The German Soldiers in the Half Track

            File: 2023007-0236

The Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset, England, United Kingdom, Friday 23rd June 2023.
 
About the photograph.

This is a Second World War German armoured personnel carrier, known as the Sd.Kfz 251. German officers referred to them as SPW, which is abbreviation for Schutzenpanzerwagen, or in English language, loosely translated as “armoured infantry vehicle.”

The Sd.Kfz 251 is basically a half-track, just like the American counterpart known as the M3 half-track.

Sd.Kfz is an abbreviation of Sonderkraftfahrzeug, which is German language meaning special purpose vehicle. In the Sd.Kfz numbering system, the range of 200 to 299 is generally for reconnaissance vehicles, armoured cars, and armoured personal carriers.

It was designed around 1937-1938, and were in service from 1939 onwards until the end of the war, approximately 15,200 were built, which includes various variations.

The engine was a Maybach HL42  6-cylinder petrol engine, offering about 99 horsepower, had a maximum speed of up to about 32mph, and an operation range of up to 190 miles / 300 kilometres depending on weight, use, and ground.

They were designed to have a crew of 2 and could carry up to 10 passengers, plus standard mountings for one MG-34 or MG-42 general-purpose machine guns.

Here in the photo, it is seen driving around, and carrying out a re-enactment show for the visitors, during the TANKFEST event.

The colour photos were converted in Adobe Lightroom, into Black and White, give it a feel of the past era.
 
About TANKFEST and The Tank Museum.

The Tank Museum is found next to the British Army military base, simply called Bovington Camp, and is used by various tank regiments.

The writer Rudyard Kipling once visited Bovington in 1923, and saw some damaged tanks left from the First World War. He recommended that a museum should be set up.

However the museum was simply a shed, and was not open to the public until about 1947, when the museum was finally set up.

By about 1982, the museum was expanded and modernized, it housed many various different tanks in the Exhibition halls, along with working tanks which are often show in the live action arena.

The museum also has the only working German Tiger I tank, known as Tiger 131.

TANKFEST is an annual live action re-enactment event showing off various working tanks in staged display, in the museum’s showground known as Kuwait Arena.

For more information, just Google “TANKFEST, The Tank Museum, Bovington.”
 
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Taken in: UK / England / Purbeck District / Bovington Camp (show map)

Taken on: June 23, 2023

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