Flames of War: The Black Brigade 3: 121st Light Tank Company (121 Kompania Czołgów Lekkich)

A glamour shot of the Vickers E type B with Polish cooling vents added.

So, these were really the only truly armoured vehicles that the Poles were able to field with the Black Brigade (I hesitate to include the tankettes as they were so woefully armed and armoured).

Vickers E type A participating in a parade

Poland had bought 38 Vickers E tanks in the early '30's (although some uncorroborated reports state that a further 12 were bought for spares and repairs) and by 1934 were the central asset around which the new 3rd Armoured Battalion had been formed in Warsaw. Around 1937 however, with the arrival on the scene of the 7TP tank the Vickers E tanks were turfed out of their comfortable Warsaw home and bundled off to Zurawica, near Przemysl where they joined the 2nd Armoured Battalion. The second unit equipped with Vickers tanks was the 11th Armoured Battalion in the Armoured Weapons Training Centre in Modlin.

A column of Vickers E at Mokotow Fields in 1938

Five tanks in each battalion were so called 'mob' (mobilisation) reserves and were not used in peacetime. The remainder of the two tank battalions tanks were used intensively right the way up to the break out of the second world war and as such by the time the war started they were already worn out.

Between 4th and 20th September 1938 twenty of the Vickers E tanks were used in the large scale manoeuvres that took place in Volhynia. They formed a company that was attached to the 10th Cavalry Brigade and duly participated.

Vickers E column participating in the 'Zaolzie Incident' in 1938

These exercises however were only a pretext to prepare the 10th Cavalry Brigade to participate in the reoccupation of the Zaolzie province of Slovakia which had a majority Polish population and had been snatched and annexed by Czechoslovakia in 1919 dividing Cieszyn Silesia between Poland and Czechoslovakia whilst the Poles were busy fighting a war against the U.S.S.R.

On 22nd September the 10BK was assigned to the newly created Independent Operational Group Slask (Silesia) and was moved to Zaolzie participating in probably the most ill advised political project of the interbellum; assisting Nazi Germany in the dismemberment of the Czechoslovakian state. Zaolzie ended up being taken without a fight with Jozef Beck's gunboat diplomacy settling matters before things could escalate. 10BK spent 6 weeks in the region.

Vickers E crews chowing down with their Vickers E type B in Warsaw before the 121st travelled south to join the Brigade

The September Campaign

Vickers E crew chilling with their beast and bikes...

On the 1st of September the 121st Light Tank Company moved to the Brigade Headquarters positions at Krzeszow in the Carpathians where she served as a reserve for the 10th Cavalry Brigade's Command. On the 3rd of September the Company made two counterattacks against the German 2nd Panzer Division in defence of the Brigades infantry. At night the 121st regrouped at Tremczyn and joined the Brigade in falling back to new positions.

A Vickers E climbing a bank... could be anywhere, right?

At dawn on September 4th the company was in position at Kasina Wielka where she participated in the 24th Uhlans attack on Mszana Dolna, performing a flanking manoeuvre. This forced the Germans back and led to renewed assaults later on where the 121st lost two tanks. In the evening the 121st regrouped at Kasina Wielka and then fell back to the Brigade assembly area in Dobczyce. On the 5th the company made two counterattacks, once around Wisniowa supporting the 24th Uhlans defensive line with a frontal counter punch and the second in the afternoon this time protecting their wing.

Luckaszewicz's tank at Trzciana

On the 6th the company found themselves positioned as the Brigade reserve again at Wisnicz where they were able to boldly attack any Germans that came too close to the prepared Polish positions and finally enabling all of the Polish forces to withdraw to the next line of defence. The company lost another tank at the village of Trzciana with 2nd Lieutenant Michal Lukaszewicz losing his life and his two crewmen being seriously injured.

In the morning of 7th of September the company supported the crossing of the Brigade across the Dunajec in Biskupice. After crossing, the company along with a platoon of 10th Mounted Rifles conducted a reconnaissance in force on Wojnicz Tarnow clashing with reconnaissance patrols of the 2nd Panzer Division.

A column of Vickers E's on the move

In the evening the Brigade retreated through Mielec and Kolbuszowa towards the forests around Glogow in Malopolska where they again regrouped.

It is at this time that the 121st Light Tank Company ran out of fuel and had to be left behind near Przyleka by the Brigade who carried on without them.

Three of the company's tanks were able to find enough fuel to reach Kolbuszowa where on 8th September Lieutenant Colonel Gorecki (commander of Armia Krakow's armoured weapons) directed them to move towards the San river and support the efforts of any infantry that was attempting to reach the San and dig in. The rest of the tanks were left behind for good, although three of them were integrated into defensive positions around Kolmuszko where they participated in the defences of the town before being destroyed on the 9th September by a divisional detachment of the German 2nd Panzer Division as they raced to the approaches of Dzikowiec..

A destroyed Vickers E type B

On the 10th September when in Zarzecze Gorecki handed the 121st Light Tank Company over to the commander of Independent Operational Group 'Boruta'.

The commander of Independent Operational Group Boruta, received a request for help from the commander of 6th Infantry Division and as a result of this message the remaining three tanks were sent to Ulanov to provide support and raise the morale of the soldiers. On 12th September the 6th Infantry Division along with the three remaining tanks crossed to the right bank of the Tanja and stopped near the village of Sol near Bilgoraj.

Yet another destroyed Vickers E type B

On the 13th September they were assigned to the 21st Mountain Division in their attempts to reach Lwow in the east. The Company, acting as rear guard ensured that the Division was able to successfully withdraw with minimal loss.

On the night of 14th/15th September a stand was organised near Cewkov where fuel was collected from a variety of sources including damaged armoured cars and a German supply column that had been captured.

On 15th September a network of anti tank defences were organised and the 21st Mountain Division prepared to defend its position in depth, and on the following day the tanks, along with a battalion of 3rd Infantry Regiment were assigned to guard the divisional staff.

In the vicinity of the village of Koziejowka near Ulazowa the divisional staff fell into an ambush laid for it by the German 28th Infantry Division where one of the three remaining Vickers E's was destroyed in the battle and General Jozef Kustron was killed leading a bayonet charge before his troops finally capitulated. The remaining two Vickers E tanks of the 121st Light Tank Company fell into German custody along with 300 other troops.

...and that was the end of this gallant little force.

Further Information

The Staff of the company on 1st September 1939 is listed as follows:

Company Commander - por. Stanislaw Raczkowski

Technical Officer - Capt Jan Pisch

Platoon Commander - Sgt Cadet Michal Lukaszewicz

According the returns the strength of the 121st Light Tank Company on 1st September 1939 was:

Officers: 4

Soldiers: 110

The Company Composition:

Command:

1 Officer, 11 NCO's and 13 Soldiers

12 Pistols, 1 LMG, 13 Rifles

1 Staff Car, 1 Vickers E Tank (Type B), 3 Sokol 1000 with Sidecar, 2 Sokol 600, 1 Polski Fiat 518 Communications Radio Car, 1 Polski Fiat 621L Truck

Three Platoons each comprising:

1 Officer, 7 NCO's and 12 Soldiers

17 Pistols, 3 Carbines

5 Vickers E tanks (2 Type A and 3 Type B), 1 Sokol 1000 with sidecar, 1 half track and fuel bowser trailer.

Technical-Economic Platoon (Support Platoon) comprising:

9 NCO's, 20 Soldiers

10 Pistols, 19 Carbines

1 Sokol 1000 with sidecar, 5 Polski Fiat 621L Ursus trucks, Fuel Drum trailer, Mobile Field Kitchen

Total assets in Company

16 Vickers E Light Tanks (6 Type A and 10 Type B)

1 Staff Car

1 Radio Car

5 Trucks

1 Pick up truck

3 Half Tracks

7 Sokol 1000 with sidecars

2 Sokol 600's

Modelling the 121st Light Tank Company

An artists impression of the camouflaged Vickers E type B

So this is obviously one of my cornerstone mini projects that went into producing my entire Black Brigade as this is one of the only formations in the entirety of World War 2 that fielded the Vickers E tank (China being a notable exception) and the only nation that fitted air intakes that a modern fighter jet wouldn't be embarrassed to flaunt!

2 full platoons of Vickers E's

You may recall way back in the day that the very first steps I took in putting this project on the table was the actual sculpting of the tank itself...for which I used the chassis and track sections of a Battlefront T-26 tank, threw at least three turret attempts against the nearest wall and spent whole nights punching out rivets and giving myself square eyes.

A Vickers E type B (single turret) showing the heavy weathering applied over the track sections to hide casting faults

A lot of water has now passed under the bridge, I've taught myself to cast (room for improvement here I have to admit!) and I now have everything that the black brigade fielded as close to accurate that anybody on earth is going to have (well, apart from Mike maybe!)... and I have to be honest, I have a certain degree of smugness about this.

A rear view of the Vickers E showing the turret rear details and the massive air intake again

There were obstacles however. On priming the brand new casts, which looked awesome when they came out of the moulds, I discovered that they were covered in pinholes. These took me a little while to work out how to fix finally figuring out that if I diluted Vallejo's Plastic Putty with nail varnish remover down to the consistency of milk you can paint it straight over the pinholes and they will be filled with no detrimental effect to painting! Epic!

A side view of a Vickers E showing the air intake. Not quite accurate but the best I could manage on my first sculpt

Once the repairs to the casts were complete I had to get down to the painting... and yes ladies and gentlemen I used exactly the same painting methods that I have used on all of my other Polish vehicles.

A top down view of a Vickers E platoon showing the detailing of the camouflage scheme

I primed in black. Once dry I airbrushed the vehicles in Tamiya Olive Green and then applied the colour swatches of Tamiya Flat Brown and Tamiya Buff by airbrush as well. Once dry an AK Interactive Filter for Nato Vehicles was applied and left to dry.

A good view of one of the Vickers E type A's with the tank commander in the turret

Once dry the excess filter was removed using white spirits' and cotton buds and again left to dry. Once dry a matt varnish was applied to seal the layer.

A front on view of the same Vickers E type A

The tracks were begun with a coat of Vallejo Track Primer which then had a layer of AK Interactives Track Wash, left to dry and then a light drybrush of Vallejo Gunmetal Grey was applied. Once dry another coat of matt varnish was applied before the muddying effects were attacked.

Another good view of one of the Vickers E type A

Where the actual weathering of the vehicles is concerned I had a choice pretty much forced upon me. If you study the photos of the Brigades vehicles in '39 it is very obvious that it was a very dry summer with only a light dust over the vehicles. Unfortunately though there are so many faults on the casts that I needed to find a way of disguising them without having to fix the wheels and tracks one tank at a time and potentially one bogey at a time. I decided that making the track sections muddier than they were in reality was probably my best option. With that in mind I grabbed my pot of pre mixed European Mud by Mig and used it to fill all of the areas that had noticeable holes in them followed by a light stipple of the mud over the rest of the track section. This is then left to dry. It won't look great at this point due to the size of the granules but don't worry. Migs muds are really designed for 1/35th models so even the grains in it feel too big but in our 15mm models its there to provide some heavy layering of the mud.

A rear view showing all of the riveting and fine detailing on the rear of the tank.

The next, and in my case the final step is to paint all of the areas around the tracks that you want to affix pigments to with a pigment fixer. The pigment of your choice, in my case it was Vallejo's European Earth, is then heavily brushed into the areas you applied the fixer to and is left for about 15 minutes. Once the time is up I use a soft toothbrush to brush away any excess pigment that is left over.

A rear view of one of the Vickers E platoons showing the massive air intakes that the Poles installed

Once you are satisfied with the weathering it's finally ready to base them but that's a post for another time...

...and so, onto the next blog post!

Fix Bayonets!!!!