in 1937, bánáthy entered the as was the custom for young men aspiring to military careers. in 1940, at age 21, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the armored infantry. later that year he met his future wife eva balazs. the peacetime hungarian army received very little training. bánáthy served two tours on the russian front in world war ii as an armored infantry officer. the hungarian army expanded rapidly from an initial force of 80,000, but when fighting started, the rank-and-file of the army had undergone only eight weeks of training.