Czech hedgehog
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The Czech hedgehog (Czech: rozsocháč) was a static tank obstacle defence made of angled 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 defence. 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 the Soviet Union in anti-tank defence. 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 "defence at all cost" in the Soviet Union, even obtaining their own monument near Moscow to commemorate the successful defence of the city.
However, in some forms of warfare, Czech hedgehogs proved to be less effective. They were often made larger than they should have been, and although they were quite useful in urban warfare, there was little use of armour in urban warfare during the Russian campaign.
Czech hedgehogs were part of the defences of the Atlantic Wall and are visible in many images of the Normandy invasion.
[edit] Technical details
Technically, a Czech hedgehog made to specifications was possible to be constructed from any material capable of withstanding at least 60 tons of force while being at most 140 centimetres (4 ft 7 in) high. However, such parameters were hard to achieve in makeshift hedgehogs, thus reducing their usefulness.
Industrially manufactured Czech hedgehogs were made of three L-shaped metal brackets (L 140/140/13 mm, length 180 millimetres (7.1 in), weight 198 kilograms (440 lb); later versions: length 210 centimetres (6 ft 11 in), weight 240 kilograms (530 lb)) 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.
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[edit] External links
- Imperial War Museum Online Collection. Photograph number A 23992, Royal Navy Commandos at La Riviere preparing to demolish two of the many beach obstacles (image). Retrieved on 2007-04-17.
