Landships II

Centurion · Legend

Gepanzerter Kraftwagen

Peter Kempf · Field Marshal

You can find some info on this AC here:

http://www.landships.freeservers.com/mgm_sdkfz3_review.htm

Yes, the Germans were allowed armoured wheeled vehicles, as long as they weren't armed...

Centurion · Legend

Peter Kempf wrote:

You can find some info on this AC here: http://www.landships.freeservers.com/mgm_sdkfz3_review.htm Yes, the Germans were allowed armoured wheeled vehicles, as long as they weren't armed...

This does look like the photo in the review except that it has two machine gun turrets! I knew that the army wasn't allowed armoured vehicles but did the restriction apply to the police? For example although the German armed forces were not permitted aircraft I know that a small (very small) part of the civilian security services were permitted three or four ex military aircraft. Was a similar exemption allowed in this case?

JamesH · Major

A bit of help with the German:

"Schupo" will be short for Schutzpolizei, meaning Security- or Protection-Police. (Gestapo is short for Geheime Staats Polizei, meaning secret state police)

Sdkfz is short for Sonderkraftfahrzeug, roughly meaning special (Sonder) purpose (Kraft) vehicle. Fahrzeug means, literally, travel-thing. That's a common German construction; for example Spielzeug, meaning toy, is literally play-thing.

Hope this helps.

JH

Tim R · Hero

Here is a little more information on the Schupo Sonderwagen

I have attached photos of three versions, Benz, Daimler, and Ehrhardt, One is also preserved at the Panzermuseum Munster. Check out link. IF ANY ONE NEED MORE PHOTOS OR DRAWINGS PLEASE LET ME KNOW. these are not the best, but you can see the difference in each.

As a result of the 1920 conference Germany was allowed an additional 100 armoured vehicles for police use and Daimler, Ehrhardt and Benz each received an order for the development of the Schupo Sonderwagen 21. Daimler built 33, Ehrhardt 32 and Benz 24. The vehicles were very similar being based on the Daimler DZR design and only differed in minor details and dimensions.

It was the standard police armoured car during the Weimar Republic and was armed with two 7.92mm machine-guns in individual turrets. It had four-wheel drive and dual controls enabling it to be driven from the front or rear. The headlights were accommodated in armored boxes, which could be opened from the inside. The armour consisted of 12mm chromium-nickel stainless steel plates built on a chassis of 7mm armour plate.

Most of the surviving vehicles were thought to have been converted to SdKfz 3 in the 1930s but at least one survived to be destroyed in the grounds of the Reichstag during the fall of berlin in 1945.

Sorry links are in German

http://www.polizeihistorische-sammlung.de/news/index.php?itemid=15

http://www.mbcflecktarn-koblenz.de/baubericht-nue-schupo.htm

All the Best

Tim R

-- Edited by Tim R at 17:51, 2006-04-05

-- Edited by Tim R at 17:53, 2006-04-05