Emil Hamza - Lajos Négyesi PhD - Zoltán Sőregi
Remains of a Hungarian raid in a Soviet position
When we checked a
WWII. Soviet position with metal detectors, we found some
Hungarian Mannlicher cartridge cases. After systematic surveying
we could localize the area of a raid. The artifacts and their
localization talked about the combat.
In the center of the map you can see the parting of the trench.
Next to this point we found some Soviet pistol cartridges and
coins (German 2 Mark, 50 pf, Serb 2, 1 Dinar). It seems that that
place was a watchpost of the trenches and close-combat occured
between a Soviet sentinel and Hungarian raiders there.
In the center-bottom of the map you can see the blue point whith
inscription "ELCSETTENT". We found there a Mannlicher
cartridge with a very shallow firing pin impression on the primer
cup. The cartridge has been examined by a firearms expert. His
opinion is that the impression on the primer is not the result of
a full-power firing pin hit, but rather a light hit which
occured, when a soldier "decocked" the firing mechanism
of the his rifle over a chambered round and the cocking piece of
the firing pin slided out of his thumb. The firing pin had no
enough force to ignite the primer composition.
Probably the Hungarian soldier loaded his rifle and chambered a
round before the raid. It was cold winter, his fingers were
frosty and he could not keep the cocking piece during decocking.
During the raid he was left as a sentinel in front of the trench.
When the firefight started he cycled the action of his rifle
automatically and the cartridge with the shallow firing pin
impression was ejected. The location of the artifact showed the
possible position of the sentinel.
In the righ-bottom of map you can see a lot of red dots. There we
found Soviet submachine-gun (PPSh) cartridge cases. The firearms
expert examined them with a comparision microscope and separated
them into two groups (two guns). Probably the Soviet protective
patrol detected the raid group and opened fire of them.
The location of the Mannlicher cartridge cases showed the target
of raid. It was a big shelter behind the trench.
We excavated the trench, but only a few cartridge cases laid on
the bottom of it. Probably the raid group had not occupied the
trench.
The map of research site