38M Toldi

The 38M Toldi was a Hungarian light tank, based on the Swedish Landsverk L-60B tank. It was named after the 14th century Hungarian knight Miklós Toldi.

Production history
The 38M Toldi was produced and developed under license from Swedish company AB Landsverk between 1939 and 1942. Only 202 were produced.

Variants

 * Toldi I (k.hk. A20) - first variant armed with 20 mm gun, 80 made.
 * Toldi II (k.hk. B20) - variant with thicker front armour, 110 made.
 * Toldi IIa (k.hk. B40) - modification developed in 1942, armed with 40 mm gun - 80 tanks of earlier variant were rearmed this way.
 * Toldi III (k.hk. C40) - improved variant, only 12 made.

Combat history
Toldi tanks entered Hungarian service in 1940. They first saw action with the Hungarian Army against Yugoslavia in 1941.

These tanks were mostly used against the USSR between 1941-1944. Because of their light armour, armament and good communications equipment, they were mostly used for reconnaissance. The design was no match against Soviet T-34 medium tanks encountered during the early stages of Operation Barbarossa.

Survivors
Two known surviving 38M Toldi tanks (one Toldi I and one Toldi IIa) are preserved on display at the Kubinka Tank Museum. The Irish defense forces have a Toldi light tank that is working, one of two that they have and the other is in the National Museum in Colin's Barracks, located in Dublin 7, Ireland.