Recently I came across a photo that I posted up here to help me to identify the vehicle in it ( see HERE ). In the end it turned out to be an Sd.Kfz.234 body with the turret from a Pz.Kpfw.II.Ausf.L “Luchs”. Now when you think about it there doesn’t seem to be much point in doing that unless you needed a fully enclosed turret as the Sd.Kfz.234/1 came with the same 2cm gun and co-axial Mg34 that the Luchs turret has and the rest of the Sd.Kfz.234 family were better armed.
So other than that someone had a spare Luchs turret laying around and an Sd.Kfz.234 that needed a new top there doesn’t seem to be much gained from doing that conversion - assuming as we are that this was a one off field conversion and not some factory trialled combo. But the point I’m heading towards here is that were it not for that photo ( and I believe one other of the same vehicle taken at the same time ) we never would have known that such a combination drove around in service.
Which makes you wonder what other wierd and wonderful one off field conversions ( or even factory “concepts” ) drove around in service that were never photographed. Which of course opens a very big door for builders of the “what-if” persuasion ( of which I tend to be when I’m bored with researching what type of coffee a particular crew drank ) to build pretty much anything that was physically possible. Because chances are there were a lot of one-off conversions that never had their photo taken, or did have but have never come to light.
We tend to forget that in 1939-1945 every man and his dog didn’t have a camera on hand to take happy snaps at the drop of a hat and then email them through to friends. In those wonderous days of advanced technology first you had to have a camera, and of course film for it, then you had to take your photos and wait till you got to somewhere that you could then have them developed over the course of a couple of days. Then you had to carry them around and try to keep them dry or send them to someone hoping the censors didn’t rip half of them up.
Which is why we tend to get most of our wartime photos from professional tagalong photographers and a few eager amateurs in the field. We also tend to see more German photos in areas of stability, and more often earlier in the war when your average grunt was somewhere that he could take the time to take photos and also have somewhere to develop them. I’m guessing on the final retreat back to Berlin it was difficult to find a 1-Hr Photo Booth. Conversely allied photography tends to be more revolved around trophy photos of post battle german losses.
But I do often wonder what images we would now have if taking photos back then was as easy as it is now. Then perhaps I would have proof that this existed.
they might have mounted the 88 a touch forward for balance, but otherwise, I am sure I saw one of these….
true though, I bet there are some very weird and wonderful ‘mad max’ creations that were created, but never saw the light of a camera, more’s the pity!
I have this theory that they used an ingeniously designed trailer that had folding side arms that locked it to the rear of the Schwimmwagen as well as a folding top that hinged over to form a crew platform. In this way the trailer worked as ammo stowage, a crew platform, and a rear stabiliser.