János Mesz

From the Hungarian Wikipedia page [1]

János Mesz commonly known as Wood-legged Hansel and clubfooted ( Pecs 1931-Budapest November 19, 1956) was a Hungarian revolutionary, the legendary and infamous artillery commander of the battles near Corvin köz , and also a cannon operator during the 1956 revolution.

He was part of a family with twelve children. His father worked as a bricklayer, and was interned for unknown reasons between 1942 and 1944. His mother helped the family with casual jobs. János Mesz was probably brought up in a shelter, just like his brother Otto. He first worked as a flower gardener, later he was a miner at Otto in Pécs, and finally János came to Budapest at the RÖKK Machine Factory. After his girlfriend drowned in the Danube at Szentendre, Mesz started drinking. He was not taken back to the Pécs mine. He then worked with his brother in the brick factory in Starhegy. He got married. He was sentenced to eight months for disruption on the HÉV. His leg was lost in an accident: HÉV in Szentendre one of its fittings cut off. It is not known exactly what happened, but he was held responsible for the incident and sentenced to eight months in prison for disruption. János Mesz was sentenced 16 times in the forties. His crimes included theft, violence against the authority, scandalous drunkenness, robbery, and the public evasion of work.

At the time of the outbreak of the revolution in Budapest, hd lived in the VIII district. Already on October 23, he joined the demonstrations, and his brother remembers that he saw him waving drunkenly in front of the Bástya cinema (near Blaha Lujza tér).

Mesz was one of the subordinates of insurgents belonging to the Corvin group, with his 27-member band at Práter Street School. Four other cannons were under his command.

Perhaps the most distinctive figure of the revolutionaries in Pest, he was a pushy and tough rebel, whom his associates remember: "He was not a man of great confidence but was an excellent and fearless soldier".

He was from October 28, was subordinate command to Pal Maléter.

On October 30, he also personally participated in the siege of the Republic Square party house. According to an eyewitness, he shot Imre Mező out of the building with the white flag and the two military officers with him.

After October 31 , when Corvinists were reorganized into Maleth's clergy, John Falábu was ranked in Alezers.

He didn't put down his gun after November 4th. He took part in the squandering of the Rákóczi Street Tournament Store. He was seriously injured and soon died.

According to Károly Rusz, a warrior between Corvin, he fired several tanks with his Falábú cannon. "He was a lazy man with a wooden foot. He tugged on the string, not with his hand, but with his wooden foot, which set the cannon in action. . He made a great devastation." Rusz remembers. He often worked with the Revolutionary nickname of the Shield . In spite of his disability, the gun was refilled in 7-10 seconds after a shot.

Gergely Pongrátz, commander-in-chief or nickname Bajusz, so he remembers his wallcover and armament: "We had four 122 mm guns, three air guns we never used, and 11 Soviet tanks, T-34, T54. We had 6 of our 76 guns with a crackling grenade, we were able to use it effectively under the direction of Falcons Jancsi, the Corvin Gunner Commander. we could break down, forcing the armor to stop or turn around."

Gergely Pongrátz also said: for decades after the revolution, he knew of the brother and sister of the Falun Gong that the Woodworm was twice in jail for a dangerous job . "But he could not help it, because when he went to look for work, looked at the falábára not been put to work. The suburban train cut off his leg. Anyway, it was one of the toughest fighters. In addition, there were ten or twelve of children who have been convicted common criminals as. October 31I asked István Erdős, my deputy, to collect these children and bring them to the office. I told them that the revolution was victorious, now keeping the order is the most important thing, we should not keep looting, licking and keeping the purity of the revolution. You are the ones I told you who could best take care of this. I told them all to take two or three guys and walk around the capital, watch out for it. There was no looting in 1956."

According to Tsu, the New Gypsy Gypsy child, he stayed in the Corvin: "I was injured there."

Until the arrival of Gergely Pongrátz (late), he led the Corvin and Prater Streets , who, in co-operation with the Baross Square group , attacked and occupied the building of the Budapest Party Committee Republic Square.

"At the start, he warned everyone individually that he was firing his coward, the fugitive himself," wrote László Eörsi, a historian, who said that he was known as "Tusk". (Árpád Göncz remembered "Falun Gong".) Initially, a group of about one hundred people, who, with the advent of the events, swelled with new arrivals, came under the cover of the Erkel Theater building. Until now, the T-34 tank, which also shot the besieged building from the theater, is unidentified. (The tanks sent out to support the party house did not know the location and, seeing the other tank, they also shot the party house.)

László Eörsi quotes Katalin Stadinger, who says that Imre Mező, János Mező, János Asztalos and János Papp, colonel defenders, were shot down with a machine gun after a white flag coming out of the building to negotiate giving. According to Eörsi, in the weeks and months after the revolution of the revolution, the popular myth that Imre Mező was shot down from behind, his own companions (at the same time, he does not justify his claim to another source, and Imre Mező's hospital files have disappeared from other sources).