Hungarian Communist Era Camouflage

[Gordon Craig]

Gentlemen,

I have started to put together a collection of Hungarian camouflage items. Here is some from the communist era. I'll include photos of more modern camo for comparison purposes.

Regards,

Gordon
First up are pictures of the M1949 pattern camo as used on a shelter half. This three colour pattern was developed from the earlier M1938 and was similar to the older model but had blurred edges. The two shelter quarters differ considerably in colour with the one in the forground looking more green than the other which has a more brown tone to it. The further one in the picture is the closest one to the actual colour.

[Gordon Craig]

A comparison between the M1949 camo and the current M1990 pattern. I am editing this to make a correction. The top shelter quarter is actually the M49/82 pattern which I'll cover later in more depth. Sorry about the mistake. Blame it on the learning curve!

[POLAK]

great stuff! thanks for sharing.
have You any pics of complete field uniform and gear of Hungarian Army from commie period?

[Gordon Craig]

POLAK,

I'll have to look through my stuff and see what I have. I just started this collection a few eeks ago because I moved to Budapest this past July. I do have more camo that I will post tomorrow. If I don't have photos of complete Hungarian field uniforms I have a friend who may have. I'll be starting a thread on summer field caps soon.

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

Polak,

The best I can do is to post some pictures of line drawings from two reference books that I have. They are a little blurry but the best I can do right now in holding the pages open and using the camera with my other hand. The first picture is from a Squadron/Signal publication called "Uuniforms of the Warsaw Pact". It was published in the U.S. in 1978. I would say it shows the Field Dress up to 1978 because of the plastic peak on the summer field cap. That was about when they went to the cloth peak.

[Gordon Craig]

The next picture is taken from an Osprey-Elite Series book #10 - Warsaw Pact Ground Forces. It was first published in 1987 and my copy is a 1989 reprint. It probably shows the field dress of post 1978 now because of the cloth peak on the Summer Field Cap. It also shows the camo one piece suit that was worn over the uniform. I don't own a suit like this and my reference material is somewhat vague on its date of introduction so I'll have to supply that data sometime in the future.

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

Now back to strictly Hungarian camo. As I mentioned earlier, the 1949 pattern is thought to have originated with the 1938 pattern. The Hungarian Military museum indicates that a pattern very similar to the 1949 pattern first appeared in 1943. The photo below is from Dr. Borsarello's book "Camouflage Uniforms of Europe and NATO Armies 1945 to the Present" but actually shows war time examples of Hungarian camouflage shelter quarters. The person on the left side of the picture is said to be wearing the camo pattern that appeared in 1943. The person on the right is wearing the 1938 pattern. The central figure is wearing the M1929 Italian pattern which was also worn during the war by the Hungarian Army and influenced later post war camouflage patterns.

[Gordon Craig]

In 1950 research started on a totally pattern of camouflage that was a distinct departure from the earlier 1938 and the 1949 patterns. It is variously refered to as the 1951 and the 1952 pattern. The Hungarian Military Museum indicates that all items of this type of camouflage that they have seen were marked as being made in 1952 or 1953 so they refer to it as the 1952 pttern. A terminology I will use as well.
It is three colour pattern and is composed of three one piece suits;
1-one with a dominant green background with lighter green and brown figures that was for use in open lowland terrain;
2-one with a dominant brown background with light green and brown figures that was intended for use in the highlands of forested terrain;
3-one that was totally white for winter use.
These camouflage suits were to be issued to Recnnaissance companies that consisted of 100 men. They were to receive 50 sets of each of the coloured variety. How the Hungarian army expected these to be employed is uncertain but they were both worn at the same time regardless of terrain. I assume the coloured sets were withdrawn during the winter months and the white sets issued instead.
The coloured sets had all been replace by 2004 and were sold to the public. The white suits are still in use.
The predominantly green suit is shown first.

[Gordon Craig]

The predominantly brown suit.

[Gordon Craig]

The white suit.

[Gordon Craig]

The date stamp found on the interior of the one piece suits. Some suits also have a size marking at the neck at the back of the suit. I do not know how many sizes were issued at this time.

[POLAK]

very interesting infos and pics,Thanks! and keep'em coming

[Viktor]

You have some nice things Genosse, thanks for sharing. you don't see much of this Scale of Issue.

[csodagyerek]

new issue camo suit

gordon,
the suit shown in the osprey book was used by some army felderito recon units. But it was used more by the ministry of the interior by the border guards. the date of issue was in the 80's too. The workers militia also had a suit in similar material but was two piece. the name of this camo is oak leaf or tolgyeslevel. Hope I Was able to help.

[Gordon Craig]

codagyerek,

Thanks for your input. Nice to see that there are other members of the forum who are interested in Hungarian Cammo. I did not mean to indicate in my post that the cammo suit in the Osprey book was used by Recon units. That comment was for the three suits I posted earlier. You are correct that the suit in the Osprey book was used by the Ministry of the Interior and the Border Guards. I'll cover that when I post that particular suit. Please continue to participate in this thread any and all info is welcome because some of the reference material I have is not quite correct. It haelps to be here on the ground where I can buy original pieces and talk to guys that wore it.

Regards,

Gordon