Batarci incident (Fall Grün)
From Alternative History
| Batarci incident | |||||||||||||||||
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 Romanian soldiers fire on Hungarian soldiers in the village of Čepa, October 23, 1938. | |||||||||||||||||
| Date | October 23, 1938 | ||||||||||||||||
| Result | Hungarian apology to Romania for the incident | ||||||||||||||||
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The Batarci incident was an aerial bombardement of the village of Batarci in neutral Romania by the Hungarian Air Force on October 23, 1938. It resulted in a short military engagement between Romanian and Hungarian forces.
[edit] The incident
On October 23 the III/14th Infantry Regiment, subordinated to the VII Corps under the command of Maj.Gen. András Littay, was engaging an improvised line of defence made comprising a company of the Hraniční oblast 42 ”Karol” and local SOS units. As the Hungarian soldiers encountered heavy resistance in form of heavy and light machineguns, mortars and small arms fire, it was decided to ask for air support to take out the defences in the villages of Čepa and Sasovo.
At 0900 hours the 3./3 Squadron of the 3. Bombázó Osztály (3rd Bomber Regiment), comprising nine Junkers Ju-86K-2 bombers took of from its base at Miskolc with orders of bombing the Czech positions at Čepa and Sasovo, situated only km from the Romanian border. However, due to heavy mist, the Hungarian pilots got off course. The first two bombers attacked Čepa successfully, while three dropped their payloads over Sasovo with moderate success. Two aircraft missed the villages, dropping their bombs too far north. The remaining two, who had got off the course, spotted a village which they assumed must have been either Čepa or Sasovo; in reality this was the village of Batarci, which lay in neutral Romania. Unknowing of the mistake, the Ju-86K-2 dropped their bombs over the village, killing 13 civilians in the process. The attack spawned an intense anti-Hungarian movement arose among the local population, while the sympathy for the Czech's cause arose even further.
The reason for the resulting military engagement is not known. Some claim that due to delays and confusion, the Romanians believed they were now at with Hungary, while other believe the Romanians fired back with the intent of revenge. Nevertheless, at 1100 hours Brig. Gen. Constantin Serbu, the commander of the 16th Infantry Division, which was stationed not far from the area, ordered one battalion to the area to secure the area in case of further attacks.
At noon, as the Hungarians had captured the village of Čepa, and they were now engaging the Czech soldiers at Sasovo, the Romanians suddenly opened fire with ZB Model 26 light machineguns, Brandt mortars and small arms fire, taking the Hungarians by complete suprise. The Czechs welcomed the "gesture", who also began firing on the Hungarian troops. The Hungarians now retreated 2 km away from Čepa, while firing on both the Romanians and the Czechs. The engagement continued for a couple of hours. At 1700 hours the Czechs withdrew from Sasovo, while the news of the accidental bombing reached the population of Batarci and the soldiers of the 16th Infantry Division.
[edit] Aftermath
After the Hungarians discoved they actually had bombed Romanian territory, they immediately appologised for the incident to the Romanian government, and promised to avoid similar incidents in the future.
The military engagement had claimed the lives of 35 Romanian and 50 Hungarian soldiers, while 200 Romanians and 150 Hungarians had been wounded. This would be the only occasion where a member of the Little Entente except Czechoslovkia would fire on Hungarian troops.
[edit] See also
 Invasion of Czechoslovakia 
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| Battles: The Border - Ostrava - Karlovy Vary - Otročín - Bezděkov - Želetava - Šumperk - Siege of Plzeň - Ivančice - Otnice, Bošovice and Velké Hostěrádky - Brno - Hungarian offensive - Bratislava - Michalovce - Košice - Frühlingserwachen - Olomouc - Siege of Prague Contemporaneous military operations: Zaolzie - Miskolc bombing - Batarci incident |
