Sd.Kfz.6 mittlere Zugkraftwagen 5t Pioniere / Sd.Kfz.6/1 mittlere Zugkraftwagen 5t Artillerie /
Sd.Kfz.6/2 Selbstfahrlafette mit 3.7 cm Flak 36 /
Sd.Kfz.6/3 mit 76.2 mm Pak 36(r)/FK295(r) "Diana"

Sd.Kfz.6 was produced of 1935 to 1943 by Büssing-NAG and Daimler-Benz. Some 1700 were produced and used as transport of troop or as artillery tractors for guns of 75 mm. Sd.Kfz.6 was heavier and more expensive than Sd.Kfz.11 for nonhigher performances. Sd.Kfz.6 was reserved for Pioniere and Sd.Kfz.6/2 was an artillery tractor.

Sd.Kfz.6 mittlere Zugkraftwagen 5t Pioniere	Sd.Kfz.6/1 mittlere Zugkraftwagen 5t Artillerie
src: site "Lexikon der Wehrmacht"

Sd.Kfz.6/2 was Sd.Kfz.6 equipped with a special superstructure accomodating the anti-aircraft gun of 37 mm Flak 36 with complete traverse. The gun was equipped with a shield and used exclusively in an anti-aircraft role. The ammunition were transported in a trailer. The production began in 1941 and finished in 1943 with a total of 339 produced machines, which will be versed in the anti-aircraft units of Lutwaffe. Later Sd.Kfz.6/2 was replaced by Sd.Kfz.7/2.

Sd.Kfz.6/2 Selbstfahrlafette mit 3.7 cm Flak 36.

src: Connaissance de l'Histoire (Hachette), n°5 - Août-Septembre 1978, Véhicules blindés allemands 39-45

Sd.Kfz.6 equipped with an armoured back superstructure, also accomodated the Soviet gun of 76.2 mm M1936 (76.2 mm FK 36(r) / FK 295(r)/Pak 36(r)). In 1941, 9 vehicles indicated 7.62 cm Pak 36(r) auf 5t ZkWg "Diana" were produced. Between January and February 1942, they were versed in the 605th PzJg.Abteilung in North Africa.

Sd.Kfz.6/2 Selbstfahrlafette mit 3.7 cm Flak 36.

src: site "Lexikon der Wehrmacht"

Sd.Kfz.7 mittlere Zugkraftwagen 8t / Sd.Kfz.7/1 Selbstfahrlafette mit 2 cm Flakvierling /
Sd.Kfz.7/2 Selbstfahrlafette mit 3.7 cm Flakvierling / Sd.Kfz.7/6 FlaKmesstruppkraftwagen /
Feuerleitpanzerfahrzeug für V-2 Raketen auf Sd.Kfz.7

Very early, Germany very early realized the importance of the vehicles of support at the time of its fast advances (Blitzkrieg) in the beginning of the conflict. Among the series of produced vehicles, Sd.kfz 7 which was a very successful machine. This machine of 8 tons was mainly used by the units of artillery to tractor draw the famous anti-aircraft gun of 88 mm, but also the heavy field gun of 150 mm. This machine was realized by the firm Krauss-Maffei and built on a modified conventional truck chassis. The suspension of the nose gear consisted of leaf springs. For the rear (tracked) unit, the leaf springs and the torsion bars were connected to a train of compact bearing made up of overlapping road wheels (7 axes). Sd.Kfz.7 was propelled by a Maybach engine delivering 140 horses and ensuring to it a maximum speed on road from approximately 50 km/h. General-purpose and reliable, the half-tracked vehicle of 8 tons was regarded as a success and one of half-tracked vehicles was the most used during the war by the German army.

Sd.Kfz.7 mittlere Zugkraftwagen 8t

src: Hasegawa

Various versions were carried out including various mobile mountings for anti-aircraft guns of 20 or 37 mm In 1944, when V-2 were many used, Sd.Kfz.7 were converted into checkpoints of shooting. The back of the vehicle consisted of a superstructure accomodating the radio and control equipment and protecting the crew from the flames and the explosions. The machine also tractor drew the launching platform of V-2 (Bodenplatte). Sd.Kfz.7/6 FlaKmesstruppkraftwagen was a tractor of artillery equipped with distance measuring equipment, intended for the artillery batteries.

Feuerleitpanzerfahrzeug für V-2 Raketen auf Sd.kfz.7.

src: site "Lexikon der Wehrmacht"

Sd.Kfz.7/1 based on Sd.Kfz.7 was equipped with a special superstructure accomodating the gun of 20 mm Flakvierling 38 with complete traverse. The ammunition were transported in a trailer. The production began in 1943 and 319 specimens were produced and incorporated in the anti-aircraft units of Lutwaffe.

Sd.Kfz.7/1 Selbstfahrlafette mit 2 cm Flakvierling.

src: Italeri

Sd.Kfz.7/1 Selbstfahrlafette mit 2 cm Flakvierling.

src: Tamiya

Sd.Kfz.7/2 was Sd.Kfz.7 equipped with a special superstructure for the installation of the anti-aircraft gun of 37 mm Flak 36 with complete traverse. The ammunition were transported in a trailer. The production began in 1943 and 123 specimens were produced and incorporated in the anti-aircraft units of Lutwaffe.

Sd.Kfz.7/2 Selbstfahrlafette mit 3.7 cm Flakvierling.

src: site "Lexikon der Wehrmacht"

Sd.Kfz.8 schwere Zugkraftwagen 12t / 88 mm Flak 18 Selbstfahrlafette auf Sd.Kfz.8

Sd.Kfz.8 was produced from 1934 to 1944 mainly by Daimler-Benz, but also to a lesser extent by Kraus-Maffei, Krupp or Skoda. Approximately 4000 were produced and used as artillery tractors. A small number were equipped with the 88 mm Flak 18. Sd.Kfz.8 still manufactured and will be used after the war by the Czechoslovakian army.

Sd.Kfz.8 schwere Zugkraftwagen 12t

src: site "Lexikon der Wehrmacht"

In 1939, it was to ask by Waffenamt to equip 10 Sd.Kfz.8 with anti-aircraft guns of 88 mm Flak 18. The machine had an armoured cabin and a platform accomodating the gun of 88 mm. The gun had a cross-piece limited in horizontal position of shooting because of the cabin, but the elevation of the gun cancelled this problem. These machines were used as heavy anti-tank vehicles and against the fortified positions within 8th Schwere Panzerjaegerabteilung in 1939 in Poland and France in 1940.

Sd.Kfz.8 schwere Zugkraftwagen 12t mit 88 mm

src: site "Panzer Page von Reitsch"