Germany’s heavy armoured cars, which were built primarily for reconnaissance work, were the most advanced vehicles of their type actively used in the Second World War. With eight by eight wheel drive they possessed both speed and mobility, which are key attributes for reconnaissance vehicles, but this came at the cost of being complex and expensive to produce. The two most widely used versions in WW2 were the SdKfz 231 series and the later SdKfz 234 series, which included the well known Puma. Both series were produced with several versions mounting a range of radio equipment, armament and turret designs.

Contents

This title covers these heavy armoured cars from the early 6 wheeled versions based on commercial truck chassis, through to the late war SdKfz 234 series with an emphasis on the SdKfz 231 (8 rad) series. The format is 96 page paperback which is illustrated with numerous photos and several sketches, and accompanied by extended text on the vehicles’ history. In my opinion the overall format is well conceived and has the potential to be quite useful for modellers.

The book opens with a background to the role of cavalry before WWII and how this evolved into the need for armoured cars to conduct the reconnaissance work and a review of how the inter-war German army developed its armoured cars and examines some of the prototypes developed and the 6 wheeled versions (SdKfz 231 (6 rad) etc). The book then devotes three chapters to the SdKfz 231 series (one chapter on each of chassis and engine, turret, body and gun, and variants such as the Sdkfz 232, 263 and 233), which provide a good overview of this series’ design and history. One chapter then covers the Sdkfz 234 series, but is light on design specifics (e.g. it does not note the change in the number of side lockers, nor when comparing the turrets of the SdKfz 234/1 and SdKfz 222 note that the former differed in not have a pedestal mount). The closing sections note the impact of these armoured cars on other designs such as the Allied Boarhound (some useful photos provided) and present a general overview of German markings in WWII which is accompanied by colour illustrations of various tactical, unit and national insignia. This last chapter is not that specific to the armoured cars and is of most interest to a newer reader.

The large collection of photos, particularly of the SdKfz 231 series, in this title is its strength. These photos are largely drawn from the Tank Museum (UK), Dennis and Bugle archives. A good number of these photos were new to me, while others would be new to other readers. These b/w photos cover each of the vehicles discussed in the text and include a mix of combat vehicles, captured vehicles and photos of partly assembled vehicles providing good detail of the chassis and engine. Several photos, some in colour, of the interior (useful for modelling) and exterior of vehicles in museum are also included. Unfortunately several of the larger photos are spread over two pages and some detail is lost in the spine.

Several sketches by the British Army, which depict the layout and cross sectional views of the SdKfz 231 (8 rad), are worthwhile inclusions. A set of 4 view scale plans by Nigel Pell of the Puma is included but unfortunately the plans omit much detail including the tools and jerry cans mounted on the fenders and several features do not correspond to photos (e.g. the front plate of the turret is shown as rectangular, when photos on pages 73 & 93 show the sides were angled).

Summary

“Military Vehicles in Detail 2” provides a broad, but uneven, account of the heavy WWII German armoured cars which benefits from the 96 page format allowing numerous photos to be included. I expect that for many modellers having all these photos of the 8 wheeled armoured cars in one affordable volume would be the main reason for buying this title.

Related 1/35 kits

* Italeri have released models of the Sdkfz 234/1 (20 mm cannon), 234/2 “Puma” with the 50mm gun, 234/3 with the short 75mm cannon and 234/4 with longer barrels 75mm anti-tank gun.

* Tamiya have released the Sdkfz 232 (8 rad).

* HiPM have issued kits of the Sdkfz 231 and 232 (6 rad).

Thanks to Ian Allan Publishing, for the review sample.

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