Poland (1940-1943)

Tank/APC – None built

The Enigmatic Colonel Chrobok

Of the many Polish tank designs prior to 1945, those from the pen of Pawel Chrobok are perhaps some of the most unusual. Very little is known of Chrobok, save for a few patents submitted in his name while living in exile in Great Britain during WW2. In 1940 and 1941, Colonel Chrobok of the Polish Free Army, Rothsay, Scotland submitted two designs for a tank/APC hybrid vehicle.

The First Design

Col. Chrobok’s first design was submitted in December 1940 while residing at the Polish Army camp in Rothesay, and titled ‘Improvements Relating to Automobile Gun-Carriages.’ The object of the design was to provide heavy and light ordnance in the tank along with a contingent of foot troops and other portable equipment such as light field guns all in one package.

The front of this first design would concentrate its armament with a wide array of guns consisting of heavy armour-piercing guns, heavy machine guns, flame throwing devices and anti-aircraft guns as thought fit. The entire vehicle was to be armor plated, with special care being given to the crew cabin. The rear troop area of the vehicle was specified to have armored sides and, depending on the requirement, would have either a waterproof fabric cover or an armored roof.

Inside the rear troop compartment were a series of stepped bench-seats arranged longitudinally for troops with a storage area underneath for equipment. The whole area was accessed through a large rear hatch which could hinge either downwards or outwards. The side walls were also intended to open in order to facilitate loading or offloading as the vehicle was also intended to move supplies and the wounded on stretchers. The complete specification for this patent application was complete by 27th December 1941 and it was accepted on 6th July 1942 under Patent number GB 546,287(A).



Colonel Chrobok’s original 1940 design for his ‘Automobile Gun Carriage’

Improvements

In January 1941, Colonel Chrobok submitted a second and improved variation of his first design, this time titled ‘An Improved Armoured Gun Carriage.’ The most substantial change brought by this improved design was the addition of a small round turret at the rear of the machine, which was to serve as an anti-aircraft gun. A less obvious difference was the addition of two parallel longitudinal firing ports on each side of the troop compartment, permitting the troops to fire from within.



Colonel Chrobok’s ‘Improved Armoured Gun Carriage’ of 1941

A Third and Larger Idea

Colonel Chrobok’s fortunes did not favor his designs and at some point, he left the Polish Army camp by February 1943 and was giving his home address as Du Cane Court, Baltham, London. From here, Colonel Chrobok’s inventiveness continued with a design for fire fighting apparatus in October 1942 and an even more impressive and substantial ‘tank’ in February 1943. This new tank design was intended to fulfil offensive and defensive roles and equipped with, according to Chrobok, “very powerful offensive armament.” With a similar frontal aspect to the previous designs, this design specified that the cylindrical gun turrets (one or more) would be sunk into the body and have a diameter of approximately ⅓ of the overall vehicle width. Specifically, there would be an overlap on the side walls in order to provide buoyancy and the large amphibious design would be propelled in the water by its tracks.



Front view of Colonel Chrobok’s 1943 ‘Improved Armoured Gun Carriage’