German Halftracks at War 1939-1945

In the aftermath of The Great War, which saw the revolutionary introduction of the Tank, the more far-sighted military leaders of the major powers understood that the future of warfare hinged on a balance of mobility, firepower and protection.

The Wehrmacht, in particular, realised that tanks would need to be accompanied into battle by supporting arms, specifically infantry, artillery and engineers.

As a fully-tracked field army would be too expensive, semi-tracked support vehicles (commonly called half-tracks) were born.

The Germans commissioned numerous types of half-tracked tractors, which were classified by the weight of their towed load and designated Sonderkraffarzeug (special motorized vehicle), abbreviated to Sd.Kfz.

These front-wheel steering vehicles with tracked drive transformed the fighting quality of the armoured divisions making it possible for the infantry, artillery and engineers to keep up with the speed of the Panzers' advance.

The half-track even became the preferred reconnaissance vehicle.This latest addition to the highly successful and collectable Images of War series has a superb collection of rare images, supported by detailed captions and text, of the many Sd. Kfz variants in diverse theatres of war. It is worth reflecting that, without half-tracks, there could have been no Blitzkrieg.