Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $9.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    German Reconnaissance and Support Vehicles, 1939–1945
    German Reconnaissance and Support Vehicles, 1939–1945
    German Reconnaissance and Support Vehicles, 1939–1945
    Ebook162 pages49 minutes

    German Reconnaissance and Support Vehicles, 1939–1945

    By Paul Thomas

    2/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This WWII pictorial history illustrates the full range of Nazi vehicles used in reconnaissance and support missions throughout the war.
     
    The German military used reconnaissance and support vehicles widely in the Second World War. This book illustrates the full range of these vehicles with authoritative information and more than 200 rare wartime photographs.
     
    Both tracked and wheeled vehicles were employed for reconnaissance and screening. These included light tanks such as the Panzer I and Panzer II, armored cars such as the six- and eight- wheeled Schwerer Panzerspähwagen, and motorcycles such as the famous BMW R75 or the Zundapp KS750. In addition to their recon role they would, on occasion, engage similar light units. Support vehicles such as the tracked Sd.Kfz.2 Kettenkrad, and the renowned Sd.Kfz.251 halftracks were used in the follow-up role, frequently with mounted grenadiers to mop up over-run enemy positions.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateSep 30, 2018
    ISBN9781526720900
    German Reconnaissance and Support Vehicles, 1939–1945
    Author

    Paul Thomas

    Paul Thomas, M.D., FAAP, received his M.D. from Dartmouth Medical School and did his residency at UC San Diego. He is a board-certified fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and board-certified in integrative and holistic medicine and addiction medicine. His practice, Integrative Pediatrics, currently serves more than eleven thousand patients in the Portland, Oregon, area. He was named a top family doctor in America by Ladies’ Home Journal in 2004 and a top pediatrician in America in 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2014 by Castle Connolly. Dr. Thomas grew up in Zimbabwe (the former Rhodesia) and speaks both Shona and Spanish. He is the father of ten children (ages twenty to thirty-two). He lives with his family in Portland, Oregon.

    Read more from Paul Thomas

    Related to German Reconnaissance and Support Vehicles, 1939–1945

    Titles in the series (100)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Photography For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Tiger vs T-34

      Jul 12, 2018

      Tiger vs T-34
      9 min read

    • Article

      Germany

      Apr 18, 2019

      Germany
      7 min read

    • Article

      Ursula And Elna

      May 7, 2021

      Ursula And Elna
      5 min read

    • Article

      Jagdpanz er 38

      Aug 5, 2021

      Jagdpanz er 38
      3 min read

    • Article

      M10 & M10A1 TANK DESTROYER

      Mar 18, 2021

      M10 & M10A1 TANK DESTROYER
      1 min read

    • Article

      Rest Of The World

      Apr 18, 2019

      Rest Of The World
      7 min read

    • Article

      Panzerkampfwagen V Panther

      Jul 12, 2018

      Panzerkampfwagen V Panther
      3 min read

    • Article

      M10 Tank Destroyer

      Oct 8, 2021

      M10 Tank Destroyer
      1 min read

    • Article

      Comet A34

      Apr 15, 2021

      Comet A34
      3 min read

    • Article

      Sturmpanzerwagen A7v

      Apr 19, 2018

      Sturmpanzerwagen A7v
      4 min read

    • Article

      Hardware M4A3E8 Sherman

      Dec 22, 2020

      Hardware M4A3E8 Sherman
      1 min read

    • Article

      The Battle Of St Vith

      Feb 26, 2020

      The Battle Of St Vith
      6 min read

    • Article

      Battle Of Villers-bocage

      Jul 16, 2020

      Battle Of Villers-bocage
      7 min read

    • Article

      America’s “Few”

      Jan 20, 2022

      America’s “Few”
      8 min read

    • Article

      D-day Tank Operations

      Apr 18, 2019

      Unusual tanks are developed by the British 79th Armoured Division for the planned invasion of Normandy. Based on Churchill or Sherman tanks, these armoured vehicles can – among other things – demolish concrete structures, fill trenches, lay matting a

      2 min read

    • Article

      On Combat In The East

      Jul 11, 2023

      On Combat In The East
      6 min read

    • Article

      What Happened To All The Toy Soldiers?

      Oct 6, 2023

      It is true that toy figures can be found in the bigger supermarkets and garden centres, but inevitably the theme is either agricultural, wildlife, dinosaurs, or fantastical. The last of these offers a number of medieval knights lacking any historical

      6 min read

    • Article

      Battle For Kharkiv

      Apr 14, 2022

      Battle For Kharkiv
      1 min read

    • Article

      Stridsvagn M/38 Tank

      Jan 23, 2020

      Stridsvagn M/38 Tank
      3 min read

    • Article

      Is-3 Heavy Tank

      Dec 29, 2020

      Is-3 Heavy Tank
      3 min read

    • Article

      Enter The Afrika Korps

      Oct 2, 2017

      Enter The Afrika Korps
      11 min read

    • Article

      5 Best Books On Waterloo

      Oct 4, 2018

      Many books were released for the bicentennial of Waterloo, but few were as clearly written and as challenging as Glover’s monograph. Highlighting many myths about the battle, the author provides convincing evidence to support his version of the event

      1 min read

    • Article

      Hitler's Foreign Legions

      Jan 24, 2019

      Hitler's Foreign Legions
      13 min read

    • Article

      The Red Ball Express

      Oct 3, 2019

      The Red Ball Express
      1 min read

    • Article

      Panzer Invasion

      May 14, 2020

      Panzer Invasion
      12 min read

    • Article

      ‘The Few’ Four Score On

      Aug 25, 2020

      ‘The Few’ Four Score On
      12 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for German Reconnaissance and Support Vehicles, 1939–1945

    2/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      German Reconnaissance and Support Vehicles, 1939–1945 - Paul Thomas

      Battalion

      Introduction

      In military operations, probing forward under cover outside an area occupied by friendly forces to obtain a wide variety of information is known as reconnaissance. Special reconnaissance units were employed on the battlefield to undertake these missions, and a variety of armoured vehicles and motorcycles were used. In fact, occasionally the reconnaissance units were more powerful than the enemy they would encounter. These missions were probably the most perilous carried out on the battlefield and, as a result, vehicles were required that were either quick such as motorcycles, or armoured machines which could defend themselves and counterattack if required. However, some lacked the firepower to fight their way out of danger, and as a result support vehicles such as the tracked Sd.Kfz.2 Kettenkrad or the renowned Sd.Kfz.251 halftrack might be brought up to assist in mopping up the positions in which reconnaissance found themselves fighting. Frequently grenadiers onboard these halftracks would dismount into battle and fight.

      The aim of reconnaissance missions was to ascertain the enemy’s strength and intentions. They maintained their advantages of stealth, speed and surprise, and were constantly ready to fight off the enemy if required.

      Before the war motorcycles were first thought to be the answer for gathering battlefield intelligence. After all they could quickly cross ground and then retire at a moment’s notice. It was believed that both the motorcycle and the sidecar combinations suited this task, and as a result each infantry and panzer division had a capable motorcycle company.

      Alongside the motorcycle, armoured vehicles had been built and distributed amongst the armoured and infantry divisions for reconnaissance. They contained light tanks, mainly the Pz.Kpfw.I, armoured cars such as the four-, six- and eight-wheelers, and often halftrack personnel carriers in support.

      Under cover, all these vehicles were intended to probe forward and survey enemy positions until they encountered fire and then return with the necessary information they had acquired. However, while the initial stages of the war would see these vehicles successfully operate in their defined roles, it would not be until the Eastern Front that heavier enemy firepower would result in second generation vehicles entering service which would be able to combat the increased threat from heavy Soviet armour.

      Chapter One

      1939–1940

      For the invasion of Poland a typical reconnaissance unit had a complement of nineteen officers, two administrators, ninety non-commissioned officers and 512 enlisted men. Their weapons comprised twenty-five light MG34 machine guns, three light grenade launchers, two heavy MG34 machine guns on tripod mounts, three PaK guns and three armoured scout cars. Reconnaissance units during this early period of the war were partly motorized and there was a variety of vehicles available including animal draught. These comprised seven horse-drawn HF wagons and a mounted squadron of some 260 horses. The vehicles consisted of fifty motorcycles, twenty-eight of which were sidecar combinations, twenty-nine vehicles many of which were armoured, and twenty trucks including workshop and supply.

      A reconnaissance unit comprised two armoured reconnaissance squadrons or Panzerspähschwadronen, a motorcycle machine gun squadron or Kradschützenschwadron, a heavy squadron or Schwere Schwadron, a mobile workshop, and the supply and transport elements. It comprised four-wheeled Sd.Kfz.260 and 261 armoured radio cars, a six-wheeler Sd.Kfz.263 signals vehicle, and an armoured car platoon with a number of Sd.Kfz.221 and 222 light armoured cars. There might also be the Sd.Kfz.231 six-wheeler heavy armoured car and the Sd.Kfz.233, which was the army’s first wheeled heavy support vehicle. The motorcycle machine gun squadrons, with BMW or Zündapp with sidecar combinations, often mounting MG34 machine guns, comprised three rifle troops with three light and one heavy MG34 machine gun crew, supported with light mortars.

      Each armoured reconnaissance unit comprised a squadron headquarters via the divisional signals battalion. A signals squadron comprised one radio command vehicle, four armoured cars fitted with radio, one heavy troop of half-a-dozen six- or eightwheeled cars, and two light troops, each of which had six four-wheeled cars. These reconnaissance battalions or Aufklärung Abteilung were controlled by battalion headquarters which was responsible for receiving information from reconnaissance and transmitting it to divisional headquarters via the divisional signals battalion, or intelligence section known as Nachrichtenzug.

      The heavy squadron comprised various light infantry gun troops equipped with two 7.5cm infantry guns, a Panzerjäger troop with three 3.7cm PaK guns and one MG34, and an assault pioneer troop of three sections, each employed with MG34s. While out in the field an artillery observer would often escort the patrol, especially in an urgent situation when supporting artillery was required.

      Reconnaissance units in Poland employed animal draught as well as armoured vehicles of both tracked and wheeled type. The tracked vehicle notably used during this period was the reliable and diverse Sd.Kfz.251 halftrack. At the outbreak of war there were only some sixty-eight of these in service. They were not intended to be a combat vehicle, but simply to support the infantry and reconnaissance units on patrol by transporting troops to the edge of the battlefield.

      When reconnaissance units were sent out on patrol it was vital to take into consideration the terrain, the situation, and the range of the signal equipment. Normally an hour’s drive ahead of the battalion lasting one or

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1