Polish tankettes TK-3 and TKS
Part IV: Tankettes with 20mm cannons
Part I: Development history & production --- Part II: Camouflage, description, specifications & modeling
Part III: Service with photo gallery ---
Part IV: Tankettes with 20 mm cannons --- Self propelled guns
Part V: Experimental tankettes & special equipment --- Part VI: Foreign service of TK/TKS --- TKS gallery
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| The cannon-armed TKS, abandoned in September 1939 |
From among some 570 Polish tankettes, only a handful of TKS rearmed with 20 mm cannons were able to fight against enemy armour in September 1939. Unfortunately, no more than two dozen of these vehicles entered service by the outbreak of World War II. With their advantages, like small silhouette and agility, they appeared successful tank destroyers and one of most valuable Polish armoured vehicles.
Development history of Polish tankettes - in Part I; camouflage, technical description and specifications - in Part II; modelling - in Part III.
First experiments
Just as the production of the Polish tankette TK-3 (TK) was starting, it was realized, that the tankette armed with a 7.92 mm wz.25 Hotchkiss machine gun can not fight efficiently against any armoured vehicles and is able to fight manpower and soft vehicles only. The British had offered a light self-propelled gun with Vickers 47mm gun as one of Carden-Loyd Mk.VI tankette variants, so the Poles planned to build support tankettes with stronger armament as well. A development of the Polish support tankettes went in two ways eventually. There was created a light self-propelled gun TKD with 47mm wz.25 Pocisk infantry gun, but only 4 experimental vehicles were built. On the other hand, there were trials of replacing a machine gun in a standard tankette with a big caliber machine gun or an automatic cannon. Initially, it was planned to arm TK tankettes with a 13.2 mm wz.25 Hotchkiss machine gun, but its armour penetration appeared too low, while bullets' dispersal was too high, so it was abandoned in a favour of 20 mm cannon.
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| Solothurn cannon mounted in TKS (it can be distinguished from the FK-A by a shorter barrel, mounted lower in a smaller mantlet). [2] |
The first cannon tested in a tankette was the Swiss semi-automatic 20 mm Solothurn S18-100. It was fitted in one TKS tankette using a special mount, with a hemispherical cover. The tankette was converted in 1935/1936 and tested on a proving ground in February 1936. The evaluation proved, that arming tankettes with cannons was a good idea. However, tested models of Solothurn S18-100, Oerlikon S and Madsen guns did not meet all demands (of those, only Solothurn was tested in a tankette). Among others, Solothurn fired only single shots and its horizontal training was limited by its magazine, while Oerlikon S was considered too heavy. Therefore it was decided to design a domestic weapon, and several Polish designers started works upon automatic cannons, fit also for aviation, anti-aircraft and anti-tank defence.
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| Fragment of a photo of the TKS tested with 37 mm wz.18 Puteaux gun in 1936 (hauled by the 7TP tank prototype - click to enlarge). [6] |
It should be noted, that about 1936 the TKS tankette was also tested with a short-barrel French 37mm wz.18 Puteaux (SA-18) semi-automatic gun. The gun was mounted in a standard universal ball mount in a place of the machine gun (it was used that way also in some Polish armoured cars). It was a WWI-vintage weapon, best fit to fight machine gun nests, with poor armour penetration capability. There exists a photo from tests, but other details are not known. It seems, that this might be an interesting stop-gap support vehicle for ordinary tankettes, easy to produce, with basic anti-tank capabilities, but the idea was apparently abandoned (in practice, the wz.18 gun mounted in armoured cars wz.29 appeared quite efficient weapon against light tanks).
TKS with 20 mm FK-A cannon
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| A prototype of model A gun on anti-aircraft tripod mounting [2]. |
 | Tankette mounted model A cannon, with an armoured mantlet removed, captured by the Germans. |
In 1937, Bolesław Jurek of Fabryka Karabinów (Rifle Factory) in Warsaw constructed an automatic cannon 20 mm wz. 38 (Pattern 1938), also known as FK-A, for Fabryka Karabinów - model A (it was classified in Poland as "the heaviest machine gun", in short: 'nkm'). It offered slightly better armour penetration, than tested Oerlikon and Madsen cannons, and was evaluated as a better weapon for armoured weapons' needs. It was next accepted as an interim weapon for armoured forces and infantry, until newer designs would be ready (first of all, model C gun).
For tankette use, a Cardan mount was designed, with a big hemispherical armoured mantlet (the barrel was fixed in mantlet centrally in vertical axis, to the left of a central point). Rearming of TKS demanded only small changes in armour - a new front plate with a weapon mounting, and a new plate above a gunner, with the Gundlach reversible observation periscope moved to the left because of a bigger weapon. Small changes had to be made to interior equipment, to accomodate new magazine racks. A notable detail was removing an external anti-aircraft machine gun pivot. The TKS modification was worked out in February-March 1939. Since the tankettes had screwed armour, the modification could be done in workshops, with supplied parts, according to instruction of 22 June 1939. Rearming of TK-3 demanded more changes, described below.
The military authorities hesitated on how many tankettes should be rearmed, and plans changed several times from 1937, ranging from 1/3 of TK-3 and TKS tankettes to all of them. There were also doubts, if rearming of worn out TK-3s is purposeful at all. At that time, in 1938 and 1939, a production of guns, barrels, ammunition, gun sights, mantlets, armoured plates and other equipment was only starting in several works. The first 10 cannons of 100 ordered were delivered in May 1939, the next 10 in July. In early 1939 it was decided to rearm 100 TKS tankettes with the first series cannons (5 tanks in a company), then rest of TKS, then all TKS and TK-3 (about 570), provided, that funding would allow. In May 1939 it was finally decided to rearm 150 tankettes at first - 80 TKS and 70 TK-3, what was approximately 1/3 of combat-worthy tankettes.
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| One of the TKS of the 10th Cavalry Brigade interned in Hungary. Note apparently non-standard protective canvas on cannon's mantlet, and a high muffler, indicating early series tankette. The soldiers are Hungarian and Polish [2]. |
As a result, in May and June 1939 the workshops were ordered to rearm the first batch of 24 TKS tankettes. In August 1939 the order was extended for remaining 56 TKS and 70 TK-3. Apart from the first party of 24 TKS, it was expected, that next 8 TKS should be ready by 25 August 1939, next 8 TKS and 16 TK-3 by 15 September 1939, and the rest gradually by January 1940. Despite these plans, there were numerous delays with parts. Only about 55 cannons were produced by the war outbreak, but a number of complete modernization kits was probably lower. Probably only 24 TKS tankettes were rearmed by the war, in July-August 1939, possibly even a few less (20?).
Cannon-armed TK-3
The Polish military authorities eventually decided to rearm a number of older TK-3 (TK) tankettes as well, in order to provide TK-equipped units with cannons without mixing equipment types. In the end of 1938, one TK-3 tankette was experimentally fitted with the FK-A cannon, with addition of a front superstructure on the right side, before the commander-gunner, making it similar to the TKS. The commander was also given the Gundlach reversible periscope, what demanded replacing a front part of a wide common roof hatch with two smaller individual hatches. In January 1939 this conversion was approved, and an appropriate instruction was worked out on 14 August 1939. It was planned to rearm 16 tankettes TK by 15 September 1939, but there is no evidence, that they were completed. The fate of the prototype is not known; the cannon might have been removed from it after testing the conversion (it is not known either, if the prototype was constructed of armoured steel or mild steel).
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| The prototype of the TK-3 with the 20mm FK-A gun (often erroneously described as the TKS) [1,2,AJ] |
Construction of cannon-armed tankettes was generally the same, as basic models TK and TKS. Specifications were also similar, apart from slightly increased weight and length with a gun.
Usage
See tankette units' organization in part II.
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| TKS tankettes with cannons of the 10th Cavalry Brigade, after crossing the Hungarian border. Note protective covers on guns' mantlets and muzzles, not seen on photos from other units. Tankettes have dark rectangles painted next to visors, of unknown purpose. See also a wider scene [2] |
It was planned to include 4 tankettes with cannons into a tankette squadron or a company (of 13 tanks) - two per a platoon. An assignment plan of the first series was changing in last weeks before the war, and that is why the details of their eventual assignment and quantity are not sure. The biggest number of tankettes with cannons - 8 were assigned to the motorized 10th Cavalry Brigade (10.BK) of Colonel Stanisław Maczek(Wikipedia): 4 tankettes in a tank squadron of Brigade's Reconnaissance Unit and 4 in the 101st Reconnaissance Tank Company. It is however not sure, if the 10.BK received its all 8 tankettes, or only 4.
Next 8 vehicles were to be given to the second motorized brigade: Warsaw Armoured-Motorized Brigade (WBP-M), but it received only 4 cannon-armed tankettes eventually: 2 in the 11th Reconnaissance Tank Company and 2 in a Reconnaissance Unit (two platoons of tankettes of the Reconnaissance Unit were later assigned to two motorized regiments, and therefore there was one tankette with a cannon in each regiment).
4 TKS tankettes were assigned to the 71st Armoured Unit of Wielkopolska Cavalry Brigade and to the 81st Armoured Unit of Pomorska Cavalry Brigade (both units were TK-3 equipped!). There is no information on the last four tankettes of the first series.
Combat use
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| A destroyed cannon-armed TKS (possibly from the WBP-M brigade, in Zamosc - Tomaszów Lubelski area). Photos below probably show the same vehicle, with a gun removed. |
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The cannon-armed tankettes were actively used during the German invasion in September 1939, but there is no specific information on most of them. Only some actions of the first platoon of the 71st Armoured Unit, of Wielkopolska Cavalry Brigade, are relatively well known. On 14 September 1939, its tankettes were supporting an attack of the 7th Mounted Rifle Regiment on Brochów (on the Bzura river, east of Warsaw), and a cannon-armed tankette immobilized 2 or 3 German tanks of the 4th Panzerdivision on the other bank of the river, helping the Poles to capture the village. The most famous action was on 18 September near Pociecha in Puszcza Kampinoska forest (east of Warsaw), when three tankettes laid an ambush on a forest crossroads, and a single cannon-armed tankette, manned by cadet Roman Orlik, destroyed a patrol of three German PzKpfw-35(t) tanks of the 11th Panzer Regiment of the 1st Leichte Division, from a flank (probably among killed was prince Victor von Ratibor).
On the next day, the tankette platoon supported Polish units defending Sieraków village in Puszcza Kampinoska against tanks of the 11th Panzer Regiment and 65th Panzer Abteilung. Orlik carried out short forays from earth pits and back, to the left flank of advancing Germans, and claimed to immobilize 7 tanks (overally, according to the Polish reports, the Germans lost some 20 tanks in a combat of Sieraków, mostly due to anti-tank and field artillery; exact numbers are not confirmed). The surviving cannon-armed tankette of the 71st Unit got through to Warsaw about 20 September and took part in its defence, this time without much success, but the details are unknown. There is also a controversion, who commanded it during a combat at Brochów and Warsaw defence[1]. There are no details on a track of other cannon-armed tankettes of the 71st Unit, especially in the first two weeks of the war (it should be noted, that the 71st Unit undertook a short raid to the German territory on 2 September 1939, fighting Grenzwacht units and destroying military cars in some villages).
There is not much specific information on actions of cannon-armed tankettes in other units. Tankettes of the 10th Cavalry Brigade contributed to quite successful delay fights of the Brigade in the first days of campaign in Beskid mountains, against elements of two armoured divisions. Its cannon-armed tankettes positively destroyed several tanks during a combat on 9 September near Albigowa south of Łańcut, where the German advance was stopped. Four surviving tankettes with cannons were withdrawn to Hungary on 19 September along with the 10th Cavalry Brigade, where they were interned and then seized by the Hungarians.
Tankettes of the Warsaw Armoured-Motorized Brigade fought actively in a two-day battle of Tomaszów Lubelski 18-19 September 1939, in which all were lost (one tankette commander Stanisław Żak was proposed to be awarded a Cross of the Valorous(Wikipedia)). Earlier, the tankettes of its 11th Recce Tank Company suffered heavy losses of 7 vehicles in combat in Lipsko on 10 September, but it is not known whether the cannon-armed ones took part. Tankettes of the 81st Armoured Unit fought in "Pomeranian corridor" in the north until 6 September, when the unit's remains were sent to the rear for reorganization (including two last cannon-armed tankettes, that broke down on patrol on 6 September). One cannon-armed tankette was sent to the rear earlier with a broken down engine. One cannon-armed tankette, probably of the 81st Unit, was found on 9 September in a railway transport and acquired by the 71st Armoured Unit.
Apart from four withdrawn to Hungary, the rest of Polish cannon-armed tankettes were destroyed or abandoned due to damage or fuel lack during the campaign, then captured by the Germans. Their German use is not known, although there exist several photos of tankettes with German modifications, notably headlights on fenders (the Polish tankettes were generally used by them to auxiliary and security duties only, where cannons were less useful).
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The cannon-armed tankettes were the only tankettes able to fight enemy tanks in 1939. Combining a small size, making them dificult to spot, with a firepower, they were efficient tank destroyer, as for standards of 1939 at least. Their bullets could pierce an armour of almost all German and Soviet tanks of that time. Their combat value was however limited by a weak armour, vulnerable to all anti-tank weapons. There occured some problem with ammunition supplies, but one account says about using captured German amunition (it is however not clear, if they were interchangeable - the Polish ammunition, despite generally modelled after "long" Solothurn ammunition 20x138 mm, used by the Germans, had longer case 140 mm). As combat experience showed, rearming of tankettes was the right step, but unfortunately, a program started too late, what resulted in a small quantity of rearmed tankettes.
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| Up and below: a series of photos of an abandoned trackless TKS with a cannon, possibly on Kielce - Skarżysko-Kamienna road (left below photo - from a collection of Krzysztof Kuryłowicz). |
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Left: probably Roman Orlik's cannon-armed TKS from the 71st Armoured Unit, captured by the Germans after a surrender of Warsaw and hauled by C4P halftrack tractor, along with C2P tractor [1,2].
Right: a captured cannon-armed TKS transported by the Germans (Sd.Ah 115 trailer).
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| German-captured cannon-armed TKS tankettes. Note German headlights on fenders, indicating, that they remained in service; they also seem to be overpainted in a single Panzergrau color. On the left photo, in a background there are tankette trailers (probably French). |
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| German-captured cannon-armed TKS tankettes. Note German headlights on fenders, indicating, that they remained in service; they also seem to be overpainted in a single Panzergrau color. On the left photo, in a background there are tankette trailers (probably French). |
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| Color drawing of TKS with 20 mm cannon, author Adam Jońca [3] |
See also profiles of TKS with 20 mm cannon by P. Sembrat from [2].
Other parts:
Notes:
1. Cadet Roman Orlik claimed to command the cannon-armed tankette during skirmishes at Brochów (14.9), Pociecha (18.9), Sieraków (19.9) and Warsaw defence in a series of articles by Jan Magnuski, published in 1978-1979, but later Corporal Roman Nawrocki published a letter, in which he claimed to command that tankette instead of Orlik at Brochów and Warsaw defence, and that Orlik commanded MG-armed tankette then. Nawrocki wrote, that he had no knowledge on actions on 18-19.9, for he was away then.
Sources:
1. Janusz Magnuski, "Karaluchy przeciw panzerom"; Pelta; Warsaw 1995
2. Leszek Komuda, "Przeciwpancerne tankietki" in: "Militaria" Year 1 Nr. 3 and Nr. 4 (main source for a text).
3. A. Jońca, R. Szubański, J. Tarczyński, "Wrzesień 1939 - Pojazdy Wojska Polskiego - Barwa i broń"; WKŁ; Warsaw 1990.
5. Rajmund Szubański, "Polska broń pancerna 1939"; Warsaw 1989
6. "Czołg lekki 7TP", Militaria Vol.1 No.5
AJ - photos courtesy by Adam Jońca.
Photo source not indicated - assorted photographs taken by German soldiers.
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All photos and pictures remain the property of their owners. They are published in non-commercial educational and research purpose.
Text copyright to Michał Derela © 2007.
