Panzerselbstfahrlafette 1a 5 cm PaK 38 auf Gepanzerter Munitionsschlepper: German Light Tank Destroyer

Panzer Selbstfahrlafette 1a 5cm PaK 38 auf Gepanzerter Munitionsschlepper (Pz. Sfl. 1a) prototype.

The Panzerselbstfahrlafette 1a 5 cm PaK 38 auf Gepanzerter Munitions­schlepper or Pz. Sfl. 1a was a German light tank destroyer that was developed during World War II.

In July 1940, Rheinmetall-Borsig was tasked by the Wehrmacht to develop a new light tank destroyer that could be used by airborne troops. Rheinmetall used the new recently developed Borgward VK 302 armored ammunition carrier as its basis, and armed it with the 5 cm PaK 38.

The vehicle was armed with the 5 cm PaK 38 gun with 32 rounds of ammunition and without any secondary armament. It was primary intended to by use by German airborne troops, who needed such vehicle that could be transported by plane. The 5 cm PaK 38 was mounted on top of the engine compartment, with one man on each side. A limited traverse mount allowed 40° traverse and – 10 + 20° elevation.

Ammunition was stored alongside the driver in the place that was formerly occupied by the commander. To cope with the recoil loads imposed on the very small chassis, a spade was lowered at the rear of the vehicles. The armor ranged from 8 – 14.5 mm. The fighting compartment, was the area behind the antitank gun's armored gun shield. This offered protection only from 7.92mm armor ammunition. Self-propelled gun was operated by the crew of three people: the driver he was placed inside the vehicle, gunner who was placed left of the gun and loader. who was right of the gun.

The dimensions of this vehicle were: width 1.83m, length 3.57m and height 1.44m (VK 302). Combat weight is in the range of 4.5 tons, it could reach up to 30 km/h with its Borgward 6M RTBV six-cylinder 50 hp engine, with operational range of 150 km. There is no information if any of these vehicles were equipped with a radio, and if there was any room for it.

In September 1941, another light fighting vehicle prototype was ordered. This was to be armed with the 10.5 cm LG recoilless gun designed by Rheinmetall-Borsig for paratroops use. A Krupp proposal was for a 360° traverse turret configuration. Only one mock-up model was completed.

It was planned to produce some 200 vehicles, but only two were ever built and these were sent off for troop trials in July 1942. However, by that time the 5 cm PaK 38 was no longer a viable anti-tank gun and the whole project was abandoned. Little is known about their combat performance.

Type: Tank destroyer

Place of origin: Nazi Germany

Mass: 4.5 tons

Length: 3.57 m

Width: 1.83 m

Main armament: 5 cm PaK 38

Engine: Borgward 6M RTBV six-cylinder, 50 hp

Maximum speed: 30 km/h

Gepanzerter Munitionsschlepper (VK302).

 

Panzer Selbstfahrlafette 1a 5cm PaK 38 auf Gepanzerter Munitionsschlepper (Pz. Sfl. 1a) prototype.

Panzer Selbstfahrlafette 1a 5cm PaK 38 auf Gepanzerter Munitionsschlepper (Pz. Sfl. 1a) prototype.

Panzer Selbstfahrlafette 1a 5cm PaK 38 auf Gepanzerter Munitionsschlepper (Pz. Sfl. 1a) prototype. In July 1940, based on the armored ammunition carrier, a self-propelled gun armed with the 50mm PaK gun was developed (Leichte Panzerjäger). The gun was mounted over the engine compartment. In 1940, one prototype was constructed and was troop tested.

Panzer Selbstfahrlafette 1a 5cm PaK 38 auf Gepanzerter Munitionsschlepper (Pz. Sfl. 1a) prototype.

Panzer Selbstfahrlafette 1a 5cm PaK 38 auf Gepanzerter Munitionsschlepper (Pz. Sfl. 1a) prototype.

Panzer Selbstfahrlafette 1a 5cm PaK 38 auf Gepanzerter Munitionsschlepper (Pz. Sfl. 1a) prototype.

Panzer Selbstfahrlafette Ic (aka 5cm PaK auf Pz.Kpfw.II Sonderfahrgestell 901). A factory-fresh Pz.Sfl.Ic. This provides a clear view of the VK 9.01 chassis, the two-tiered superstructure and the 5 cm Kanone L/60 gun. Note the appliqué armor fitted to the side of the hull, which is visible next to the two shock absorbers. Ancillary equipment for the gun such as the cleaning rods is stowed on the side of the lower tier of the superstructure and a canvas cover strapped onto the roof shields the crew from the elements.

All two of the Pz.Sfl.Ic in service with the third platoon of Panzer-Jäger Company 601 (later renamed as the 3rd Company of Panzer-Jäger battalion (Sfl.) 559) as it travels through the small town of Kloster Zinna in Brandenburg. A Kleinepanzer¬befehls¬wagen I (a small command tank based on the Panzer I hull) leads the convoy, while at least four of the 8.8 cm Sfl. half-tracks bring up the rear. The relatively small size and low silhouette of these tank destroyers can be appreciated by comparing them to the humongous half-tracks and the young boys walking in the middle of the road. Note that the frontal plate of the Pz.Sfl.Ic superstructure only has a single visor for the driver, perhaps suggesting that there was not a separate radio operator (who would normally have his own visor) and a three-man crew instead of four.

A rare glimpse at the rear of the Pz.Sfl.Ic. Taken in the summer or autumn of 1942, this photograph is proof that the Pz.Sfl.Ic did indeed make it to the front. Like all other German armored vehicles in use on the front line, it has a Balkenkreuz painted on the hull side for identification purposes. The wrecked Soviet fighter in the foreground suggests that this may be in the vicinity of an airfield.

Pz.Sfl.Ic at left on railroad flatcar.

Pz.Sfl.Ic at.

Gepanzerter Munitionsschlepper (VK302). As early as September of 1937, orders were made to develop a fully-tracked armored ammunition carrier. Prototype of VK302 armored ammunition carrier (Sonderschlepper B III) was produced in 1940. At first, 20 vehicles were ordered followed by 100 vehicles but only 28 were produced from October 1941 to January 1942 by Borgward.

Gepanzerter Munitionsschlepper (VK302).

Gepanzerter Munitionsschlepper (VK302).

Gepanzerter Munitionsschlepper (VK302).

Gepanzerter Munitionsschlepper (VK302).

10.5cm LG auf Gepanzerte Munitionsschlepper. In September 1941, a similar design but armed with a recoilless Rheinmetall-Borsig 105mm LG gun was developed. The gun itself was to be mounted as in the 50mm variant but Krupp proposed a turret mounted gun of its own design. Only models were built.

10.5cm LG auf Gepanzerte Munitionsschlepper.

10.5cm LG auf Gepanzerte Munitionsschlepper.

10.5cm LG auf Gepanzerte Munitionsschlepper.

“Queen Mary”: British Aircraft Trailer

Commer Q2 with a Queen Mary trailer hauling aircraft parts.

 

A Queen Mary trailer is a British semi-trailer combination designed for the carriage and recovery of aircraft. The trailer was made by Tasker Trailers of Andover, with Bedford or Crossley Motors tractors. Nearly 4,000 of these trailers were produced during World War II.

This semi-trailer was designed and built specifically for the recovery of aircraft parts and wreckage, and was developed to meet an Air Ministry specification for a trailer able to carry an entire fighter aircraft.

The name is presumed to derive from its length, a reference to the RMS Queen Mary of the Cunard Line.

The vehicles were used by the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm during and after World War II.

Extending side rails were fitted that could be locked up so that wings could be stood on their leading edges, one on either side (on sand bags to prevent damage) and strapped to these side rails.

The rails were also covered in felt to prevent damage, this left the center of the trailer free to fit the fuselage on trestles, with propeller removed but engine still in place.

Some aircraft with long bodies could extend over the tail board if put on trestles to clear, open body to the trailer so that no height restriction, only the height of bridges and power cables.

The Queen Mary Trailer was initially manufactured at 32 feet long and 8 feet wide, about sufficient to carry a complete fighter in a dismantled state. During 1942 the requirement for a longer Queen Mary was recognized and a ‘stretched’ version was put into production. However the stretch did not extend the length by much, a mere 5 feet. The longer trailer proved very unwieldy and was not popular, consequently not very many were built.

This was an aircraft that had run out of fuel and had to make an emergency landing. Unfortunately it, or the pilot, chose to land in a canal, as it swept in to make a crash landing, picking up a cow that was grazing on the bank, throwing the poor beast up over the canopy. The aircraft came out of it with very little damage but the pilot was drowned. The plane loaded is a Hawker Tempest Mk V (cousin to the Typhoon), looks like a Bristol Centaurus Radial engine and the wings stowed alongside are elliptical much like a Spitfire’s, the cockpit canopy very much like a Typhoon.

Bedford OXC and “Queen Mary” semi-trailer carrying part of an Avro Anson aircraft at the RAF Museum London.

Personnel of No. 53 Repair and Salvage Unit brew tea and stretch their legs in the Western Desert while transporting salvaged Hawker Hurricane fuselages to Helwan, Egypt. A Commer Q2 with trailer is in the background; the trailer at the left is a Queen Mary.

Another view of the same salvage convoy, nearing Cairo, Egypt. The two lead vehicles are pulling Queen Mary trailers.

Another view of the same convoy of Commer Q2 vehicle tenders, some with Queen Mary trailers, of No. 53 Repair and Salvage Unit, transport salvaged Hawker Hurricane fuselages through the Western Desert for repair at the Hurricane Repair Section, Helwan, Egypt.

Same convoy, Hurricane on a Queen Mary trailer at right.

RNZAF Queen Mary trailer under restoration at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand, August 2020.

Members of the Collections Team discussing the Queen Mary restoration, July 2020.

Bedford RL tractor truck with a Queen Mary trailer, MT1715, at RNZAF Station Whenuapai, 1943.

Bedford RL tractor truck with a Queen Mary trailer, MT1715, at RNZAF Station Whenuapai, 1943.

Bedford RL tractor truck with a Queen Mary trailer, MT1715, at RNZAF Station Whenuapai, 1943.

Queen Mary trailer with Bedford RL tractor.

Q Type Crossley Donkey with Queen Mary Trailer. As used by 417 R.S.U. attached to 140 Wing, Mosquito Squadron R.A.F. at Wahn near Cologne in 1945-6.

Fuselage of a Stirling bomber on a Queen Mary trailer en route from Long Kesh to Maghaberry.

Commer Q2 2-ton 4x2 tractor with Queen Mary trailer. The trailer has the hinged support frames fully rigged. These would normally be used when carrying aircraft wing sections.

Captured German V-2 rocket on a Queen Mary trailer at Trafalgar Square, London, 15 September 1945.

Transporting away aircraft was generally carried out using the RAF Maintenance Unit Queen Mary trailers like these. Here, a damaged Hurricane and a Spitfire are removed for either repair or spares recovery.

Convoy with Queen Mary trailers transporting a Hamilcar glider. Hamilcar CN254 was flown by S/Sgt Williams and Sgt Wilkinson and carried a 17pdr, Dodge truck and 8 troops. The recovery vehicle in the photographs is a Crossley 4x4 Heavy Tractor towing a Queen Mary trailers. It would appear to belong to No 3 Base Recovery Unit, under the control of 85 Group/2 TAF. No 3 Base Recovery Unit was formed on in 1944 at an unknown location and by 2 December was at Ypres. It then moved to Waesmunster on 31 January 1945. Waesmunster lies between Ghent and the port of Antwerp. Kuurne lies approximately 20 Kilometres SW of Ghent. The presumption is that the vehicle is heading for base and the Hamilcar will be loaded for shipping at Antwerp port.

The fuselage of Hamilcar CN254 on a Queen Mary trailer.

Wing section s of Hamilcar glider CN254 on a Queen Mary trailer squeezing through a narrow city street.

A Bedford and Queen Mary trailer combination, possibly of No. 108 Repair and Salvage Unit, drives through a water-filled crater on a road near Souk el Khemis, Tunisia, on the way back to its base, bearing a damaged Supermarine Spitfire Mark V of No. 243 Squadron RAF.

Leyland Retriever with Coles MkVII petrol-electric crane loading the remains of a downed aircraft on to a Queen Mary trailer, 58 RSU, Western Desert, circa 1942.

Personnel of No. 53 Repair and Salvage Unit use a Coles Crane to haul the fuselage of damaged Hawker Hurricane Mark IIB, BD930 ‘R’, of No. 73 Squadron RAF onto a Queen Mary trailer in the Western Desert. Following repair, BD930 saw further service with No. 335 (Hellenic) Squadron and No. 127 Squadron RAF.