Voitures particulières (2e GM) - Allemagne : livres - histoire (1/4)

This book presents many of the lesser-known vehicles that served without glamour or fame around the battlefields of World War Two. Rarely did they receive the headlines from war correspondents, nor were they the stars of the propaganda newsreels, as were the famed Tigers, Panthers and Shermans.

Fortunately, many of these anonymous workhorses were captured in photos taken by the soldiers serving alongside them, and thereby preserving a piece of history.

The book will take the reader on a journey starting with pre-war preparations and then across the early campaigns in France and Poland, through Ukraine, Russia and North Africa. The final section is dedicated to the dramatic unfolding of the German surrender in Czechoslovakia in May 1945.

A variety of cars, trucks, buses and other soft-skins are presented, mainly in large-format photos, serving both as a reference and as a source of inspiration for modellers. Manufacturers such as Krupp, Büssing-Nag, Horch, Adler, Mercedes, BMW, Steyr, Opel, Henschel, ZiS, GAZ, Praga, Ford, Citroen and Matford are all represented, to mention a few.

Die Entwicklung von Personenkraftwagen in der Wehrmacht und ihre kriegsmäßigen Einsätze werden in diesem Bildband anhand von historischen Dokumenten und Bildmaterial, vorwiegend aus privaten Beständen ehemaliger Soldaten, umfassend dokumentiert.

Pkws mit den unterschiedlichsten Aufbauten hatten ihre Aufgabe u.a. als Führungs- und Verbindungswagen, als Funk-, Nachrichten- und Erkundungsfahrzeug, als Pak-Zugmittel, Gefechtsfahrzeug oder Kradschützenwagen zu erfüllen. Dabei zeigt die hier zusammengefasste Vielzahl von zivilen in- und ausländischen Pkws deutlich, dass bei der Wehrmacht ein notorischer Fahrzeugmangel herrschte.

Neben den verschiedenen Kübelwagen-Ausführungen werden in diesem Buch auch die heereseigenen "Einheits-Pkws", Typ leicht, mittel und schwer, mit ihren allradgetriebenen Einheitsfahrgestellen ausführlich vorgestellt.
Die ersten Einheits-Pkws kamen 1937 zur Truppe und sollten durch ihre Normung und Typisierung eine rationellere Herstellung und erleichterte Ersatzversorgung gewährleisten. Dass die einheitliche Fahrzeugausstattung für die meisten Verbände nur eine Wunschvorstellung blieb, verdeutlichen nicht nur die vielen deutschen Zivilfahrzeuge von Adler, Audi, BMW über Hanomag, Hansa, Horch bis Phänomen, VW und Wanderer, die als "Ergänzungsfahrzeuge" von privaten Haltern, Firmen und Behörden beschlagnahmt wurden, sondern auch die große Zahl eingesetzter Beutefahrzeuge.
Mit über 300 Fotos und technischen Kurzangaben werden die Pkws sachkundig beschrieben.

Covers the use and design of the numerous cars used by the Wehrmacht during WWII.

This photo-album in the "Camera On" series contains over 150 photographs of private cars adapted for military use by the German forces during WWII. With mobilization of the German armed forces in 1939, the lack of motorized transport was identified as a critical issue.
In order to partly remedy this, the military commandeered much of both Germany's and its satellite dependencies' passenger car stock; thus the military motor pool was supplemented by thousands confiscated civilian passenger cars, which were partially adapted to military use.
Commercial and private limousines as well as hard tops and cabriolets cars were used.

This latest photo-album in the "Camera On" series contains 150 more photographs of private cars adapted for military use by the German forces during WW II.
The remainder of the Opel motor company major production types are covered - the car types that were not covered in volume 1 - such as the Opel P-4 that was also used as the basis of many of the pre-war mock-up training tanks used by the German army due to the lack of real tanks to train with. The Opel Kadett (cadet), the Opel Super 6, the Opel Kapitan (Captain) and at the top of the range, the luxurious Opel Admiral.

In this volume the author provides a detailed impression of these vehicles through original photographs, taken both during and before the war by the normal German soldiers who both used and served with these now classic automobiles.