Remains of Kampfgruppe von Böhm - The ex-Pz.Lehr-Division Sd.Kfz.234/2 suspect. Montage 3

This montage encapsulates some research which I originally posted waaay back in 2001 here:

www.network54.com/Forum/47207/thread/1003508549/Puma+%26q...(alas)

(the photos having long since expired)

 

The Pz.A.A.2 (ie 2. Pz.Div.) Sd.Kfz.234/2 originally photographed dumped 1.5km N-E of Celles turns out to be the same vehicle shipped to APG in Maryland and eventually scrapped. After some time in the weather the top coat of paint wore off, revealing an unusual black outline tactical number "432" and black outline Balkenkreuz (cross), neither of which are characteristic of Pz.A.A.2. The cross however turns out to be a match with Pz.A.L.A. 130, (Panzer-Lehr-Division), as seen in the Deutsche Wochenschau still (top right), which was filmed on the Szent István út (St. Stephen's Road) in Győr, Hungary (west of Budapest) on 19 March 1944, during Operation Margarethe. This cross is also very faintly discernible on two wrecks attributed to Pz.AL.A.130 in a US Army Ordnance Technical Intelligence Report and near Moralles-les-Braults, in the Sarthe region of France, just to the south of Normandie.

 

The field-modifications visible in the IWM & NARA dump photos are also an uncharacteristic mix for a Pz.A.A.2 vehicle. While it does have the Pz.A.A.2 left rear stowage box instead of the factory-fitted jerrycan racks, it also has turret tie-downs and driver hatch handle which can be attributed to Pz.A.L.A. 130 wrecks in Normandie and Sarthe. This odd mix on "432" is perhaps best explained by information published in Kamen Nevenkin's book Fire Brigades, The Panzer Divisions 1943-1945, which states on page 755:

 

"Kampfgruppe "von Hauser" remained at the front [in September 1944]...the battle group had the following composition...part of Pz.Aufk.Lehr-Abt. 130 [etc.]...In the first days of October [the KG] was withdrawn... All of its tanks and heavy weapons were taken over by 2. Pz.Div."

 

So in summary, the evidence indicates Panzer-Aufklarungs-Lehr-Abteilung 130 not only modified their Sd.Kfz.234/2s in a subtle but distinctive way, but also used a low visibility black outline Balkenkreuz and numbering system, prior to handing their vehicles over to 2. Pz.Div.

 

This black outline cross can be traced back as early as March 1944, so would have been used in Normandy presumably (NB: this low vis style of marking rarely shows up on film or photos, due to image resolution, dust, etc).

 

As for the black outline numbering system, its date of introduction is yet to be determined. What can be said is the unusual 4. Kompanie sequence found on the Aberdeen 'Puma' is at odds with the unit's thus-far known paper organisation, as its schwere Panzerspahwagen (s.PSW) where listed in its 1. Kompanie. As its 'Pumas' where delivered in 2 small and 1 large batches between January and March 1944, perhaps "432" was among the smaller batches placed into a temporary s.PSW Trupp in the 4.Kompanie? Or perhaps as result of its heavy losses in Normandie/Sarthe, Pz.A.L.A. 130 temporarily created such a Zug. - an undocumented part of the Abteilung's reorganisation on 20 August 1944, or consequence of further reshuffling within the unit the integration of 3./Pz.Aufkl.Abt. 520 into Pz.A.L.A. 130 ordered on 10 September 1944? www.feldgrau.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32574

Such a step is not unprecedented, as for example 1.SS Pz. Div's KG. Knittel deployed its few remaining Sd.Kfz.234/2 in a IV Zug (Platoon) within its 3. Kompanie during the Ardennes offensive, whereas prior to this its original 16 'Pumas' were organised within its Stab (Staff) Kompanie.

 

This post forms part of a thread located here:

www.tapatalk.com/groups/archive1944to1945/panzer-lehr-pum...

 

 

 

Done