"We must do everything we can to promote anti-tank defense, and work just as hard to guarantee successful counter-attacks through the instrument of powerful tank forces of our own."
- Major-General Heinz Guderian, "Achtung Panzer!"

The Sd.Kfz. 251 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug 251) half-track was a World War II German armored personnel carrier designed by the Hanomag company, based on its earlier, unarmored Sd.Kfz. 11 vehicle. The Sd.Kfz. 251 was designed to transport the Panzergrenadier (German mechanized infantry) into battle. Sd.Kfz. 251s were the most widely produced German half-tracks of the war, with at least 15,252 vehicles and variants produced by seven manufacturers. Some sources state that the Sd.Kfz. 251 was commonly referred to simply as "Hanomags" by both German and Allied soldiers after the manufacturer of the vehicle; this has been questioned, and may have been only a postwar label. German officers referred to them as SPW (Schutzenpanzerwagen, or armored infantry vehicle) in their daily orders and memoirs.

There were four main model modifications (Ausfuhrung A through D), which formed the basis for at least 22 variants. The initial idea was for a vehicle that could be used to transport a single squad of 10 panzergrenadiers to the battlefield protected from enemy small arms fire, and with some protection from artillery fire. In addition, the standard mounting of at least one MG 34 or MG 42 machine gun allowed the vehicle to provide suppressive fire for the rifle squad both while they dismounted and in combat.

The Sd.Kfz. 251/7 Pionierpanzerwagen was an assault engineer vehicle variant that had fittings to carry assault bridge ramps on the sides of the vehicle.

Shown here is a 1:72 scale replica of a German Sd.Kfz. 251/7 Ausf. D Pionierpanzerwagen with bridging equipment painted in a factory pattern. #DRR63158

Dimensions:
Width: 1-inches
Length: 3-inches

Features:
- Plastic construction
- Comes with six rockets
- Static tracks
- Accurate markings and insignia
- Comes with an acrylic display case

Historical Account: "Rockets Red Glare" - The Wurfrahmen 40 mounted six 280mm (11 inch) Wurf-Korper 42 Sprenger, or 300mm (11.8 inch) 280mm Wurf-Korper-Sprenger high explosive rockets or 320mm (12.5 inch) Wurf-Korper Flamm incendiary rockets. While the Hanomag SdKfz 251/1 was the most common vehicle, these rockets were also mounted on captured French Renault UE Chenillette (two or four rockets) and Char leger modele 1935 H (Hotchkiss H35) light tank (two rockets). The rockets came mounted in shipping crates; you can see the empty mounting bracket in this view. The rockets were simply bolted onto the half track sides and fired. Later versions came in a steel frame.

While not as accurate as tubed artillery, massed concentrations of Wurfrahmen rocket launchers simultaneously releasing high explosive had a demoralizing and devastating effect on Allied forces. The long column of smoke that pointed back to the launcher meant that the vehicle had to evacuate soon after firing to avoid counter-battery fire. The Wurfrahmen and the later Nebelwerfer towed rocket artillery were overly mechanically complicated compared to the Soviets' simple "Stalin Organs" as the Germans called them. The longer time to build and operate these rockets precluded their deployment as a war-winning weapon, but they were encountered in almost every theatre. Soviet trucks with 132mm (5.2 inch) Katyausha rockets were built in numbers far surpassing the German equivalents.

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