July–October 1941: Bessarabia and Odessa of R-1 tanks within a cavalry brigade (Ukraine, 1941) The R-1 saw action during
World War II within the Romanian cavalry, after Romania had
joined the invasion of the Soviet Union as an
Axis member in 1941, to get back
Bessarabia,
Northern Bukovina and the
Hertsa region, all occupied by the Soviets following the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. 30 R-1s are known to have been used in 1941, most notably within the 5th, 6th and 8th Cavalry Brigades, with smaller numbers in the 1st, 7th and 9th Cavalry Brigades. The latter three were almost completely horsed, but each did have a mechanized reconnaissance
squadron including two platoons of light tanks, each of two R-1s. These brigades were unable to conduct significant mechanized operations, and served with the
4th Army at the
Siege of Odessa. The other three brigades (5th, 6th and 8th) were more heavily armed and motorized, having had a significant offensive potential and conducted extensive mechanized operations during the 1941 and 1942 campaigns, within the
3rd Army. Each of these brigades, which had 285 motor vehicles in 1941, included a mechanized reconnaissance squadron which contained, among others, two platoons of three R-1s each. Once the
Stalin Line was broken through on 19 July 1941, the opportunity for mobile operations presented itself, and the Cavalry Corps formed the Korne Mechanized Detachment to exploit the opportunity. It was led by Colonel
Radu Korne, who particularly distinguished himself and even received favorable comment from
Hitler. His detachment included 18 R-1 tanks. Korne is known to have successfully counterattacked Soviet infantry divisions in September and October 1941, which had strong tank, artillery and air support. However, on 1 October, all 18 of the Cavalry Corps' R-1s were out of commission.
October 1941–July 1942: Crimea and Eastern Ukraine In October 1941, the 6th Motorized
Roșiori and the 5th Mechanized Squadron of the 8th Cavalry Brigade were combined into the Korne Motorized Detachment and subordinated to the Ziegler Motorized Brigade. It was the only Axis mechanized unit available in Crimea. Soviet major Fedor Volonchuk describes in his memoirs an episode from the
Crimean campaign, which had happened in November. He recalls how three enemy tanks (which were R-1s of Korne's Detachment) kept on driving up on a hill, making Soviet observers able to see them, and then drove down behind the hill, in the same direction they had come from, making themselves unseen. They kept on repeating this action, trying to trick Soviet observers into believing that big amounts of tanks were gathering up behind that hill. Major Volonchuk had spotted the R-1s from an angle which allowed him to see them throughout the whole action, without understanding, at first, why they were performing these maneuvers. After finishing his reconnaissance mission, he had gone back to the other Soviet observers, who had told him that "at least 30" enemy tanks were concentrated behind that hill, proving that the Romanians had at first succeeded in their attempt to trick the Soviets. However, Volonchuk had only reported the three tanks he saw, after which he understood why the Romanians were performing those maneuvers. A captured Romanian soldier had later confirmed there were only three tanks at the hill. , indicating that the vehicles belonged to the cavalry (1942). In early April 1942, the Korne Detachment had been further expanded by the addition of the 11th Motorized Roșiori. The 5th and 6th Cavalry Corps are known to have also fought in eastern Ukraine, on the northern shore of the
Sea of Azov. Multiple cavalry brigades were used for security duties in the
Transnistria Governorate and the area between it and the
Dnieper river, serving under General
Petre Dumitrescu's 3rd Army.
August 1942–Spring 1943: Stalingrad and withdrawal Most of the R-1s disabled in 1941 were recoverable. For the summer campaign of 1942 the cavalry divisions had still fielded 29. Cavalry divisions fought along the whole eastern shore of the Sea of Azov. The 5th Cavalry Division had occupied the ports of
Yeysk and
Primorsko-Akhtarsk on 9 and 11 August, respectively. On 19 November, in the area of Pronin, the Romanian 7th Cavalry Division is known to have lost three of its six R-1s in a clash with the Soviet 8th Cavalry Corps. On that same day, the 5th Cavalry Division had lost all of its five R-1s. The next day, during a Soviet counteroffensive, the 1st Cavalry Division had to set on fire its four fuelless R-1s while retreating, to avoid intact capture by the enemy. By 1 January 1943, 14 R-1s were lost by the four cavalry divisions that had fought at Stalingrad, while by spring, the 6th and 9th Cavalry Divisions had only two serviceable R-1s left in their mechanized squadrons. These were withdrawn to Romania shortly afterwards as obsolete. After this point, the R-1 isn't known to have been further used as long as Romania was part of the Axis. A 1944 scheme of Romanian cavalry divisions showed no R-1s within them anymore. On 22 November 1943, the General Staff of the Romanian Army had decided to rearm the 14 surviving R-1s with captured Soviet
45 mm 20-K anti-tank guns. This conversion was provisionally dubbed
TACAM R-1, but was quickly recognized as being virtually useless, since these guns were ineffective against Soviet
T-34 medium and
KV-1 heavy tanks, and was therefore cancelled.
August 1944–Spring 1945: Use against the Axis On 23 August 1944, Romania's
Conducător, the pro-Axis Marshal
Ion Antonescu was overthrown by
King Michael's Coup, which had made the country defect from the Axis powers. Now fighting against the Axis, Romania was forced by the Soviets to reorganize its 2nd Armored Regiment. Many of its vehicles were captured by the Soviets, who gave the Romanians some
Panzer IV medium tanks and
StuG III G assault guns in exchange. The R-1, having been subordinate to the cavalry, appears to have escaped Soviet inspections. Different military vehicle units which included R-1s are known to have been used in the defense of Romania after the coup, defending
Bucharest and
Ploiești. They were also used to get back
Northern Transylvania, which had been annexed by Hungary following the
Second Vienna Award in 1940. 11 R-1s were then sent to fight against the Axis in Hungary and Czechoslovakia. A platoon of an unspecified number of R-1s is known to have survived the war, having come back to Romania from Czechoslovak territory in which it had fought. Charles Kliment and
Hilary Doyle claim they were still in service with the Romanian Army until 1955. Russian tank historian Yuri Pasholok describes it as "ironic" how the R-1 saw action in modern-day Czech territory towards the end of its career, since the vehicle had been designed in Czechoslovakia.
Performance Opinions on the vehicle's performance vary, as some works state the vehicle had little value in the war, while others describe it as having been successful. Mark Axworthy, a British author, says the R-1 had "little operational value", since it lacked significant armor or armament. He does say the vehicle had some potential in the reconnaissance role, but even that was limited by the lack of a radio. Romanian author Alexandru Ștefănescu goes as far as stating the vehicle was "disappointing", adding to Axworthy's reasons that the tank had "poor sights" and "was only useful for supplying ammunition on the battlefield", quoting General
Petre Dumitrescu. Despite these drawbacks, Charles Kliment and Vladimír Francev, two authors of Czech literature, describe the vehicle's performance as "very successful". Yuri Pasholok, a Russian author of books and online articles, also describes the vehicle's career as having been "rather successful", especially considering it was of an outdated class. He also describes its interior as "spacious and comfortable enough for a tankette". When it comes to the time of its introduction, Axworthy describes the R-1 as a "modern yet simple vehicle". Kliment and Francev state the AH-IV was undoubtedly superior to the German
Panzer I when introduced, but it was already obsolete by 1938. == Variants ==