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| Sd.Kfz. 250/1 leichter Schützenpanzerwagen, the standard troop carrier. |
The Sd.Kfz. 250 (German:
Sonderkraftfahrzeug 250; 'special motor vehicle') was a light armored
half-track, very similar in appearance to the larger Hanomag-designed Sd.Kfz.
251, and built by the DEMAG firm, for use by Nazi Germany in World War II. Most
variants were open-topped and had a single access door in the rear.
The Sd.Kfz. 250 was adopted in 1939
to supplement the standard half-track. Production delays meant that the first
vehicle did not appear until mid-1941.
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| SdKfz 250/1, Waffen-SS. |
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| SdKfz 250/1, Waffen-SS. |
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| SdKfz 250/1s with PzKpfw IV Ausf G, 1943. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250/10 leichter Schützenpanzerwagen (3.7 cm PaK). |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250/10 leichter Schützenpanzerwagen (3.7 cm PaK) reconnaissance platoon leader's variant with 3.7 cm PaK 35/36. This was the same as the anti-tank gun used in a towed mode early in the war. Occasionally, the gun was fitted with a small shield to protect the gunners. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250/9 leichter Schützenpanzerwagen (2 cm) reconnaissance variant with a 2 cm KwK 38 autocannon and a coaxial MG (MG 34 or MG 42) in a low, open-topped turret identical to that of the Sd.Kfz. 222 armored car. |
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| SdKfz 250/7 (Granatwerferwagon) half-track mortar carrier for the 8cm schwerer Granatwerfer 34 mortar. |
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| SdKfz 250/7 interior. Sd.Kfz. 250/7. Sd.Kfz. 250/7 leichter Schützenpanzerwagen (schwerer Granatwerfer) mounted an 81 mm mortar. |
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| Interior of a SdKfz 250/6. Sd.Kfz. 250/6 leichter Munitionspanzerwagen ammunition carrier for assault guns. Sd.Kfz. 250/6 Ausf A carried 70 rounds for 7.5 cm StuK 37 L/24 gun. Sd.Kfz. 250/6 Ausf B carried 60 rounds for 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/48 gun. |
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| SdKfz 250/3 with a SdKfz 251. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250/2 leichter Fernsprechpanzerwagen equipped with cable-laying gear. |
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| SdKfz 250/3. |
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Sd.Kfz. 250/3 leichter Funkpanzerwagen. Command variant, equipped with radio equipment and a "bedstead" aerial frame.
Sd.Kfz. 250/3-I (Fu 7, Fu 8, Fu.Spr. f) (Luftwaffe)
Sd.Kfz. 250/3-II (Fu 5, Fu.Spr. f)
Sd.Kfz. 250/3-III (Fu 8, Fu 4, Fu.Spr. f)
Sd.Kfz. 250/3-IV (Fu 8, Fu.Spr. f)
Sd.Kfz. 250/3-V (Fu 12, Fu.Spr. f) |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250/11 leichter Schützenpanzerwagen (schwere Panzerbüchse 41) with a 2.8 cm sPzB 41 heavy anti-tank rifle and an MG SdKfz 250/11 mounting the 2.8 cm sPzB 41. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250/8 leichter Schützenpanzerwagen specifically designed for close infantry support and was armed with a short-barreled 7.5 cm K.51 L/24 gun. |
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| This is the same vehicle as seen in the above photo; in fact, it is the same photo that has been retouched for use in a wartime identification manual. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 253 leichter gepanzerter Beobachtungskraftwagen artillery observer vehicle, with fully enclosed armored body and artillery radios. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 253 leichter gepanzerter Beobachtungskraftwagen artillery observer vehicle, with fully enclosed armored body and artillery radios. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 253 and Sturmgeschütz III, Russia, November 1941. |
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| Captured Marmon Herrington armored car being towed by Sd.Kfz. 253 half-track in the desert. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250 (late) (license number WH-1618921) followed by an Sd.Kfz. 4/1 and three more Sd.Kfz. 250 (late), Flanders, Belgium, June 1944. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250. Note extra track links on front. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250, Russia. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250 wreck. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250/5 leichter Beobachtungspanzerwagen command variant with additional radio equipment. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250s wi9th PzKpfw III in right background. |
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| Sd.Kfz 253 covered in mud from rough going in Russia. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250 being driven up the loading ramp of a Junkers Ju 90 transport. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250 in Lithuania in July 1941. |
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| A motorcycle messenger reports to the crew of an Sd.Kfz. 250/5 of the recon platoon of the Nordland Division. This photograph was taken in July 1944 when the Soviets threw a series of massive tank attacks against the Narva bridgehead. Nordland Division with Estonian and Dutch Division put up furious resistance. In one battle, for example, they knocked out more than 100 T-34s that charged their lines. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250/1 with infrared night vision devices for both driver and MG 42 gunner. |
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| Another Sd.Kfz. 250/1 with infrared night vision devices for both driver and MG 42 gunner as seen in the previous photo. |
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| Another view of the same Sd.Kfz. 250/1 with infrared night vision devices for both driver and MG 42 gunner as seen in the previous photo (note the identical camouflage pattern on the vehicle sides). |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250/11 of the Panzergrenadier-Division Großdeutschland in action on the Eastern Front. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 253 in Russian mud. Note the hatch found on the roof of the 253 model. |
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| Sd.Kfz 259/3 in Russia. |
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| A view of the front of a very thoroughly camouflaged Sd.Kfz. 250 in Russia. |
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| A view of the rear of the same camouflaged Sd.Kfz. 250. |
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| Colonel-General Erwin Rommel and General Fritz Bayerlein in the Sd.Kfz 250/3 "Greif" command vehicle at Bir Hakeim in Northern Africa. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250/3 supporting PzKpfw IIIs in Russia. |
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| 11.SS Panzergrenadier Division Sd.Kfz. 250 Ausf. B knocked out on Berlin's Friedrichstrasse, 2 May 1945. An iconic Soviet image from the dying days of the war in Europe, taken by Red Army photographer Mark Redkin. The dead laying around are said to be Swedish volunteers, although other photos taken around this vehicle establish it wasn't just the 11.SS "Nordland" Panzergrenadiere here who were trying to escape the lethal Russian stranglehold. |
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| Two Sd.Kfz. 250 of the Pz.Aufkl.Abt. "Großdeutschland" near Achtyrka, Ukraine, May/June 1943. |
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| Hit, this Sd.Kfz. 250/5 is engulfed in flames. Men are scrambling out, carrying the wounded with them. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250/12 leichter Messtruppanzerwagen, survey and artillery range spotting vehicle. |
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| The chassis of an Sd.Kfz. 250/1 used as a troop transporter. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250/5 leichter Beobachtungspanzerwagen Nr. 011 in Russia. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250/1 Ausf. A leichter Schützenpanzerwagen with a variety of vehicles including captured British vehicles in North Africa. |
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| MG 42 gunner in a Sd.Kfz. 250/1 leichter Schützenpanzerwagen Ausf. A. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250/1 Ausf. A after falling into a ditch to the amusement of the troops. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 253 armored personnel carrier of the 57th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht on Sverdlova Street in Kharkov in November 1941. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 253. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250 (WH-1387338). |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250/3 of the Grossdeutschland Division. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 251 and Sd.Kfz. 250/3 waiting to be unloaded at Dnepropetrovsk. On the right is a German steam locomotive of the 38.10-40 series with number 1153. |
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| Spoils of war. Sd.Kfz. 250 (WH-1261688) with a commandeered civilian vehicle. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250/9 Ausf. A (WH-126263), 1943. |
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| Generals Erwin Rommel and Fitz Bayerlein in the command vehicle Sd.Kfz. 250/3 "Greif", North Africa, June 1942. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250/1 Ausf. A leichte Schützenpanzerwagen. This vehicle belonging to the 10th Panzer Division, destroyed or abandoned during the Battle of El Guettar, has evidently been thoroughly ransacked. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250 in action. |
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| Sd.Kfz. 250/10 with local mud as camouflage and an improvised cover for shade in Russia. |
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