What exactly is an LT vz 40 tank?

What's your opinion on Mark Axworthy's English-language book on the Slovak army?

Gen. Dénes

I spoke about books in Slovak (or Czech) language. I did not read Mark Axworthy's book yet, but I am trying to obtain it right now.

Saudadesdefrancesinhas,

I will answer first your question on the archives. I have varied experiences with Portuguese and Spanish archives. Regarding the former, the general impression is very good, mostly because the quality of the staff has improved in the last few years. The big civilian archives are efficient and although some ask some pretty expensive fees for documents' reproduction, one can still manage to get interesting things copied within reasonable time and money constraits.
In Lisbon, the best place to start a research is the central national archive - Arquivos Nacionais Torre do Tombo. You must apply for a users' card, either of temporary or prolonged research type. The staff is usually helpful and knowledge of English and French can be expected from most of the younger people working there. Due to the big demand, you can expect a few days delay when ordering photocopies. Of course, they will send you the items by mail if needed.
Military archives are a different matter: the best, but still with lots of stuff waiting to be properly catalogated and serialled, is the Arquivo Histórico Militar, housed in the same building as the Military Museum in Lisbon, in front of Santa Apolonia train station. I've been told that the holdings (I am speaking only of XX cent. materials) currently available to visiting researchers are just a fringe of what the army actually has. Apparently, this is, as so often, a funding problem: the professional human resources needed to handle such a huge archival heritage are not cheap.

As for your books' enquiry, I can provide some suggestions of titles dealing with the Portuguese military and akin subjects for the period you're interested in. That notwithstanding, lately the period stemming from the eve of the Spanish Civil War until the mid-1960s seems to be receiving a lot of attention from historians, the 1930s and the war years being quite popular.

The Portuguese military in the First World War (also related subjects):
A book worth having is “A Primeira Grande Guerra na África Portuguesa. Angola e Moçambique (1914/1918)” by Marco Fortunato Arrifes (Instituto da Defesa Nacional, Lisbon, 2005). The author provides a detailed and much-needed insight on the Great War as experienced by the rank and file in the African possessions Portugal valued so much and yet where so little was invested to protect the country’s colonial interests against potential military aggression from rival powers.
The most interesting aspects of the text concern the life of the European soldiers sent to fight what was perceived as a rather unnecessary evil so far from home, in a hostile environment. While the everyday life of men and the suffering they endured is particularly well rendered by Arrifes, he does also a good job describing the military planning, providing at the same time plenty of data on the expeditionary forces sent to the African theatre. Logistics are also discussed; the army medical and sanitary services were ill-prepared for long tropical campaigns – used as they were to short punitive expeditions against rebellious natives... – and failed miserably during the war: this was reflected in the appalling high casualties caused by tropical diseases and by sepsis induced under primitive conditions in the bush.

I also recommend Severiano Teixeira’s “O poder e a guerra, 1914-1918. Objectivos Nacionais e Estratégias Políticas na entrada de Portugal na Grande Guerra” (Estampa, Lisbon, 1996). Good overall perspective, even if a bit dry sometimes.

Not on specifically military matters, but a good book on the little-know history of the sometimes tricky relationship between the two Iberian neighbours anyway, "Na encruzilhada da Grande Guerra. Portugal-Espanha 1914-1918" (Estampa, Lisbon, 1980 - I believe it has been reprinted at least twice), by a noted Spanish expert on the subject, Hipolito de la Torre Gómez, who has written several books including the seminal "La Relación peninsular en la antecámara de la guerra civil de España (1931-1936)" (UNED, Mérida, 1988).

If you are interested in diplomatic history, try the book written by José Medeiros Ferreira, “Portugal na Conferência de Paz. Paris 1919” (Quetzal, Lisbon, 1992). It is a well balanced account of the Portuguese participation and aims at the famous Paris peace conference of 1919, when the entire world had its eyes set on the French capital. This book is now hard to find.

Between the military dictatorship and the early years of the Estado Novo:
A valuable work, minutely detailed and full of useful cross references, but perhaps a bit hermetic (the text is literally crammed with details) to many but those with a deep knowledge of the Byzantine meanders of Portuguese politics during the last years of the I Republic and shortly afterwards the putsch of 1926, is Luís Farinha “O Reviralho: revoltas republicanas contra a Ditadura e o Estado Novo 1926 – 1940” (Estampa, Lisbon, 1998). The author explains how the military dictatorship was kept busy by the many attempts to overthrown the regime, planned and in some instances put in motion, by those who wanted to restore parliamentary legality. Just a side note: this book, as others from the same series, is printed in the infamous easy-to-fall-into-pieces paperback style the publisher seems to have clung to. While this was acceptable in the late 1980s, now it is annoying, chiefly when one compares these with the current Spanish and Portuguese standards for non-fiction and academic essay.

Please expect more soon.
Cheers,

Ruy

This post has been edited by Ruy Aballe on September 13, 2006 07:14 pm

Thanks a lot for this help Ruy,

I tried to get into the Military Museum one day when I was in Lisbon, unfortunately I picked the day June 13th to visit, and I remember this because it is the date of my Birthday, and it was closed because it was St. Antonio's day. This was a bit annoying, especially as since I have never got back as I planned.

I have heard before that the Portuguese authorities had trouble cataloguing all that they have, this seems to happen in many countries

It sounds like I will have to attempt to obtain the book on the Portuguese soldiers in Africa. I found an essay about the life of the Portuguese soldier in the trenches in Flanders in a collection I bought called 'Portugal e A Guerra', edited by Nuno Severiano Teixeira I think. I have been thinking of orientating my research towards dealing with Anglo-Portuguese military relations, simply because living in the UK it will probably be easier if some of the material at least is in UK archives. The books you suggested about the diplomatic situation of Portugal will perhaps be helpful in this.

Have you ever seen the book 'Nova Historia Militar de Portugal' edited by Nuno Severiano Teixeira, published by the Circulo de Leitores (I think) in Porto. I came across it while browsing an internet bookshop site, there are three big volumes, it is expensive. I was wondering if it is worth the outlay (about 150$).

I found another interesting little book about the Portuguese Army in this period, by General A Ilharco, called 'Memorias: Alguns Apontamentos sobre a Influencia da Politica no Exercito', Porto 1926. There are some interesting and almost comic incidents described in this book, I will have to get that other study about reviralhismo and see if it tells me more about General Ilharco.

Saudadesdefrancesinhas,

You are welcome. You were indeed unfortunate in the choice of the day to visit the Military Museum! ;-) So, same birthday as St. Antonio... in Lisbon. Better to go for a drink at the old quarters of the town.
The book by Medeiros Ferreira I mentioned has very interesting details on what the Portuguese delegates at the Paris peace conference wanted - not territories, but weapons instead. And what a shopping cart they wanted! Mostly German and Austro-Hungarian ships, but also other "minor" items such as French or British artillery and so on.

I heard about the book by Gen. Ilharco but unfortunately I don't have it. May I ask where did you obtained it? Sometimes this a question of luck. Last year I found some interesting Spanish technical literature published in the 1920s and a very, very rare factory booket on the O.C. LMG published by the Oviedo arsenal on January, 1939, in Valencia thanks to a pure swirl of luck.

Hello Miro,

A friend from Madrid asks me if there is a 1/35 kit (in resin, I presume) of the LT vz.40. Do you know any? Maybe by some of the smaller Czech resin manufacturers?... I do know that an even more arcane vehicle, the LT 34 light tank, does exist in kit form in the same scale, so maybe there is one of the LT vz.40.
My friend also provided some additional bibliographic information on a Polish monograph that might be of interest for this thread: "LT vz. 34/40 TNH" by Janusz Ledwoch. The book comes from one of the most prolific Polish publishing houses, Wydawnictwo Militaria. A4 format, 46 pages, 62 photos and a complete set of 1/35 scale drawings (ISBN 83-7219-083-6).
I checked the publisher website - http://www.militaria.net.pl/ - and I found the book available for sale for 22 złoty. The book is vol. 116 in their armour collection, a series that reached by now the impressive tally of 255 titles!

Hi Ruy,

Yes, there is one resin kit of this light tank, but with heavy price. They are offering both versions (early with only MG's and later with 37 mm gun), but I don't know nothing about the quality. You can find it here:

http://www.panzershop.cz/inshop/scripts/set.asp?Level=110

or here:

http://panzermodelkit.valka.cz/lt40cz.htm

Hi Miro,

Thanks for your prompt answer! My friend is very happy now that the existence of such model is confirmed. I knew the Czech web hobby shop (the first link you provided) from before, but I didn't check it.
If José decides to order the CZ Kolinec resin kit, I will post his impressions.
Cheers,

Ruy

I found somethnig:

"In 1937, CKD Works received the order to produce tanks for Lithuania. In 1938, prototype of LTL was produced and in January of 1939, production started. The drive idler was located in the rear contrary to the standard front mounted idler. This modification was made in order to enlarge the fighting compartment by moving the gearbox and steering to the rear. After 1938/39, German take-over of the Czechoslovak state, Germans cancelled the delivery order according to the Ribbentrop-Mołotow Pact. LTL tanks were then stored in the CKD-BMM Works. When USSR invaded and took-over Lithuania, BMM Works tried to sell LTL tanks to either Bulgaria or Slovakia. Finally on August 28th of 1940, LTL tanks were sold to Slovakia. LTL tanks were then modified and drive idler was relocated to the front and were redesignated LT vz.40. Due to the slow production of Skoda A-7 guns, early LTLs were armed with two machine guns type ZB 53. LTL (LT vz.40) tanks served in Slovakian Army and took part in the fighting on the Eastern Front. In 1944, Slovak Army still had 15 LT vz.40s in active service. "

From site: http://www.czolgiem.com/

Also, there are pics and some info about other types, even for LTP. Peru services this tank until 1988!!!

Iama

I think Peru fought some small wars/military actions against Ecuador in the 70s and 80s.

I wonder if the old LTP ever took part in combat action this late?

It is great that they remained around for so long.

Dear Sirs,
assertion is not true that the tanks: LLT, LTH, LTP and LT vz.40 (factory designation: LTS) were export versions of the tank LT vz.38 (Pz. Kpfw. 38 (t)).

A common feature of these tanks was used to design by patent Ing. Alexey Surin. All of these tanks were built to customer specifications. Slovak tank LT vz.40 was rebuilt from the tanks originally intended for Lithuania. The design LT vz.40 is based of the Swiss tank LTH. The Lithuanian version had a gun of 20 mm and Slovak version was rearm gun with a caliber of 37 mm.

Question: LT-40

In the Czech or Slovak language
LT-40 - http://forum.valka.cz/viewtopic.php/title/...S-LT-40/t/17448
Vladimír Francev: Exportní lehké tanky Praga (Export light tanks Praga), MBI 2007, ISBN 978-80-86524-14-6 (PDF copies in the library Difrology Club)

Question: Latvia, or Lithuania
In the book: Czechoslovak armored fighting vehicles 1918-1948, there was a translation error. Tanks LLT (acronym of Litevsky Lehky Tank) ordered Lithuania!

Question: History of Slovak tanks

In the Czech or Slovak language
Ivan Bajtoš: História slovenského pluku útočnej vozby 1939-1944 (History of Slovak Tank Regiment 1939-1944), of the year 1987, manuscript now stored at the museum in Banska Bystrica (PDF copies in the library Difrology Club)
Pavel Mičianik: Sformovanie Rýchlej divízie a jej nasadenie do bitky o Kyjev (The formation of the Rapid division and its deployment in the Battle of Kiev), In: Slovenská republika 1939-1945 očami mladých historikov, zborník č. 4, of the year 2005, ISBN 80-8083-147-5 (PDF copies in the library Difrology Club)

Question: LTP (acronym of Lehky Tank Peru, older factory designation: LTL-H for Peru)

In the Czech or Slovak language
Tanque 39 - http://forum.valka.cz/viewtopic.php/title/...nque-39/t/20541
Vladimír Francev: Exportní lehké tanky Praga (Export light tanks Praga), MBI 2007, ISBN 978-80-86524-14-6 (PDF copies in the library Difrology Club)

In the Spanish language
Jiří Novotný, Jiří Šouša: La contribucion checoslovaca para la modernizacion del Ejercito peruano, in Ibero-Americana Pragensia, 2004, No. 32, pages 151-174, ISSN 0536-2520

Question: LTP at war

In the Czech or Slovak language
Wlasto Klucar: Válka Perú-Ekvádor 1941 - http://www.valka.cz/clanek_13245.html

In the Spanish language
Guerra del 41 - http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerra_del_41
Guerra del 41. Perú y Ecuador - http://guerradel41.blogspot.com/2011/04/gu...-y-ecuador.html
El conflicto de 1941 - http://gigantesdelcenepa.4t.com/conflictod...rade1941-1.html

This post has been edited by JiriTintera on December 18, 2011 10:56 pm

Very documented answer! Are you a tank buff?

Sorry for the delayed response. I am a former employee of the firm Ceskomoravska Kolben Danek (CKD) and I had access to our archives. Most of the authors listed here are my friends. Yes I'm a fan of tanks and I co-founded Difrology Club (difros - chariot, in ancient Greek).