Battle at the hilltop of Karancs (northern
Hungary)
May 5-10, 1919
In 1919 a Czech platoon occupied
the hilltop of Karancs. By the foot of the hill were the
positions of the 53/II. Hungarian Red Army battalion. The 724
meters high Karancs was an excellent observation point for the
Czech artillery. When the Czechs opened machine-gun fire at the
Hungarian position, the battalion commander asked for permission
to siege the Karancs. At the dawn of 5th May the assault group
rallied close to the hilltop by the chapel ruin.
| |
 |
|
| |
A soldier of the Hungarian Red
Army |
|
The commander of the battalion left a company at about
the ruin, and the assault team moved forward to the direction of
the hilltop. After short firefight they occupied the position. At
night the Czech tried to recapture the hilltop. On the night of 6th
May they had success.
| |
 |
|
| |
Position |
|
The Hungarian battalion commander was prepareing for
the next siege. He had a reinforced company, and an artillery
battery provided supporting fire during the attack. At 5'o clock
in the morning the assault group departed. The commander selected
the best soldiers, and directed them to the back of enemies. As
the Czechs noticed them, the firefight began. In that moment the
rest of the assault group started an attack against the frontside
of the Czech position. The Czech withdrew their defenders.
| |
 |
|
| |
Combat team from the town Salgótarján |
|
In April 2002 we searched the battlefield. On the
hilltop there is a 50 by 50 m wide plateau. Nowadays there is a
lookout tower and a little elevation with trenches. I supposed
tham to be the remains of the Czech positions.
 |
|
 |
| The trenches at
the hillside |
 |
|
 |
| The trench |
|
The lookout tower of Karancs |
At about the elevation we found a lot of Mannlicher
cartridge cases with different headstamps. Unfortunately the
Hungarian and the Czech soldiers had the same Mannlicher M95
rifles and they also used the same WWI left-over ammunition.
That's why we could't differentiate between the cartridge cases
spent by the Czech and the Hungarian troops, but the location of
the artifacts showed the directions of the attacks.
Headstamps of 8x50R (M.93.) Mannlicher
cartridge cases
 |
 |
 |
| Weiss Manfréd (Budapest) |
Sellier & Bellot (Prag) |
Berndorff (Austria) |
 |
 |
 |
| Georg Roth (Austria) |
Hirtenberger (Austria) |
unknown |
 |
|
 |
| We used little white flags to
sign the artifacts |
|
Mannlicher cartridges |
 |
|
 |
| Shrapnel shell |
|
Sole leather of boot |
 |
|
 |
| The chapel now |
|
Path from the chapel to
Karancs |
 |
|
 |
| The arrow shows the hilltop,
the broken line shows the location of cartridge cases |
|
The hilltop from the west |
