WWII Locomotives & War Series nº 26 - by Carlos Briz (Pithead Collection)

(Class BR52 locomotive - German State Railways)

The Romanian army made a sizeable contribution for the overall war effort of the axis forces, during WWII and here you can check out some of its lesser known equipment, such as the R2 tank and the IAR 80 fighter.

The R2 tank was of Czech origin (Skoda LT vz. 53), but it's 37 mm main gun did not even bother the T 34's  they had the misfortune to meet in battle. 

The Stalingrad campaign resulted in the obliteration of the Romanian army units using this tank, by the hand of Soviet armour.

The IAR 80 is a very good looking fighter airplane and saw extensive service during Operation Barbarossa. 

It acheived it's best performance at low altitude. However, later in the war (1944) all Romanian fighter squadrons reverted to the Bf 109G's, since this airplane had lost it's edge when confronted with modern allied fighter airplanes.

JF/PC