This post covers three largely hitherto unidentified features of the 2.cm Schwebelafatte auf 251/17: what is believed to be a spent shell deflector; a gun travel lock; and rear-mounted bracket. Apart from my having mentioned the first of these features on an earlier occasion on the www.missing-lynx.com Axis DG, these details are as yet not mentioned in any published references, websites, modelling articles, nor kits that we are aware of to date.
The first of the little known features is what my friend and fellow 251/17 researcher Fred Carbon and I believe to be a spent shell deflector - a theory indeed that Fred first proposed. In our opinion there can be no other explanation for this fitting, given its position immediately aft of the shell ejection port. This elongated bucket-shaped device is not easily spotted in pics (sometimes on account of its total absence), however, some shots do clearly reveal it; perhaps the best being the footage shot for a 1944 German army training film:
The logic follows that without such a deflector, dangerous hot empty shells would otherwise be ejected with some velocity across and perhaps into the SPW's open crew compartment, were the turret to be traversed to the 3 O'clock position:
The curious design of this odd bucket-shaped deflector presents something of a curiosity. We pose the question, which may at first seem a little far fetched: is it possible the enhanced acoustic effect of empty shells bouncing rapidly of this design was a deliberate feature, intended to maximise the sound-effect of this weapons system; thereby instilling moral in the young Grenadiers it supported and adding to the demoralisation of their enemies? It may seem a bizarre suggestion, but given the whistles fitted to bombs, the sirens on Stukas and the advantages its sister variant the 251/21 Drilling had in regards to troop moral, as outlined for example in Jentz and Doyle’s excellent Panzertracts No.15-3 m.SPW (SdKfz 251) ausf. C & D. I personally believe it may not be so implausible - how else to explain the use of a bucket-shaped structure instead of a simple plate as a deflector?
Below are some further examples of the deflector (the units are not confirmed at this stage):
Although it is absent in other pix, there is tell-tale evidence this device was probably fitted to most, if not all Schwebelafette turrets, going by what appear to be attachment points for the 'bucket' on the front of Schwebelafette turrets:
The next feature of the 251/17 Schwebelafette is what IMHO is a gun travel lock device. This feature is
not described in the US Army Tech Intell report on this vehicle (only an "elevation lock" located near the trunnions is; the report further stating "no means of locking the traverse could be found"). I believe this is in fact serves as the traverse lock:
This travel lock device appears to be made up of two components: a (possibly) spring-loaded pin and tubular shaft assembly mounted parallel and slightly below and to the left of the gun barrel; and a locking plate with a hole for the pin, which was welded to the trailing edge of the driving compartment roof:
Note: a few shots exist which show the gun depressed when in transit, which lends weight to the lock theory behind these fittings. It also seems logical that, given the significant degree to which the 2cm KwK gun projected out from its pedestal mount, with its consequent forward centre of gravity, that some supporting structure for the weapon would be needed whilst the weapons system is in transit, in order to prevent it rocking and potentially being damaging by the SPW's roof:
Note the travel lock plate's contours in the shot below has a cut out along its RHS:
In the next example below, the shape of the travel lock plate/deflector is more simplified, with no cut out as per the previous example:
One theory was the shape of this plate acted as a barrel deflector, to prevent the gun from firing into the bow/headlight area, however it may well be the gun could not have depressed quite this far.
One of the most curious variations is this 251/17 Schwebelafette below, which has been converted into a heavily armed Funkwagen - the welded travel lock plate is just visible above the late-style angled armoured bullet splash rail:
The image below also barely shows the travel lock plate/deflector, as well as the pin assembly. The late model angled armoured bullet splash rail on the roof is also seen to good advantage. This rail was made up of three straight components set in an arc, which were screwed to the roof from below:
It’s worth perhaps mentioning here the plausibility of the wooden beam seen fitted to this modified SdKfz 234/3, upon which the barrel-less KwK 38 is resting, may have incorporated a hole for the travel lock pin described above:
The previously unpublished image below, from the National Archives Canada, also clearly shows both the travel lock pin and its associated plate/deflector - note the hole in this plate, which matches the diameter of the pin. The dark object silhouetting the plate/deflector is the late model 251 bonnet flipped open and resting on the crew compartment - note the brush-stippled 'ambush' camouflage finish on the Schwebelafette turret, as opposed to the more standard bold late war sprayed scheme on the SPW's side. This would indicate the hull and turret were finished separately - a common practice in of decentralisation of manufacturing and finishing of war material in Germany at this time - a fact most widely recognised in Luftwaffe aircraft of this period:
It should be noted in the image above the unfortunate remains of both the driver and the gun loader still remain in this vehicle. It is poignant to note these men were killed near Handstedt on, or just before the 20th of April 1945, when this image was taken. Handstedt is not far from Luneburg Heath, were but a couple of weeks later the German forces of the north officially surrendered to Montgomery. Both Martin Block and Hans Weber agree given its location, the vehicle is believed to have most likely belonged to the Clausewitz Panzer-Division, which would in turn suggest it’s a vehicle of Panzer-Brigade 106 Feldherrenhalle (this unit was seconded to help create Clausewitz Pz Div in the closing stages of the war).
The last 251/17 Schwebelafette feature being discussed here is a bracket, which appears on some, but not all vehicles. It is clear from my research this component was not fitted to all 251/17 and indeed it is
not likely a feature unique to the 251 either, as pics further below will suggest. In the Czech image just below however, kindly shared on Missing-Lynx some years ago by Tomas Jakl, we can begin to get an idea of the bracket's shape, but its purpose would seem enigmatic:
Another shot also apparently taken in Czechoslovakia and kindly supplied by Jean-Leon Gantier shows the rear bracket:
This next image, taken in Slovenia, once again shows the rear bracket (NB the main photo from which this image was cropped appears in Panzer Wrecks 2, however this vehicle had itself been inadvertently largely cropped out of the print by MNZS when they supplied it to the authors):
Although there are other fairly unclear images in private collections which also show this bracket, the US National Archives photo below is perhaps the clearest yet available. The photo was taken in an orchard adjacent to La Gleize, Belgium and shows what is most likely a 251/21 of Kampfgruppe Peiper:
Because of its relative clarity, it was this image in particular, which began to establish the true nature of this bracket's purpose. Note the matter of whether this MG 42 bracket actually pivots to rest inside the vehicle, as annotated, is pure conjecture on this author's part. It would seem to be quite plausible and perhaps explain why in some instances no bracket of any design appears on some late model 251s. As I see it, enabling the bracket to pivot inside would allow it to be protected within the armoured superstructure and under the vehicle's standard crew compartment tarp, in an otherwise under-utilised stowage space; whilst also enabling it to be swung up out of the way in order to more easily facilitate ingress/egress of the SPW. Furthermore, flipping the MG inside the crew compartment would clear the field of fire to the rear of the 360 degree traverse the turret - a problem the standard fixed rear MG bracket would have presented:
Note the twisted piece of wreckage on the ground immediately to the right of the vehicle. The two fillets and rivet holes in the smaller rectangular section of this mangled structure, plus the general dimensions of this object's warped panels are all consistent with the design of a 150 round
Drilling ammunition box (the fillets are re-enforcements on the base). This would indicate the vehicle may be a SdKfz 251/21.
Below is how I envisage the mount and MG42 may have looked, if indeed it were have been able to have been swung over and inside the vehicle. I must stress it could be the bracket did not swivel down in this way, it is only conjecture on my part at this stage, but given the advantages listed above it would seem extremely plausible (an AFV Club 251 hull is used here for its dimensional accuracy over the DML product):
The main parts of this MG bracket are actually not a new design at all, as can be seen from the following oft-published images showing just a handful of examples of MG34s mounted in much earlier versions of 250. These egs seem to all be fixed:
The frequently published shot below provides a rare glimpse of the MG stowage bracket on a SdKfz 250 Neu, unit unknown (anecdotal evidence suggests 116. Pz Div, although other evidence contradicts this):
Another point of pure conjecture was whether the rear MG bracket could allow the MG42 to swivel into a firing position, as Photoshopped here - quite handy if it were so...
As well as those already mentioned above, Fred Carbon and I would like to also thank Jon Bailey, Lee Archer, Bill Auerbach, Manus Gallagher, Henrik Sjovall, Hans Weber and Sam Wren for their help.
Baz
