There is an interesting discussion at the Axis History Forum (The end of the Ottoman Empire) about some armoured lorries converted by German engineers to patrol on the Hejaz Railway.
I have never heard something about these types of vehicles, but to me it seems, that the same type can be seen on the road in the following pictures too (caption says: Polizei Abt. Weissenfels).
Any ideas?
__________________
"Siplicity is the ultimate sophistication" -Leonardo Da Vinci-
Hi! I have been highly interested in these photographs: in my doctorate dissertation about French Armoured Trains, I have shown the link between the French ATs in Syria ("Levant") and the German armoured vehicles. But at this time (2007) I did not know these photographs. Since I am preparing a new book about armoured trains worldwide (my first book was the "Les Trains blindés 1826-1989", Heimdal Editions), would you agree to send me high resolution scans of these photographs (or the original for copy) for publication Thanks in advance for any help on this unus-ual topic! Paul Malmassari
"Sometimes things that are not true are included in Wikipedia. While at first glance that may appear like a very great problem for Wikipedia, in reality is it not. In fact, it's a good thing." - Wikipedia.
The connection is obvious. The question is: who produced that kind of armoured hull? We've pictures showing ACs of that kind at Weißenfels (near Leipzig) and at Zella-Mehlis (near Suhl) in 1919. So, we're in the vicinity of General Maercker's Freikorps, which finally settled as RW Brigade 16.
This quote appears in the Wikipedia article on the "Polish" A7V: "The possible source of this misunderstanding are armoured draisines captured from Germans and used by insurgents which are very similar to A7Vs (overall hull shape, machine guns on the sides etc., but with turret)."
Apart from the appalling grammar, I don't know of any evidence that the Poles captured draisines from the Freikorps, but this describes ten Crochat draisines purchased from France in the 1920s (about 2/3 of the way down). Not impossible that they were misidentified as A7Vs on rail wagons.
-- Edited by James H on Sunday 19th of February 2012 02:37:35 PM
__________________
"Sometimes things that are not true are included in Wikipedia. While at first glance that may appear like a very great problem for Wikipedia, in reality is it not. In fact, it's a good thing." - Wikipedia.
Many thanks for your kind replies, sorry I have been away for a long time. Recently, Mr Jochen Volert and Rainer Strasheim have released a very interesting book about German Armoured Cars in WW1 and the Freikorps. Highly recommended! In the meantime, I still prepare my new book on Armoured Trains and trollies. For those interested in sharing information (technical drawings, original photographs etc ...) my personal address may help: malma@noos.fr.