Description

The body was on a chassis frame, made of bolted armour plates, connected with angled iron. Access doors were on each side; the door on the left side opened forwards, the door on the right side opened backwards (so the crew could get out under fire from the front or rear). There were five small windows in combat compartment, covered with flapes (two per each side and one on the left in the front plate). Two larger windows, opening upwards and covered with hatches with prismatic periscopes, were located in front of each driver, at the front and rear. Inside, racks for ammunition boxes and a CO2 fire extinguisher were attached to the walls. The floor was not flat, but made of several segments of sheet metal covering frame parts. The crew compartment had a fan in the middle of the floor, in a cylindrical cover, sucking air from under the vehicle and also acting as a step for the commander standing in the turret. The engine compartment was separated from the crew compartment by a bulkhead. On the roof, in front of and behind the turret, there were external angles for stiffening (rather it was not meant to protect the turret ring, being made of a regular steel). The radiator was covered with an armored hatch, opening upwards by the driver. In front of the radiator, under the hatch, there was a single road headlight. Below there was a covered hole for a starting crank (the crank was normally transported on the front plate, on the left side of the radiator hatch). Access to the engine was provided by two rectangular flaps on hull nose sides (with the lower front corner cut off to avoid interference with fenders). It is noteworthy, that the height of the engine reached less than half of the side flaps, and higher up under the hood there was an empty space. A shovel, a pickaxe and a crowbar were fastened outside the car on the left side. On the rear wall there were two tool boxes, a 3-ton jack of railway type and a 7-meter steel towing rope. There was a towing hook between the tool boxes. The armored body was made of rolled face-hardened steel plates, of Cr-Ni steel. Armour plates were made by Bismarck (later Batory) Ironworks in Hajduki Wielkie (former Bismarckhütte, currently Chorzów). The armour thickness was from 4 mm (roof, bottom) to 9 mm (front) and 10 mm (turret). Armour protected against armour-piercing rifle bullets at least from above 300 m, and against ordinary rifle bullets and splinters from all distances.

The turret was octagonal, with a gun mounting in the front plate and two machine gun mounts in rear side plates. Machine gun mountings were placed at an angle of 135° to the gun and at an angle of 90° to each other. Round holes for the mountings were allowed for different mounting of weapons. The turret was made of plates fastened with screws on angles, without a frame. There were eight 40 mm wide observation slits in turret walls, and the ninth was in the inclined wall with the upper mounting. Due to the use of prismatic periscopes inside, the slots were protected from a direct fire. Damaged periscopes could have been quickly replaced. As can be seen from photographs, the pattern car differed in much wider slots in walls without gun mountings. Initially, false slots were also painted for camouflage purposes. There was a round observation hatch in the roof, with a two-piece cover, which had a round hole in one part for displaying signal flags. The edge of the cover was bent, creating a gap for ventilation. The turret was rotated manually using two handles. The car had no radio. The truck frame was shortened at the rear by 275 mm and an additional crossbar and an auxiliary longitudinal section were added in the rear. The front axle has an I-section profile and was strengthened. Suspension was on semi-elliptical springs. Tires were initially Overman, semi-pneumatic (or semi-solid) – made of thick rubber with rigid internal elements and air chambers, puncture-resistant and were later replaced with Polish pneumatic Stomil. At the rear there were twin wheels. No spare wheel was carried. The engine was an Ursus-2A: petrol, 2,873 l., 4-cylinder, 4-stroke, sidevalve, water cooled. 35 HP at 2000 rpm.  It was a licensed version of the engine SPA of 1913. A radiator had increased capacity comparing to the truck, and cooling was efficient, even with a closed hatch. The engine had an electric starter Scintilla or auxiliary starting crank. Maximum speed was 40 km/h, but a practical allowable speed was 35 km/h. An additional driver’s post was at the rear, equipped with basic steering devices, coupled with the front driver’s post by means of shafts and rods. Mechanical drum brakes were on rear wheels, an auxiliary handbrake was on the drive shaft. The crew consisted of four men: commander-gunner, driver, rear driver and rear gunner. Only drivers had round seats with backrests, on screw bases, which could be adjusted in height and moved forward and backward. The commander could sit on the cylindrical fan or on a leather belt attached to hooks on the walls of the turret. In the rear part of the compartment to the right of the driver’s seat, on the floor there was a seat cushion for the rear gunner, who had a footwell below the chassis frame.

Armament

The main armament was the turreted French 37 mm Puteaux SA L/21 low-velocity gun, designated in Poland as 37 mm wz.S.A. cannon, aimed manually using a shoulder butt. It could fire up 10 rounds per minute. The gun was mounted in Polish-designed standard universal ball mounting and proved enough to fight contemporary light armored vehicles only at close ranges. There were 80 round carrieds in a rack on the right side of the car, (52 AT and 28 HE rounds). Secondary weapons were 2x French 7.92 mm Hotchkiss wz.25 machine guns in ball mountings of Polish design. An angle of fire was 60° in both axis. One machine gun was placed in left rear side of the turret, at 135° angle to the gun instead of 180° to facilitate the use of the two arms simultaneously. The second machine gun was in rear hull plate, on the left side, manned by the rear gunner. The cars had also a third machine gun mounting in right upper side of the turret (at 135° angle to the cannon and gun and 90° angle to the other machine gun). This was first intended for anti-aircraft use but already during prototype trials it was found ineffective in this role. In fact, this mounting was retained first of all in case of firing at higher floors during urban combat. The ammunition for machine guns was around 4000 rounds.

Combat use :

Before the war

In 1930s, an independent armored branch was created in the polish forces, and armored units were reorganized several times. The first platoon of three wz. 29 cars was assigned in 1931 to the Experimental Armored and Motorized Group in the Modlin fortress until the outbreak of the war. They were next part of the 3rd Armored Regiment. The next squadron of eight Wz.29, was first meant to be stationed in Lviv, but eventually joined the 2nd Armored Car Unit in Żurawica near Przemyśl. From 1 September 1931, they constituted a squadron of armored cars in the newly established 2nd Armored Regiment. In 1934, the armored regiments were reorganized in armored battalions, and by the end of 1935 all Wz. 29 armored cars found themselves in Armored Weapons’ Training Center (CWBrPanc) in Modlin, where they were assigned to the experimental 11th Armored Battalion. In July 1939 eight were counted as category B (fit for training and mobilization), and three as category C (worn out, fit for training only). In July 1939, there were reported 13 armored cars in the CWBrPanc in Modlin, probably 11 wz. 29, and 2 Wz.28. In late August 1939, during the mobilization, 8 cars were included into the newly formed 11th Armored Unit (11 Dywizjon Pancerny), assigned to the Mazowiecka (Masovian) Cavalry Brigade of the « Modlin » Army, as its reconnaissance unit.