The Fate of Western Hungary 1918-1921 - Corvinus Library ...

Two days later, on September 8, Commissioner Sigray escorted Prónay,
under the alias of Pál Doborján, to the village of Nagyszentmihály, where he
assumed command over the rebel forces. The headquarters were located, not by
accident, nearby in the almost completely Hungarian-populated center of the
Felsőőr district, from where he directed subsequent military operations. The
rebel forces operating since the end of August, Lt.Col. Prónay organized into
separate units, whose operational areas, leaders and initial strengths were have
already written.
Prónay officially assumed overall command of the rebel forces on
September 16 and he divided his forces into five units. The 1 st Rebel Army was
commanded by Lt. v. Árpád Taby, Knight of the Order of Maria Theresa,
former commander of the attack battalion of Magyaróvár, and was
headquartered in Felsőőr in Vas County. Subsequently, it was commanded by
rebel Lt. Antal Héjjas. The 2 nd Rebel Army was commanded by rebel Capt.
Miklós Budaházy, former officer of the Szekler Division, garrisoned in the
village of Felsőpulya, later Lakompak (both in Sopron County). 384 The 3 rd
Rebel Army was commanded by rebel Lt. v. Endre Molnár, later by rebel Capt.
Lajos Thurzó, garrisoned in Németújvár (Vas County). The 4 th Rebel Army was
commanded by rebel 1 st Lt. Iván Héjjas. This was a rapid deployment unit. His
deputies were rebel Capt. István Bacho (Bakó in some sources) and Franciscan
priest Fr. Lajos Bónis, better known as Archangel Bónis, military chaplain. The
unit was garrisoned in Pándorfalu in Moson County. The 5 th Rebel Army was
commanded by Capt. Viktor Maderspach (Ret.), the commander of the Officer
Company of the Sopron Academy (after September 24 by rebel Captain Pál
Gebhardt). His deputy was rebel 1 st Lt. Elemér Székely. The unit was based in
Nagymarton, Sopron County. The Friedrich rebel unit, based in nearby
Kismarton, came under the command of the 5 th Rebel Army, while the
Friedrich-Gebhardt unit reported to Maj. Gyula Ostenburg. 385
The total number of the northern and southern armies based in the ‘A’ zone
of Western Hungary according to Jenő Héjjas, brother of Iván Héjjas, was
around 3,500 – 4,000. This small, mobile but determined force defended a
western front of about 200 kms., from the Czechoslovak border in the North
down to the South Slavs in the South. The units were made up of farmers from
the Great Plains, university students and demobilized officers. In their ranks
were about 300 Bosnian and Albanian Muslim soldiers, who had fought in the
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy’s army during World War One, including Maj.
Hussein Durics Hilmi (1887-1940). The ideological organizer of the
384 The secretary of Miklós Budaházy (according to Prónay, his aide), rebel Capt. József
Szabó (1887-1934?) who, with Budaházy, recruited in the area between the Danube and
Tisza Rivers, and took part in organizing the first Western Hungary uprising on August
28. Békés, Márton: A fegyveres revízió útja Nyugat-Magyarországon. Szabó József
százados felkelőparancsnok válogatott iratai elé [The path of armed revision in Western
Hungary. Preamble to the selected writings of rebel commander Capt. József Szabó].
In: Vasi Szemle, 2007, issue 4, pp. 418–426.
385 Missuray-Krúg, 1935, op. cit., pp. 168–169.
146