Battle of Păuliş
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Păuliş took place in September 1944 in Arad County
, western Romania
as part of the wider Battle of Romania
of World War II
. It was fought between Hungarian and Romanian troops, after the Romanian royal coup
which put Romania on the Allied side.
Advancing on the northern bank of the Mureş River
, on the direction Sâmbăteni-Miniş, concomitantly with a enveloping maneuver of the righ flank of the Romanian troops, the Hungarian 1st Armored and 6th Reserve Infantry Divisions made contact with the "Păuliş" Detachment west of the village of Păuliş (Ópálos), on 14 September. The "Păuliş" Detachment included three battalions of cadets from the Reserve Infantry NCOs School of Radna, present-day Lipova
(Lippa), Romania.
The first assault of the Hungarian troops, carried out with two infantry battalions supported by tanks, was repulsed by the 2nd and 6th Companies of cadets, with heavy losses for the Hungarians. Five more attacks were subsequently carried out against the Romanian defenders, but by nightfall the Romanian units were holding their positions firmly. The Hungarians lost 18 tanks and 3 armored vehicles.
The following day the Hungarians concentrated the attack on the 1st Battalion from the 96th Infantry Regiment, at Hill 471. After a strong artillery preparation the Hungarians forced the Romanian troops to fall back on successive lines of defense, being stopped in the Cladova Valley only after they seized the villages of Cuvin and Ghioroc. On the morning of 16 September, a surprise Romanian counterattack, without artillery preparation, carried out by the 5th Company of cadets, managed to destroy a large part of the Hungarian forces which broke through the defense perimeter the previous day.
The climax of battle was reached on 17 September, when the Hungarian command committed all the available forces in the attack. After a 45-minute artillery preparation, the Hungarians managed to breach south-east of Miniş, where they clashed with the 3rd Company of cadets, on defense at Hill 365. The attempt of driving away the Romanian unit failed. During the afternoon, a Soviet
battalion from the 32nd Motorized Infantry Regiment (53rd Soviet Army) arrived in the area. A joint Romanian-Soviet counterattack north of Ghioroc forced the Hungarian troops to retreat toward Cuvin. The following day, the entire "Păuliş" Detachment attacked the Hungarian lines, and by the evening of 19 September the initial disposition was restored.
Arad County
Arad is an administrative division of Romania roughly translated into county in the western part of the country on the border with Hungary, mostly in the region of Crişana and few villages in Banat. The administrative center of the county lies in the city of Arad...
, western Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
as part of the wider Battle of Romania
Battle of Romania
The Battle of Romania in World War II comprised several operations in or around Romania in 1944, as part of the Eastern Front. The Red Army launched two offensives against combined German-Romanian defenses in an attempt to reclaim the Moldavian SSR and open a way into the Balkans:*The First...
of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It was fought between Hungarian and Romanian troops, after the Romanian royal coup
King Michael's Coup
King Michael's Coup refers to the coup d'etat led by King Michael of Romania in 1944 against the pro-Nazi Romanian faction of Ion Antonescu, after the Axis front in Northeastern Romania collapsed under the Soviet offensive.-The coup:...
which put Romania on the Allied side.
Advancing on the northern bank of the Mureş River
Mures River
The Mureș is an approximately 761 km long river in Eastern Europe. It originates in the Hășmașu Mare Range in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, Romania, and joins the Tisza river at Szeged in southeastern Hungary....
, on the direction Sâmbăteni-Miniş, concomitantly with a enveloping maneuver of the righ flank of the Romanian troops, the Hungarian 1st Armored and 6th Reserve Infantry Divisions made contact with the "Păuliş" Detachment west of the village of Păuliş (Ópálos), on 14 September. The "Păuliş" Detachment included three battalions of cadets from the Reserve Infantry NCOs School of Radna, present-day Lipova
Lipova, Arad
Lipova is a town in Romania, Arad County, located in the Banat region of western Transylvania. It is situated at a distance of 34 km from Arad, the county capital, at the contact zone of the Mureș River with the Zarand Mountains, Western Plateau and Lipovei Hills...
(Lippa), Romania.
The first assault of the Hungarian troops, carried out with two infantry battalions supported by tanks, was repulsed by the 2nd and 6th Companies of cadets, with heavy losses for the Hungarians. Five more attacks were subsequently carried out against the Romanian defenders, but by nightfall the Romanian units were holding their positions firmly. The Hungarians lost 18 tanks and 3 armored vehicles.
The following day the Hungarians concentrated the attack on the 1st Battalion from the 96th Infantry Regiment, at Hill 471. After a strong artillery preparation the Hungarians forced the Romanian troops to fall back on successive lines of defense, being stopped in the Cladova Valley only after they seized the villages of Cuvin and Ghioroc. On the morning of 16 September, a surprise Romanian counterattack, without artillery preparation, carried out by the 5th Company of cadets, managed to destroy a large part of the Hungarian forces which broke through the defense perimeter the previous day.
The climax of battle was reached on 17 September, when the Hungarian command committed all the available forces in the attack. After a 45-minute artillery preparation, the Hungarians managed to breach south-east of Miniş, where they clashed with the 3rd Company of cadets, on defense at Hill 365. The attempt of driving away the Romanian unit failed. During the afternoon, a Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
battalion from the 32nd Motorized Infantry Regiment (53rd Soviet Army) arrived in the area. A joint Romanian-Soviet counterattack north of Ghioroc forced the Hungarian troops to retreat toward Cuvin. The following day, the entire "Păuliş" Detachment attacked the Hungarian lines, and by the evening of 19 September the initial disposition was restored.