Small Scale Military Headquarters

The 21st German 75mm short barrel cannon set finally showed here in NJ. I wasnt in a real big hurry to get one as I have the old Tamiya metal version that came out years ago. Anyhow, I bought a couple and then a thought crossed my mind (a short trip) as to what type of vehicle was used to tow these little gems? I have seen photos of the Krupp Protze trucks pulling the 37mm AT guns, but I was wondering if there are any photos of vehicles or horses pulling the 75 mm.

TJ

I bought a couple and then a thought crossed my mind (a short trip) as to what type of vehicle was used to tow these little gems? I have seen photos of the Krupp Protze trucks pulling the 37mm AT guns, but I was wondering if there are any photos of vehicles or horses pulling the 75 mm.

First of all, I think you made a good buy on these, in my opinion you can't go wrong with this excellent piece for what? $10 ea... a must have for 32X fans IMO. I found a pic of this gun in the Handbook Of German Military Forces (TM 30-410, chapter VII page 19) but it's just a shot of the gun and crew in firing position, but no pics of it being towed. If I'm not mistaken, this piece was employed a lot by the mountain troops, so my guess is that horses were used to tow it in most cases, but it appears light enough that even a Kubelwagen could manage it, or even several strong men if need be. I'll continue to search for a pic of it in tow, there's gotta be one somewhere on the web I would think. Cheers,

Scott

the mountain version had wood spoked wheels and no shield and was broken down and carried by pack animals..not towed.

I'm certain the regular guns would have been towed by horses, virtually every gun the wehrmacht had was.

Protze, light trucks and light half tracks would be your best vehicle options.

If you want a definitive answer ask the question on www.missing-lynx.com

Don't know how "definitive" this is, but while searching around I found this info...

"The 7.5 cm light gun was one of many such weapons deployed at Regimental level to give some form of organic artillery support. As such, they were manned by Infantrymen, not Gunners. In the German Army, these weapons were also to be found issued directly to Battalions, initially those without Regimental Gun Companies (Panzer Grenadiers, Mountain Troops), latterly Volks Grenadiers and some Grenadier units. The guns required a great deal of manpower and transport to maintain in action. Infantry units, as always, relied on horses, roughly a dozen being needed for each gun and ammunition limber. In motorised units a variety of wheeled and halftrack tows were employed. In mechanised units, the 7.5 cm was mounted on both light and medium armoured halftracks, as the SdKfz 250/8 and SdKfz 251/9 respectively. The guns were far less mobile than mortars, but had the ability to engage both direct and indirect targets, firing either on line of sight or on a steep trajectory. That flexibility was perhaps the reason they endured in German service throughout the war, despite their obvious limitations regarding mobility. "

Here is a link to the site... http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/Wea ... 20Guns.htm

Seems like fairly reliable info here but maybe someone else has a better source. According to these guys the gun alone weighed well in excess of 800 pounds, so it's not as light as I thought, apparently requiring about a dozen horses to tow it, plus it's ammo etc.

Where in NJ did you find them?

Thinking of what would prob been issued as movers for these.


Sdkfz. 250/1
Demag 1 ton
Horses(for the Infantry Units)
Horsch 4X4

They were at the Newton (Sussex Co.) store. There were four sets left when I was there Saturday buying an Avenger.

TJ