Marder III in Slovak and Czechoslovak Service

Slovakia / Czechoslovakia (1944-1950)
Self-propelled anti-tank gun – 18 during the war and over 50 after the war operated

The Marder self-propelled series was introduced as a German attempt to increase the mobility of towed anti-tank guns. The whole design was simple, just placing the anti-tank gun on any available tank chassis and adding some minimal armored protection. Despite their simplicity and somewhat crude design, if properly employed, these expedient vehicles showed themselves to be effective tank-killers. While nearly all were issued for German use, smaller numbers were issued to the Slovakian Army in late 1944. Ironically, while intended to fight off the Soviets, they were instead employed in the failed uprising against the Germans, during which all would be lost.

A Brief History of Marder Anti-Tank Vehicles

Following the invasion of the Soviet Union of 1941, the Germans quickly learned the hard way that their tank and anti-tank guns were of limited use against the T-34 and KV series. The experience gained during the first year of the invasion raised a red alert in the highest German military circles. To combat these new threats, the Germans rushed to introduce the new 7.5 cm PaK 40 anti-tank gun into service. After 1942, it became the standard German anti-tank gun used until the end of the war, with some 20,000 guns being built.

The PaK 40 was an excellent anti-tank gun, but its main problem was its heavy weight, making it somewhat difficult to deploy and hard to manhandle. The Germans went for the simplest solution and tried to improve its mobility by placing it on a series of obsolete tank chassis. These new Panzerjäger (Eng. Anti-tank) vehicles followed the same pattern. Most were open-topped, with limited gun traverse, and thin armor. They were armed with an effective anti-tank gun, and usually with one machine gun. Their somewhat crude construction meant that they were cheap and rather easy to build. To the Germans, these were only temporary solutions until better and more dedicated tank-hunters were developed, although this never became a full reality.

Production of such vehicles began to gain traction with the Marder II series. These were built using the Panzer II’s chassis. There were two versions, one armed with the German 7.5 cm and the other with a captured Soviet 7.62 cm gun. The production of the Marder II was halted in mid-1943 due to the shifting of resources towards other projects, such as the Wespe self-propelled artillery based on the same chassis.

To fill the gap, the reliable and well-proven Panzer 38(t)’s chassis was chosen as its successor. Based on this chassis, the Germans introduced three self-propelled anti-tank vehicles. These included the initial variant, known as the Panzerjäger 38(t) für 7.62 cm, armed with the 7.62 cm PaK 36(r) anti-tank gun, similar to the Marder II variant. The Panzerjäger 38(t) für 7.62 cm had a relatively crude design, with a tall profile and inadequate armor protection for the crew manning the gun. The crew was particularly exposed to enemy fire due to the open superstructure.

The next in line was the Panzerjäger 38(t) für 7.5 cm PaK 40/3 Ausf.H. This variant represented an improvement over the initial design. It was armed with the German 7.5 cm PaK 40/3 anti-tank gun. The superstructure of this variant was better protected compared to its predecessor, but it still remained lightly armored. Despite the enhancements, the crew remained somewhat exposed, albeit to a lesser extent than the earlier version. While it introduced many changes over its predecessors, there was still room for improvement. Further development led to the creation of the final Panzerjäger 38(t) für 7.5 cm PaK 40/3 ‘Marder 38T’ Ausf.M variant.

In Foreign Service

While the Germans exported their other anti-tank vehicles, such as the Jagdpanzer 38(t) and the StuG III (more precisely an assault gun, but often performing the same role) to their allies, they rarely did so with the much simpler and cheaper Marder series. The reason for this decision is unknown, but was probably related to the German’s own needs, and the relatively modest number of Marders built.

The first ally to receive 5 such vehicles, specifically the Marder II, was Hungary in early 1943. It would be more correctly said that the Germans actually lent them to Hungarians. These were temporarily given by the Germans to rebuild the shattered Hungarian 1st Armored Division. These achieved some success against Soviet armor, with the loss of three Marder IIs. The Hungarians were impressed with it and tried to make a copy based on their own Toldi light tank, but the project did not go beyond the prototype stage. In August 1944, the Germans reinforced the Hungarian 1st Cavalry Division with a battery of Marder vehicles. In addition, Allied forces employed captured Marders against the Germans on rare occasions.

The Slovak Republic and its Armed Forces

In late 1938, the political relations between Czechoslovakia and Germany worsened to the point that there was a real possibility that war would break out between these two countries. In September 1938, the Munich Agreement was signed between the Western Allies and Germany. It allowed Germany to annex the Sudetenland, a region of Czechoslovakia with a predominantly German population. As a result of the Munich Agreement, Czechoslovakia lost a significant portion of its territory, including key defensive positions and industrial areas. In March 1939, Czechoslovakia was completely taken over by the Germans, which created the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Slovakia, under German pressure, declared independence from Czechoslovakia on 14 March 1939, the day before the German occupation of the rest of Czechoslovakia.

Under German control, Slovakia was permitted to form an army that would include a small contingent of armored vehicles. In late 1939, thanks to German help, the Slovakian Army was able to form a tank battalion, which later changed to a regiment that was part of the Fast Armored Division. It was equipped mainly with equipment leftover from the former Czechoslovakian Army inventory. The Slovakian Army joined the Germans in their attack on the Soviet Union in 1941. After two years of heavy combat, nearly all of its armored forces were lost.

In 1944, the Slovakian Army attempted to rebuild its armored units. The main supplier of armored vehicles for the Slovakian Army was BMM (Böhmisch-Mährische Maschinenfabrik), the former ČKD (Českomoravská Kolben Daněk) company. Given their role as a minor German ally, Panzer 38(t) tanks and other obsolete equipment were obtained in limited numbers. In spring 1944, Slovak Army officials approached BMM with a request to acquire some of the Marder anti-tank vehicles. BMM agreed to deliver a group of 26 vehicles. With these, the Slovak officials had plans to increase the anti-tank capabilities of their meager tank force.

Probably due to some German intervention or lack of resources, only 18 vehicles were ever allocated to the Slovak Army in July 1944. Unfortunately, the sources are not specific on the precise type of supplied vehicles. Given the time of the war, it can be assumed that most would have been Ausf.M and possibly some Ausf.H variants. This contingent included some new but also some rebuilt vehicles. In Slovak service, these received ‘V-300’ to ‘V-318’ serial numbers.

Combat

With the arrival of Soviet forces from the east, Slovakia undertook preparations to set up defense positions at the Carpathian Mountains. Particularly strong defensive positions were to be established at the vital Dukla and Lupka passes. Thanks to the hilly and inaccessible terrain, strong defensive positions could be established there. For this operation, two infantry divisions supported by the Marders were allocated. After some time spent in crew training, the Marders were split into two companies (2nd and 3rd) and reached their designated positions in August 1944.

Each of the two companies were divided into two three-vehicle strong platoons and one vehicle for the command platoon. In total, each had seven vehicles in their inventory. Of the remaining four, two were sent to reinforce the headquarters (HQ) of the first armored battalion. The last two remained in reserve at Turčiansky.

Ironically, these appear to have never seen action against the Soviets. On 29th August 1944, the Slovak Army rebelled against the Germans in the hope of liberating their country. Unfortunately for them, the Germans were prepared and crushed the insurgency relatively quickly. On 31st August, the Slovakian 2nd Company was captured in Ladomirov. The 3rd tried to escape but had to abandon their vehicles during the retreat.

The two Marders at the Turčiansky training base saw action against German tanks on 26th August 1944. At the end of the month, one vehicle was positioned at Strečnan Gorge. Thanks to the narrow pass, its crew managed to use the terrain to its advantage and destroy at least two German Panzer IVs. That vehicle was eventually lost, being hit by German anti-tank fire on 8th September 1944. The following day, the second vehicle was lost in the same manner.

The HQ of the First Armored Battalion, with its two vehicles, escaped and entrenched itself with Slovak partisans at the villages of Zlata, Bana, and Hermanovce. Besides the two Marders, they also had some light tanks in their inventory. After several days of fighting, the Germans finally managed to destroy this group, capturing the two Marders in the process. By May 1945, the victorious Allies reached Czechoslovakia, where the remnants of the German Army surrendered.

After the War

Following the end of the war in Europe, Czechoslovakia was re-established as a state, only this time under the political influence of the Soviet Union. On its territory, large stockpiles of abandoned German vehicles were still lying around. These would be gathered and, after evaluation, it would be decided whether some could be used again or sent to be scrapped. This included over 3,000 vehicles of various types, of which some 700 were scrapped or cannibalized for spare parts. In total, the new Czechoslovak Army managed to gather some 32 Marder 38T (Sd.Kfz.138) Ausf.M and H and 16 Marder 38T (Sd.Kfz.139). This number did not include vehicles that were damaged beyond repair. The total number of chassis may have been much higher.

Despite availability in some numbers, the Marders had a very brief service life within the Czechoslovak Army. Some three Marder 38T Ausf.H and six Ausf.M vehicles were allocated for the defense of Prague as part of the 1st Tank Battalion in August 1945. The following year, the Czechoslovak Army made the decision to introduce to service some more of the captured German vehicles, such as the Jagdpanzer 38(t), which was designated ST-I. The ST-II designation was to be allocated to the surviving Marders. This was not to be. After analyzing their combat potential, they were deemed obsolete. These would be stored and later sent to be scrapped.

Upgrade Project

In 1947, two Marder 38T Ausf.H and M were given to the Czechoslovak Military Technical Institute. These two would serve as a base for a potential new upgrade program that aimed to improve their combat performance. Both Škoda and ČKD were included in the realization of this project in 1948. While these two were completed, it appears that no photograph of them is known to have survived to this day. They remained in use as training vehicles at the Military Academy at Hranice up until 1950. After that, they were given to the civilian company Energostav to be used as improvised engineer vehicles for towing electrical towers to their installation sites. None of the Czechoslovak Marders are known to have survived the war.

Conclusion

The Marder was the best-armored vehicle employed by the Slovak Army during the war. Despite being intended to fight off the Soviets, it instead fought the Germans. While most were abandoned or captured, at least two managed to inflict some damage on the Germans before being overrun. Despite being available in some numbers after the war, their use in Czechoslovakia was minimal, given their obvious obsolescence.

Panzerjäger 38(t) für 7.5 cm PaK 40/3 Ausf.M Technical specifications
Crew	4 (Commander, Gunner, Driver, Loader)
Weight	10.150 tonnes
Dimensions	Length 5.02 m, Width 2.15 m, Height 2.35 m
Engine	Praga AC, 150 hp @ 2,800 rpm
Speed	47 km/h | (off-road): 20 km/h
Range	185 km | (off-road): 140 km
Armament	7.5 cm PaK 40/3
Armor	6 to 15 mm

Sources

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