Southeast Europe Armed Forces Handbook

When I set out to create my two Hungarian infantry battalions suitable for use with Frank Chadwick's COMMAND DECISION rules, information about the Hungarian Army during World War II was not widely available. One source that I did have was the SOUTHEAST EUROPE ARMED FORCES HANDBOOK, and although it is a long time since I have referred to it, it still sits on the bookshelves in my toy/wargame room.

The book was edited by W Victor Madej, and was based on the text of three publications published in 1944 by the US War Department's Military Intelligence Division with the titles of ORDER OF BATTLE AND HANDBOOKS OF THE BULGARIAN ARMED FORCES, ORDER OF BATTLE AND HANDBOOKS OF THE HUNGARIAN ARMED FORCES, and ORDER OF BATTLE AND HANDBOOKS OF THE RUMANIAN ARMED FORCES. My copy of the combined and edited volume has seen better days, and over the years the binding has deteriorated to the point that pages can fall out if one is not careful.

Each of the armed forces is covered in a separate section of the book, each section being split into several chapters entitled:

• I. Introduction
• II. The High Command
• III. Basic Structure
• IV. Uniforms and Insignia
• V. Weapons and Equipment
• VI. Military Symbols
• VII. Navy
• VIII. Air Force
• IX. Glossary of Military Terms and Related Terms

There are small maps in each section to illustrate the structure and location of each armed force's organisational/geographic army, corps, and divisional boundaries as well as family tree diagrams that show their respective command structures.

The book also has four appendices:

• Appendix I: Events preceding the Russo-German War
• Appendix II: Impact of the Russo-German War on South Eastern Europe
• Appendix III: Slovakia and Croatia
• Appendix IV: Chronological Table

There are some photographs in each section of the book, but they are not of the best quality and in some cases are almost illegible.

At a time when even historical sources of information about what were still Warsaw Pact armies was difficult to get hold of, this book was very useful. Nowadays its value is more as a reminder as to how well our desire for information is so well served today.

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SOUTHEAST EUROPE ARMED FORCES HANDBOOK was edited by W Victor Madej and published in 1982 by Game Marketing Company (ISBN 0 941052 09 5).