Days of Battle

Armoured Operations North of the River Danube, Hungary 1944-45

Szamveber Norbert

"Days of Battle" describes a hitherto neglected part of the military history of Hungary during World War II. In three separate studies, Dr Norbert Szamveber, drawing from files and documentation from German, Hungarian and Soviet sources, presents detailed accounts of four important clashes of German-Hungarian and Soviet armour north of the river Danube, in the southern territory of the historical Upper Hungary (part of Hungary between 1938 and 1945, at the present time now part of Slovakia).

The first is an account of the battle between the Ipoly and Garam rivers during the second half of December 1944, in which the elite Hungarian Division Szent Laszlo saw action for the first time. The second study is about the fierce tank battle of Komarom, fought between the 6-22 January 1945. This was an integral part of the Battle for Budapest, parallel in time with Operation Konrad. The third part of the book describes the combat during the German Operation Sudwind in February 1945 and the Soviet attack launched in the direction of Bratislava in March 1945.

About the Author

Dr. Norbert Szلmvéber is a Hungarian archivist and military historian. He was born in 1975 in Budapest. He finished studies in 1999 in Eِtvِs Lorلnd University, Faculty of Arts, History. Since 1997 he has worked in the Hungarian Ministry of Defense Institute of Military History and Museum in Budapest, and since 2005 has been the Chief of Hungarian Military Archives. His research skills are in the field of armoured warfare during World War II and the military history of the Waffen-SS, especially from 1944 to 1945 in Hungary. In 2003, he successfully defended his doctoral thesis on the subject "Konrad 3 – A Tank Battle for Budapest in 1945" at the University of National Defence "Zrيnyi Miklَs" in Budapest. He is author and co-author of 15 books and many articles. He is married and lives in Budapest.

Back to the list of books