1st Panzer army.. 4th Ukrainian front Trying to pin down defendrs at his front and the rear gaurd actions as the right wing of 1st Hungarian army pulled back towards debrecen. he could have been part of a reserve force or battlegroup in any direction on sept. 30.

Im having minor issues clarifying 3rd and 5th korps. my maps and the descriptions say 3rd corps but the oob of 1st army says 5th corps..

[Agrarian Hungarian]

Gothard, many thanks for your quick reply. The carpahtians make sense as he told me many storoes about fighting in the mountains and also many sniper attacks in the hills.

I have just got the book on Hungarian army by Niehorster and will follow through on looking at the exact position of V Corps.

The uniform and medal..is the photo clear enough for you to tell me anything about his rank or the medal?

Thanks once again!

[Gothard]

I can do that - the infortation was taken from the Niehorster book =). Theres a hungarian language forum that really would help you. Theres also a website just on hunagarian medals - i was going there next =). He got really lucky to miss the debrecen fight and budapest. theres excellent maps in the niehorster book that pinpoint him.

[Gothard]

Corporal in the engineers from the look of it.

http://www.uniforminsignia.net/index.ph ... 4&sid=2498

[Agrarian Hungarian]

Your info is fantastic..its really a big help...thank you!

Unfortunately i don't read Hungarian but if you have the weblink I will have a look anyway.

Yes, he was one very lucky guy...he told me that almost all of his friends and i think almost all of his division was wiped out. When he finally escaped from Hungary in 1948 by running thru a minefield on the Austrian border, well that really topped off his luck!

I have given more info about this and other snippets of his war stories on memberlist profiles if you wish to look.

Have a great day!

[Gothard]

The meadl appears to be the Medal for bravery for enlisted men 2nd class ( Large Silver )

http://axis101.bizland.com/HungarianAwards3.htm

[Gothard]

Sure Im always interested in Hungarian stuff - they rate pretty high with me as soldiers. Most of the guys on the Hungarian sites speak english =)

[Agrarian Hungarian]

At the time the photo was taken he was probably as you said a corporal. I got a letter from Hungarian military archives that says he ended up as a lance corporal - "zaszloalj tovabbszolgalo szakaszvezetoje" ..I guess the last part refers to Lance Corporal.

Just out of interest..what is your interest in WW2? personal or just historical?

[Gothard]

lol! You could call it both - Grew up in Foster Homes and Turned to books when I was 8 years old... First WW2 book I read was the battle of britain and I was hooked. Since then I've dedicated my life to studying Warfare - Particularly WW2. I'm Single and Childless so theres not really going to be anything else in my life but History =)

[Gothard]

http://www.netlabor.hu/roncskutatas/

heres a hungarian language forum - theres a couple english speaking areas.

[Gothard]

english please
Dear all, my father was Hungarian and served in ww2 - as a pilot graduating in August 1944. It is a shame he never taught me hungarian as I would love to do some research - his name was Koronka Pal if any of you knew him.


Best wishes until either I learn Hungarian or this site operates in Engligh

Adam
Solothurn Feladva: 2006/10/20 9:26
Ritkán benéz


Lakóhely:
Hozzászólás: 193 Re: english please


Hello!

I'm afraid this site will never operate in pure English...

First of all please let us know Your email address so we could get in contact with You. Sooner or later we can provide some information.

We need the date and the place of birth of Your fater to start the search.


Best regards!
CornelMuhoray Feladva: 2006/10/21 13:00
Ritkán benéz


Lakóhely: Bay Village, Ohio USA
Hozzászólás: 114 Re: english please
Hi Adam,
You might want to look at this English language Hungarian WWII. site, copy and paste into your brouser.
http://denes.us/forums/YaBB.pl



heres a post from there that may be helpful.

[Gothard]

Welcome, Guest. Please Login or Register.
01/14/07 at 08:47:24
Breaking news: the forum is now PUBLIC, accessible to anyone, including guests!!!






Hungary & World War II › Hungarian Armed Forces › Biographical Research
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Hungarian 9th Infantry regiment (Read 57 times)
Agrarian hungarian

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Posts: 2
Hungarian 9th Infantry regiment
08/20/06 at 05:21:01 My Dad was in this regiment in WW2. I would like to understand more about it :

- which Army was it attached to?
- where did this regiment fight and approx when ?
- and did it get absorbed into other units as the losses mounted?

Any info on its activities and organisational relationship with other parts of the army would be helpful.

He was for sure fighting somewhere in Ukraine in 1944 as he got shot on Sept 30th, 1944.

Thanks!

BP78

YaBB Newbies





Posts: 1
Re: Hungarian 9th Infantry regiment
Reply #1 - 08/30/06 at 23:43:37 The 9th Infantry Regiment was part of the 13th Infantry Division. The Division was mobilized in August 1944, and was subordinated to the 3rd Corps of the 1st Army. The regiment left for the front without its 2nd battalion which remained in Budapest. The division fought in the "Hunyadi" battle position and the "Árpád" defensive line. During the withdrawal (after October 20th, 1944) repeated Soviet tank attacks disintegrated the division, and the 9th Infantry Regiment (among other units) changed side. The remnants of the division were later incorporated into the 24th Infantry Division.

Peter
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but then again it may not =)

[Huba482277]

I don't know if I'm on the right page, but I'm interested in finding information about my father,Topai Pal. He was a panzer commander killed in Russia in 1942.. Any help would be greatful. Huba