Tank Regiment in the Living room

Every little lad likes to shoot with wooden guns and play at soldiers, but later on they grow out of this habit. Unlike László Szőke, who ‘fell in love’ with the army during the war. Back then, toy shops were mainly selling cannons, tanks, airplanes and guns, and thanks to his well-to-do parents, he collected a whole ‘weapon arsenal’ at home. By the age of eight, he had his ‘own’ real-life tank: he found it near the railway station of Kecskemét, it had been hit by the Russians. There was only one tiny hole in its side, and the open hatch was almost luring the boys.

Since then, Unce Laci has been a great fan of ’caterpillar tracks’, and as a child he decided to enrol a military school and become a tank officer. One of the most beautiful days in his life was when he received the draft, but soon his joy turned sour: he was sent home because the doctor on the draft board had said there was a little problem with his heart.

He became a painter and decorator, and started to collect uniforms. He went to flea markets and he was also a ’regular customer’ at fairs held in the cultural centre of the Havana Housing Estate in Budapest. He was specialized in the period preceding World War II, and displayed his collection of more than sixty uniforms at several exhibitions. He was the most proud of his complete Hungarian tank crew uniform.

A few years ago he sold his collection, but he feels sorry if he thinks of that tank crew uniform even though his life is filled with tanks now. He assembled his first combat vehicle some thirty years ago; ‘large-scale’ production began only after his leg operation: he could not climb the ladder anymore, so he became a boiler man at the county court of law. All he had to do with the gas boiler was to keep an eye on it – he did not know what to do with so much free time. It takes a heating season for him to assemble a tank: in autumn, he heats up the boiler and by the time spring sets in, the newest model is ready.

Production is very time-consuming because Uncle Laci designs and personally manufactures each part of the combat vehicles (with the exception of the engine). Cogwheels require the greatest attention, and it was a Churchill that took the longest time to assemble because it has a very complicated structure and undercarriage. He works on the basis of photographs, drawings, military periodicals, and modelling-magazines, but he says he is also a regular reader of ‘Magyar Honvéd’ (Defence Mirror’, the magazine of the Ministry of Defence. Scale models are made of aluminium plates and some wood stuff and plastic – on average, raw material costs for one tank are around four thousand forints.

Each of them has two electric engines and can be controlled by wired remote controls taken out of old toys. They operate precisely like the ’big ones’ do: they go forward and reverse, turn right and left, their turret turns around and their hatches and doors can be opened. From the series of combat vehicles assembled during the decades, the jack-of-all-trades of Kecskemét has given away many – he has kept only fifteen boxes, and for our sake, he put them in ‘battle order’ in his garden (see picture).

Uncle Laci is well-known in the Museum of Military History as well: he had an exhibition, and also donated tank’s spare parts to the collection of the museum. He ’found’ one of them, the chain tensioning wheel of a ’Királytigris’(Royal Tiger), by a locksmith’s workshop, the master used it for winding wire. The four road wheels of a ’Párduc’ (Panther) caught his eyes at a transport operator – they were used as horse carriage wheels, and he spotted the caterpillar track of a ’Panzerkampfwagen I’ (PZ-1) light combat vehicle in the courtyard of one of the houses in Bem Street: they were enclosing a flower garden.

The author’s photos

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