Wonder Helicopter, Heroic Knights and Hussars

The Hungarian Defence Forces celebrate their 160th anniversary this year. On this occasion cultural May Day festivities were held last weekend in the City Park of Budapest and in Heroes’ Square. Exactly 160 years ago, on 16th May 1848 Colonel Manó Baldacci and Prime Minister Lajos Batthyány issued a notice titled ‘Patriots’, calling for the establishment of a nearly 10-thousand-strong national guard. These corps were the defence forces, whose members served for three years in those days.

Quite obviously the Hungarian Defence Forces have undergone a number of substantial changes since then. The festivities provided a good opportunity for the visitors to find out more about these changes, the typical features, military technologies, tanks, a helicopter, and many objects and associations related to the life of the Defence Forces. The programmes involved the parade of Hussars in traditional uniforms, the unit of honour of HDF Support Brigade, a show of the Honvéd Ensemble, a spectacular close-range fighting of the students of Zrínyi Miklós University of National Defence, and a demonstration of Zrínyi Miklós Baranta Traditional Hungarian Martial Arts Sports Club.

The event started with the procession of units of honour in Heroes’ Square, with the troops wearing Hussar uniforms, and the uniforms of World War II and the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. In addition to the wide range of entertaining programmes, the leaders of the HDF and the Ministry of Defence have gathered to remember, after all. The wreath of remembrance was laid by Lieutenant General András Havril, Chief of Defence Staff onto the memorial in the middle of the square, who spoke about the significance of traditions and the responsibility of the armed forces in his short speech. Defence Minister Dr. Imre Szekeres has also discussed the latter with our magazine, stating that the military has a dual role. Beyond the protection of the country — in a disaster –, saving humans and valuables are important tasks, too. All these contribute to the fact that the organization enjoys quite high social acceptance. As regards the mission to Western Kosovo, which is to commence in summer, Dr. Imre Szekeres has added that the contingent is prepared, and he has ensured that in the town of Pec they have done everything to provide a safe environment for the troops.

Following the solemn tribute the attention was focused on the City Park meadow: among the camouflage tents — and in addition to cheap beer and fried ‘lángos’ dough – uniforms, weapons, all-terrain vehicles, tanks, and even a helicopter awaited all those interested, but mainly the children. It seemed kids were the most curious to see the vehicles from the outside and the inside, too, since all the tanks were full of the little ones, who were queueing in front of the helicopter just to climb up to the cockpit.

In the tent of HDF Civilian-Military Cooperation and Psychological Operations Centre (CIMIC) we had the opportunity to learn about the traditional dresses of Afghanistan. Besides women’s wear and shawls the organization has introduced itself as well: they would like to have the citizens accept the activities of troops stationing in crisis areas. The special vehicle on display next to the tent aroused the interest of many: an LCD TV in the window, and a serious hi-fi equipment inside. There are two multimedia vehicles of this type in Afghanistan, and it is used for the dissemination of information for the population, and not for the entertainment of Hungarian troops.

Just a short walk, and we bump into the tent of the Retired Soldiers’ Association of Military Traditions. The organization founded in 1994 displayed the military equipment and uniforms of the period between 1960 and 1990, and the memorabilia of the ‘Czinege era’ of the cold war. There was a constant roar coming from the kids’ corner during the whole day: next to the trampoline tent the youngsters had a chance to try themselves in a knights’ tournament, sit on various breeds of horses, find out more about the history of the armed forces in the framework of a display of masks, helmets, and coats of arms, and show how talented they are in a drawing competition. However, the most popular item on display was a Mi24-e combat helicopter for children and adults alike. People were lining up and waited for their turn to sit in the cockpit of the aircraft, or to take a photo. The vehicle of the Military Police was just as popular among the children, who have learned perfectly how to sound the siren.