Some little odd things

[DRG]

Originally Posted by Christocipher

https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/n.../sdkfz-250.php that says 250 first used in France.

I looked a lot more and also found this. Yes you are right there were some preproduction models they are called Sd.Kfz. 250 0-Series then there is the mass-produced model which is called the Sd.Kfz. 250 Auf A or Auf B. Mass produced models Auf A and Auf B began Production in June 41 with 39, then 53 in July and 46 in August and 53 in September and about the same for the rest of the 1941 months. Maybe they got mostly held in the factories but some did appear in Russia and Africa. it says that anyway here.
https://gallery.kitmaker.net/data/22205/Image85.jpg
It looks like 15 0-Series got built Some might have got to france as they might be built before the Auf As and Auf Bs.
In this thread someone says a small number got built in 1940 thats probably the 0-Series.
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=136557

RE https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/n.../sdkfz-250.php

Yes, it does say they were used in France 1940 but that's the only source that does and they are incorrect

RE https://gallery.kitmaker.net/data/22205/Image85.jpg

Claims only a few were sent to the Eastern Front in 1941. 2 in September then 7 in October and 6 more in December 1941 with a couple going to Rommel in Libya in Dec as well. Note it says nothing about 1940

EDIT ----in that page scan are the dates they were SENT. Nothing is given in regards to arrival or when they were used on the front line which makes the start of 1942 much more likely than any other date with the info available


Wiki quotes Chamberlain, Peter, and Hilary L. Doyle. Thomas L. Jentz (Technical Editor). Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War Two: A Complete Illustrated Directory of German Battle Tanks, Armoured Cars, Self-propelled Guns, and Semi-tracked Vehicles, 1933–1945. London: Arms and Armour Press, 1978 (revised edition 1993). ISBN 1-85409-214-6 that Production delays meant that the first vehicle did not appear until mid-1941.[1]

I have NO idea where the kitmaker quote came from but it supports that maybe 17 made it to anywhere at all in 1941 and as I said earlier we had them in service mid-1941 but changed it to the start of 1942 as that was more realistic representation of their availability. That kitmaker page scan also says the only unit to have a full company of them was the 24th Panzer. The 24th Panzer Division was formed in late 1941 but it did not enter combat on the Eastern Front until June 1942. Up until then, it was stationed in France.

IN THE GAME the 250 is a scout vehicle to start 1/42 as a two-unit section with larger formations starting in October 1942 when the PzAufk formations appeared, Recce work was always its purpose which is what the larger Aufklärungsabteilung formations are for

Bottom line is the only source that claims they were used in France in 1940 is the one you quoted

Finally....... I dusted off my copy of Schützenpanzer by Culver and Feist

What is PROBABLY causing the claim to be made that "250s" were in France in 1940 was that the SdKfz 253 artillery observation vehicle, which was the first model of the 250 series to be produced, and which from the side in photos looks very much like a 250/1, WAS in France in 1940 and that IS represented in the game that way with an in-service date of 5/1940

TECHNICALLY it could be claimed that vehicles of the 250 SERIES operated in France in 1940 but they were NOT the "regular" recce 250's. The tanks-encyclopedia.com info is wrong and misleading as it includes artwork claiming "Sd.Kfz.250/1 leichter Schützenpanzerwagen, France, June 1940".......which is flat out wrong