Czech hedgehog
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Czech hedgehog (rozsocháč or ježek in Czech language) was a static tank obstacle defense made of angle iron (that is, lengths with an L- or I- shaped cross section) deployed during World War II by various combatants.
The hedgehog is very effective in keeping tanks from getting through a line of defense. It maintains its function even when tipped over by a nearby explosion. Although it may provide some scant cover for infantry, infantry forces are generally much less effective against fortified defensive positions than mechanized units.
The name refers to the place of origin. The hedgehogs were originally used on the Czech–German border by the Czechoslovak border fortifications - a massive but never-completed fortification system built on the eve of World War II by Czechoslovakia. The fortification system fell to Germany in 1938 after the occupation of the Sudetenland as a consequence of the Munich Agreement.
Czech hedgehogs were widely used during World War II by USSR in anti-tank defense. They were produced from any sturdy piece of metal (sometimes even wood), including railroad rails. Czech hedgehogs were especially effective in urban combat, where a single hedgehog could block an entire street. Czech hedgehogs thus became a symbol of "defense at all cost" in USSR, even obtaining their own monument near Moscow to commemorate the successful defense of the city.
However, in real warfare Czech hedgehogs proved to be relatively ineffective. They were often made larger than they should have been, and although they were quite useful in urban warfare, there wasn't much use of armor in urban warfare during the Russian campaign.
Czech hedgehogs are prominently featured in the opening battle sequence of the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan. In the film, as in real life, they formed part of the Atlantic Wall defenses at Omaha Beach.
[edit] Technical details
Technically, a Czech hedgehog can be made of any material capable of withstanding at least 60 tons of force while being at most 140 centimetres high. However, such parameters were hard to achieve in makeshift hedgehogs, thus reducing their usefulness.
Industrially manufactured Czech hedgehog were made of three L-shaped metal brackets (L 140/140/13 mm, length 180 cm, weight 198 kg; later versions: length 210 cm, weight 240 kg) joined by sheet metal, rivets and bolts (or, later in the war, welded together) into a characteristic spatial three-armed cross. (This pattern forms the axes of an octahedron.) Two arms of the hedgehog were connected in the factory, while the third arm was connected on-site by an M20 bolt. The arms were equipped with square "feet" to prevent sinking into the ground, as well as a notch for attaching barbed wire.
