The most boring WW2 vehicle? The schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper

The schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper is probably one of the most boring German vehicles of the Second World War, yet, its history provides us with interesting insights and a better understanding of the German Armed Forces during the Second World War and also the German industry.
Disclaimer I: I was invited by Militärhistorische Museum der Bundeswehr Dresden in 2019 & 2021. www.mhmbw.de/
Various footage recorded at Militracks 2019 at the Overloon War Museum: www.militracks.nl - www.oorlogsmuseum.nl/en/home/
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»» SOURCES ««
Hettler, Nicolaus: Nuts & Bolts: Vol. 41: Büssing’s schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper (sWS), armoured and unarmoured variants. Nuts & Bolts Verlag GbR: Neumünster, Germany, 2018.
Generalstab des Heeres, Org.-Abt. (IIIa): Studie über Rüstung 1944, 26. Januar 1944.
BArch, RH 2/948: Verschiedene Angelegenheiten der Gruppe III. Bd. 2.
Abel, Friehelm: Kleines Kettenkraftrad Sd. Kfz. 2- Typ HK-101. Podzun-Pallas-Verlag GmbH: Dorheim, 1984.
Schwarzmann, Peter: Panzerketten: Die Gleisketten der deutschen Kettenfahrzeuge des Zweiten Weltkrieges. Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus: Königswinter, Germany, 2013.
Datenblätter für Heeres-Waffen, -Fahrzeuge und -Gerät. Pawlas: Nürnberg, Germany, 1976.
truck-encyclopedia.com/ww2/ge...
www.kettenkrad.de
00:00 Intro
00:28 Channel & Patreon
00:56 Just another Half-Track?
01:20 1st Generation Half-Tracks
01:52 2nd Generation Half-Tracks
02:43 3rd Generation Half-Tracks
03:44 Studie Rüstung 1944
05:31 Main Differences to the regular Half-Tracks
8:13 Jens Wehner on the Object History
11:09 Armored Variant
11:52 Production Numbers
13:25 Summary
#Wehrmachtschlepper,#halftrack,#GermanArmy

[@sfjp1]

Boring usually means incredibly useful and unappreciated. I find how the armies actually functioned really fascinating.

[@LearningHistoryTogether]

hello

[@sfjp1]

@@LearningHistoryTogether Hi mate haha 👍🏻

[@kahliaelijah]

no youre wrong lmao

[@JoshSees]

Logistics wins every time

[@murphy7801]

Jerry can, boring but game changing.

[@OliverXRed]

Ian from Forgotten Weapons have uploaded a new video about why the german army didn't use a large caliber machine gun on their tanks during WW2, like what the americans did with the M2 Browning. There was nothing specific that concluded why they didn't use them, and I thought it would be interesting if you maybe had the answer for it.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

I watched it myself already, although the initial question has nothing to do with tanks. I would add the following, for the German Army the difference between a light and heavy machine gun was not the caliber but the mount. The MG34 and also the MG42 was a light machine gun with the bi-pod and a heavy with the lafette tripod (not the simple AA tripod, then it was still a light machine gun). So it was actually about the tactical use, but this also does not provide a definitive answer. I assume that at some point the decided that an "intermediate" caliber between 7.92 and 20mm did not make much sense, might probably go back to the Reichswehr (predecessor of the Wehrmacht) since they were rather short on everything.

[@tomhenry897]

Mindset as didn’t think they needed them and lack of production In would be a 30 cal anyway if mounted or had enough

[@SouthParkCows88]

I do know that MG34 were hull mounted and MG42 we're atop tanks, due to how the barrels are removed from the gun. Always thought that was interesting.

[@lukelee5385]

@@MilitaryHistoryVisualized Interesting, I would say (at least in English during WWII) MG34 with the Lafette mount would be a Medium Machine Gun, like Vickers or M1917. But terminologies were messy after all.

[@zulubeatz1]

Possibly they were reserved for use in Aircraft.

[@kilianortmann9979]

Technology Connections had a really nice quote in his recent typewriter video, that I think applies here: "The only thing better than perfect, is standardized."

[@LOLERXP]

That's the official EU motto.

[@diestormlie]

@@LOLERXP And it's a Miracle we ever got the French on board! (I say 'we'. I'm a Brit 😤)

[@allangibson8494]

@@diestormlie And the British conservatives were (and are) the biggest problem with standardisation…

[@diestormlie]

@@allangibson8494 Well, of course! If they Standardise, how are they meant to be able to siphon contracts off to their mates?

[@wonniewarrior]

@@allangibson8494 It amazes me there are 2 versions of the Gallon. The Imperial and the US gallon.

[@brianknezevich9894]

I hardly think this is a boring vehicle.. I've always really liked the look of the German half-tracks anyhow, to say nothing of their use and performance.

[@AlreadyTakenTag]

I misread the title as "Wehrmacht slapper". That sounds like a military operation named by Patton.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

lol

[@billmiller4972]

Ouch ...

[@diestormlie]

@@MilitaryHistoryVisualized Clapping the Jerries like they were shellshocked soldiers, that's the Patton way!

[@Ralphieboy]

WAP=Wehrmachtsabschlepppanzer

[@headhunter1945]

Schwubbity schwappity

[@adambalcerzak775]

I love the fact that on this channel you can hear the historians point of view. Without forgetting about the context (said by the Pole myself), it's necessary to disassociate the "tool" from it's historical use to better understand the technical part of said machine, the way it was developed and implemented, tactics included. It's the main reason I watch this channel (started with russian infantry tactics some years ago - great video as always :) ) . Having said that i have to say that "nazi war machine" quote would be great clickbait title, tho ;)

[@JohnRodriguesPhotographer]

I remember reading about this vehicle I guess 40 something years ago. Based on what I read then the initial plan for was a very basic logistics vehicle for Russia because of the mud roads. That's why they also added tracks to the opal blitz. I want to say it was extraordinarily slow like 15 km an hour on a road. It was simplified because German industry was so stretched beyond its capacity. This vehicle was built using the minimum of strategic supplies. Some of the vehicles had wooden cabs for instance. It ended up being used for a lot of different things because a vehicle that can move across bad terrain is always useful.

[@edwardloomis887]

I watch this, see the multiple different models with different repair part requirements, and mentally compare them to M-1 Garands that were manufactured by three different companies, but their parts were interchangeable. Or B-24 Liberators. Or Jeeps. The logistics complexity that the Wehrmacht and political leadership imposed on combat units' maintenance folks was extraordinary.

[@scratchy996]

They started the game on hard mode and didn't notice the options to change difficulty.

[@christophervandenberg4830]

Not boring at all. As an artillery tractor this thing was king!

[@macbrown99]

This is anti-boring, you have no idea how excited I would be to see one in person.

[@alanhynd7886]

You can ride in one every year at Militracks in Overloon. Assuming you can get to the Netherlands.

[@jameswyre6480]

I loved the Sdkfz 7 for towing 88 flak/at in tactical wargames. Really one of the better combos of the war.

[@RangerOfTheOrder]

I never knew that "schlepp" was an actual word. In America we use it as slang for moving something, typically a heavy object.

[@fazole]

It means "drag" or "tow". It has made its way into US English useage from Yiddish most likely.

[@charlesc.9012]

The USA had a very significant German population, especially after the civil war. There were many German newspapers and communities speaking German openly up until WW1

[@steffenrosmus9177]

​@@fazole you are right you Schmock😂😂

[@nomadmarauder-dw9re]

Slang words are still words.

[@wolfganggugelweith8760]

„Schleppen“ mean to tow or to carry some heavy stuff. Greetings from Linz Austria 🇦🇹 Europe!

[@ollep9142]

I think the soft vehicles deserve more attention. No army could do without them! As I like to say to my opponent in wargame settings: "You can have all the tanks and fancy stuff if I get to have all the transports." With neither fuel, ammo nor food the troops can't do much...

[@daveirwin1409]

I immediately recognized this vehicle -- I had a toy version of it as a child. As a kid, I didn't think it was all that boring. But I had no idea it was called a Wehrmachtschlepper, nor did I know that it wasn't developed until late in the war. Good thing I'm not anywhere near my mom's house, now that I've watched this video. I'd be tearing her place apart looking for that old toy. Thank you for the video - you brought back some good childhood memories, and taught me a lot about its real life counterpart.

[@MRptwrench]

Oh those beautiful tracks! But "simplified design" screws with my head. I read the U.S. War Dept.s intelligence report on the Kettenkrad, and then schematics of the differential steering system used on all the half-tracks up to the Sd.Kfz. 8 and "simplified" was not the descriptor I would use. And I've been a mechanic since I was 15. And I'm old. I love the beasts, really. Just so blown away by the tech they used.

[@flitsertheo]

"simplified" is relative for Germans who had and have a tendency to over-engineer anything they produce, including armored vehicles.

[@TashdiqueMannan]

Hello from Bangladesh. I came across your channel a few days ago and I must say that I have become a fan of your channel. I love the fact that this Channel is operated by a German who uses the accurate German terms. Also, your narration is extremely enjoyable and one can learn so much from your videos. Thank you for enlightening us from the German perspective. Best wishes.

[@RonJohn63]

No halftrack is ever boring. :)

[@nehemiahmathews8683]

I don't care what you say with your your supporters it's you that's bringing us the content and I believe that with or without the money you'd still bring us the content. I do very much enjoy your program by the way

[@johnfrench7985]

I love the marketing speak gag - SO painfully true

[@pcojedi]

great video, thank you for posting

[@CplBurdenR]

Also, if I might make a request, unsure if you have this planned at any point, but something covering the Sd.Kfz 234 series would be much appreciated. The whole "Why did the /2 come first?" and "Why was the /2 replaced with the on paper inferior /1 in production?" issue is something i've not been able to answer, as well as some wildly varying dates of introduction from different sources. I mean something covering the entire German armoured car family from the Sd.Kfz 221 to 234/4 would be amazing, but that's rather a tall order :D (especially with the various subvariants, the 6-Rad and 8-Rad versions of the 231/232 etc). Anyway, thank you for all the videos you've made and continue to make. They're an invaluable resource, and very informative and entertaining :)

[@felix.z4823]

The SWS is not boring at all, it's a very interesting combination of design requirements and it's cool to see how Germany approached them. Ease of Use, engine power, ease of production, ease of maintenance, cross-country performance, range etc. All of these need to be considered. Plus it looks really cool :)

[@CplBurdenR]

Thank you SO much for the towing capacities of the German Halftracks. I have struggled to find this information for my modding projects (I could find their *carrying* capacity, but not *towing* )

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

Interesting, since as far as I know the towing capacity is often used in the name as well.

[@CplBurdenR]

@@MilitaryHistoryVisualized It could be a difference between translated English sources and original German. Or I am just an incompetent researcher of such things :)

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

could be, the "3 to" etc. at the makes quite a lot of sense in German, since it can almost only mean "ton", yet "to" is a word in English, my proof reader actually pointed that out in one translation of the quotes.

[@TheCheseWzrd]

You know ive wondered how much info there is out there, or if you would do a video on the effectiveness of the French resistance movements from the perspective of the Germans and the kinds of resources they diverted to military police and anti resistance forces.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

A video on this was planned ages ago, but I didn't have time so far, I think I have a source or two on it.

[@tomhenry897]

Got the Germans to over react and post more troops needed elsewhere

[@flitsertheo]

To my knowledge the Germans used many captured vehicles of the countries they invaded or even continued construction of those and kept those - in general - for local use. At the same time example and exception : the Czech 38t. Still produced in the Skoda factory, used everywhere.

[@SirAntoniousBlock]

Nothing called the _Schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper_ could be boring.

[@scratchy996]

It schleppes Wehrmachts.

[@steffenrosmus9177]

@@scratchy996 yep, like Panzerwerfer 41, it werfes (throws) panzers.

[@christopherfriend7402]

Well done!

[@johnmcgarvey4758]

I remember a "minitanks" model from"ROCO" from when I was a child. It was the armored version.

[@franzreichsthaler4870]

Absolut Klasse

[@nopet-cu6wm]

Great video! I enjoy ww2 content like this immensely. What I never understood in these 1/2 tracks is how they steered? Did the steering wheel make the tracks turn? I know the bulldozers were mechanical linkage to levers to make them turn. Was it hydraulics or a steering pump? Never got an answer and maybe you viewers will help me out. Thank you. Again great video and content.

[@cujbaion1]

I'm impressed with the lack of drive shaft. They are suited for supplying thanks to the low impact on the road which makes possible to pass more than ten times compared with 6X6 trucks which create deep traces during rainy season.

[@Mr.Unacceptable]

I'd love to build some mountain lake cabins in the woods with full amenities and get a couple of these half tracks to transport people to the cabins. Use them to build the cabins first.

[@BasementEngineer]

Get yourself a Bren gun carrier if you can find one.

[@hummingbird9149]

I assume the shorter offroad to road range of the Schw. Wehrmachtschlepper was mainly due to lower gearing, not because of the different tracks. The wider tracks of the same type as used on the late war tanks, would have improved performance in boggy ground (as in they wouldnt get stuck) due to the much lower ground pressure they offered.

[@captainhurricane5705]

Looking at the 'Adolf Hitler Panzerprogramm Band 2', OKH file ref. H 16/160b, from January 1943, the only vehicle it shows to be phased out and replaced by the sWS is the 5t-Zgkw. The 5t - Zgkw. BN9 was shown as being phased out by November 43, and the sWS was planned to go into mass production in October 43, with production rising to a maximum of 400 a month by March 45. At the same time, production of the 18t, 12t and 8t models were all expected to increase, to 140, 150 and 500 per month by Jan 45 respectively. The 3t was planned to still be in production at 200 per month by Jan 45, but the 1t was going to be phased out in late 44. Despite its name the sWS was only supposed to have a towing capacity of 7-8 tons, which would mean it was not suitable to tow the 15cm K16 or K18 artillery pieces and anything heavier. It did however have a projected range of 500km, which put it far ahead of any of the other half-tracks mentioned. (Date typo corrected!)

[@AllNamesWereAlreadyTaken]

I rly like those Schlepper idk why exactly but I they are pretty good workhorses:

[@mikepette4422]

I just like the word schlepper looking at the numbers built you can see how small the german industrial capacity was compared to the US. The M3 alone had something like 55 000 build and all the other half tracks were at least 5000 each if they were useful. And then all the Detroit built heavy trucks added to these numbers it becomes overwhelming how much a mobility advantage the US provided its allies vs Germany.

[@allangibson8494]

Canadian plants provided a half million “Canadian Military Pattern” trucks to the Commonwealth forces during WW2… Even without the United States, Germany had serious problems matching Allied production volumes. Germany’s advantage was a six year head start on manufacturing and the Atlantic Ocean as a logistics delay. The Liberty and Victory Ship programs were the United States biggest contribution to victory.

[@anthonyjackson280]

@@allangibson8494 wiki claims over 800000 CMP trucks from Canada. The Canadian Army was the most mobilized per capita - 1 vehicle for every 3 soldiers vs US 1 for 7 men. ". . .Canada's great wartime achievement was to build more military trucks than the main Axis nations - Germany, Italy and Japan - combined, . . "

[@allangibson8494]

@@anthonyjackson280 And the United States built more of just M4 Sherman’s than the combined total tank production of Germany, Italy and Japan - the Axis was always going to lose a long war where production capacity mattered. Lend - Lease deliveries to Russia by Britain in November 1941 neutered to Blitzkrieg and made it a long war. Japan’s weakness was its total dependence on US made machine tools. It shot itself in the arse by going to war with the United States in the medium term because it couldn’t fix the tools that made the tools of war.

[@anthonyjackson280]

@@allangibson8494 Yes, I read a book about WW2 German POWs who were held in the midwest. The man writing said that a rail line ran by the camp and they would see the UP Big Boys hauling the trains of goods past daily and he knew then Germany and Japan had already lost. He was capture in Tunisia.

[@BasementEngineer]

@@allangibson8494 The allies, specifically Churchill and Roosevelt, plus the USSR, conspired for war with Germany as early as the mid 1930's.

[@theromanorder]

Please do more videos on structures and tactics

[@danceswithowls4000]

Truck drivers are not boring I would love one and the efficiency of delivering troops and supply’s is a useful vehicle

[@stoneylonesome4062]

You should make a video about the use of Citroën’s during WWII. Especially the Traction Avant and Citroën-Kegresse.

[@Paciat]

Anything that isnt German.

[@Chironex_Fleckeri]

You could do: *the most reliable engines of WWII *The most feared allied weapons. I listened to the interviews of German veterans of D-Day that were conducted in the 1950s. That was the work of a former German war journalist. The same stories of Allied air attacks where plane after plane lined up and fired rockets and guns at German positions and vehicles... Great video by the way. I always wondered what the tractors mentioned in German memoirs were. I couldn't find much, probably due to translation or ... connotation of the word tractor? Either way, really interesting. German production seemed to be spread so thin between all these different variants and different models with complicated differences that made mass production an issue. But then we always hear that it wasn't German production but lack of fuel on the front lines that hampered them? I suspect this is an oversimplifcation. They seemed to struggle with transport of vehicles altogether. Especially armored vehicles

[@JamesLangston-ci6qn]

I'm definitely adding this vehicle for my war display

[@marianniculae]

I want to ask here if these trucks were built-in with Tatra V8 air cooled engines. Thanks for any answer.

[@89volvowithlazers]

john cassavettes fired from the rear of one of these during one of the most daring missions done by none other than.... the Dirty Dozen....

[@sealpiercing8476]

The strategic optimism of the Wehrmacht is always striking when discussing their plans for this or that procurement in the latter parts of the war. In their shoes I would at some point find it hard to care about the details of this or that truck, once it became clear that the materiel wasn't going to help anything.

[@ibubezi7685]

And once you had bombs raining on your plants and cities. Plus all the bodies and wounded returning from the East. Yes, propaganda hid the bad news, but at some moment not all people are going to be fooled any longer. To me, it isn't exactly clear when the sentiment started to shift - Stalingrad was from August 42... that didn't go exactly as planned...

[@diestormlie]

I think at some point, you (Wermacht Vehicle designer/selector,) and really, the entire Industrial half of the Military-Industrial Complex has to adopt a sort of deliberate, callous myopia simply to keep going. Don't think about the advancing Soviets and Allies. Don't think about the slave labour in the factories. Don't think about -why- you have to design each new vehicle to be more and more simple. Don't think about all the air raids, the tightening rations. Don't think; don't think; don't think; don't think; just carry on with the task in front of you. Why? Don't think; just carry on.

[@ibubezi7685]

@@diestormlie Don't think, don't ask questions... Sounds suspiciously familiar, these days...

[@tonyromano6220]

They were delusional.

[@tonyromano6220]

@@ibubezi7685 yes it does.

[@desert_jin6281]

I think I saw one of these in a museum on the east end of Omaha beach. It's been a while so I am not sure about the name. It looked quite impressive up close.

[@zetectic7968]

This variety of effectively the same vehicle could be an exercise in reinventing the wheel. It just made life so much more difficult to source spares and to repair vehicles.

[@ThatOliveMrT]

Imagine being so cool you get /invited/ to a museum

[@achimschmidt5888]

My Father was gunner on a 8x8 anti air gun. His "Flakzug" was often used in ground combat these halftracks were their life insurance. they could do quick change of position without having to leave the guns at the lost positions. Moreover, the Wehrmacht had a lack of personal carriers so often he had to walk 60 km a day. With these halftracks the distance could be covered in a few hours without being totally exhausted. By the way in his combat years, he never saw a Tiger Tank or a Panther tank. only a few Sturmgeschütze. These high tech weapons were very raw. In his option the 8x8 gun was the backbone of firepower and the halftrack its mobility guarantee.

[@West_Coast_Gang]

This is my favorite now

[@jasontrauger8515]

​ @Military History Visualized Regarding your comment/visualization about the speed of the Schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper, do you (your opinion) find the reduction, of max speed of 27 KPH (road) vs that of the Sdkfz. 8 and 10 (50+ KPH), to be detrimental? I ask because I remember, in an older video on this or your other channel about the Pz. III or Pz. IV, it being stated that, despite faster speeds being possible, doctrine and training capped speeds, at around 25-30 KPH due to concerns about damage/over-usage and outpacing foot soldiers. Despite being slower, would it essentially have been slower, given doctrine? Having never driven a vehicle that heavy let alone that heavy AND towing something massively heavy, I have to wonder how safe it would be go 50+ KPH towing a heavy mortar or a light/heavy howitzer.

[@Frank-nh9fe]

There was a floating tracked transport. Only prototypes I believe. You should do a video on it.

[@stekra3159]

This reminds me of the soviet heavy artillery tractor that was bild in Carkiv after the war in the same factory known for its more famous product the JS 2 tanks. The Heavy artillery tractor was later in 1958s the basis for the nicknamed Carkiv kankers the incredibly success fule soviet antarctic exploration viehkals that when used form 1968 until the 2000 s and are still down ther to day.

[@notamoonraker]

I like the look of it. I play games.. this vehicle appears in Company of Heroes 2. There are many configuration of this vehicle, in form of mobile base.

[@montieluckett7036]

One interesting factoid. When approving their mechanized vehicles, the Wehrmacht demanded the fan belts on the transport trucks be made to double their service life. The manufacturers solution was to configure the fan belt to run in a figure eight pattern so as to wear both side of the belt evenly, thus increasing the life of the belt to Wehrmacht standards.

[@jackjack-sm2jg]

“Supply halftrack is in action, standing by for setting of command post”

[@flitsertheo]

For all those referring to the escape vehicle in the Dirty Dozen movie : that would have been a Sdkfz 8. Not an SWS which is understandable as this video mentions the SWS was very slow compared with the other halftracks.

[@driver76fan]

Were there any diesel land vehicles aside from trucks and the Steyr RSO that the Germans used?

[@alexread4803]

Bro when I had a war phase in middle school I tried finding out about the rso and never could

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

I remember that the RSO was mentioned to me first by Oleg Maddox (Il-2) in an email and I never read anything about it, it was in the mid to late 1990ies, there was nothing in my books, of course, those were mostly tank books or general military history WW2 books.

[@heretic192]

Its one of the coolest looking transporters/hauler the wehrmacht had, and the Panzerwerfer version of it looks especially way better than the Maultier based Panzerwerfer.

[@czwarty7878]

Your name is fitting because what you say is heresy :) nothing can top Maultier Panzerwerfer, the silhouette is iconic, and it's unique face - those radiator slots in hull front coupled with half-opened vision slots for driver make it look like it's both angry and bored at the same time. One of a kind vehicle!

[@kaneburms8664]

were can i buy one of these

[@nicks2581]

When I see these vehicles I always think of the movie "The Dirty Dozen".

[@lukeskywalker3329]

Very useful vehicles.

[@typical947]

This thing is awesome

[@teamidris]

The open spoke wheels are a lot easier to clean. That’s why they have come back into off road competition. *I was fascinated that the little bike half track was designed as a forestry machine*.

[@looinrims]

Is the opening a reference to someone or some other channel?

[@Alexzander19736]

Is there any footage of how they machine-made/make the caterpillar tracks?

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

no idea

[@gerhard15]

Quite nice, but I didn't see any Wehrmachtsschlepper in the MHM Dresden of the Bundeswehr. Ok , the Kettenkrad and the Goliath, but they don't count. But thanks a lot for interesting impressions and the comment of Jens Wehner.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

It is not in any exhibition, that is also the reason why there was little space to film it.

[@woofgbruk5947]

There is something about the name Wehrmachtschlepper that really appeals to me for some reason and the schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper looks amazing to me,

[@dickritchie2596]

I think it’s the most interesting MV.

[@RodrigoFernandez-td9uk]

Tracked things are fun by definition.

[@curtisbryce5096]

Which one was in the "Dirty Dozen"?

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

@MilitaryHistoryVisualized >>> Great video...👍

[@jponeill2151]

Hey. In Bolt Action, it is a cheap transport with good towing. Also, the dirty dozen (well, the surviving ones,) escaped in a schlepper.

[@Paulvanacker1]

Definately not boring at all. One of my favourite half tracks tbh.

[@johnwalsh7256]

GMC and Studebaker trucks 🚚 led the allies to victory by employing simple, reliable, standardized vehicles built in the thousands.

[@billmmckelvie5188]

This just reminds me of the motor Charabancs that Britain and France saw before WWI and through it until the early 1920s.

[@andreimorar5249]

A little late, but I recently started to grow some interest for the German half-tracks. This also comes in the content in which I wanted to write about the use of the schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper by the Romanian troops during the Second World War, but it seems like the information is very scarce and contradictory. Nobody seems to agree what models, the number and date when they were received, and I did not manage to find any wartime document that clearly specifies the reception of such heavy tractors (especially in regards to the SdKfz 9, despite one of them still existing nowadays at the National Military Museum in Bucharest). Where should I start from with the research?

[@SenorTucano]

Please tell me the 8 & 12 ton variants were called the Uber Wehrmacht Schlepper

[@Joe3pops]

Not boring! Pretty sure this soft skin German half track was in the last combat scene Dirty Dozen (1967) Seeing it push an armoured car off of a stone bridge quite easily was very impressive. Must of been one of the heavier variants.

[@ansonellis443]

Could you make a video on the ramses ii tank and if it could be sent to ukraine

[@gusgone4527]

Did they actually used ski or skids on the front wheels in the snow, like a snowmobile?

[@Zitoune1954]

These vehicucles are beautiful

[@eikepru1485]

As the average okw enjoyer in company of heroes 2, I sure am aware of the sWs and its important role

[@robdgaming]

Thanks for this video concisely outlining German WWII halftrack programs. Maybe it's just my personal opinion, but I think any 2-axle truck, particularly one without off-road capability, is inherently more boring than any halftrack. They're so boring to me that I've never really looked up this class of vehicle, so I have no examples. I'm thinking of the 2-axle version of the Dodge weapons carrier, but I believe that vehicle had some off-road capability. Although I don't want to sound like a wehraboo, German halftracks are inherently interesting due to their overly complex design, in which they steer like a full-track vehicle, with the front wheels mainly functioning to support the engine. As is well known, unnecessary complexity in many facets of German vehicle design was a reason they lost the war, but it's interesting nonetheless.

[@never2late454]

It's one of my favorite WW2 vehicles.

[@goatclub6943]

There's no such thing as a boring half-track!!!

[@jimjolly4560]

I'm just surprised that the Wehrmacht's attempt to reduce their inventory of half tracks from 7 types to 5 didn't leave them with 12...

[@richardcowling7381]

Might have been a boring vehicle, but it and thousands of other boring vehicles were the means by which the more exciting ones could strut their stuff.

[@tempest411]

Those 'material saving wheels' look pretty spindly. I wonder how often they broke under normal use?

[@bobbyvee9950]

My guess is they could go to rubber more to the simpler design. I base that guess on the US M3 and M9 which as I remember had top speed around 72 km/h and the tracks were all rubber but much simpler design. America did have access to rubber. No data was used in the production of this idea.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

Germans did some testing with all rubber tracks pre-war, but they were not happy with them.

[@kenstrumpf909]

It may be boring but Wermachtschlepper is the best name ever.

[@csours]

It sounds like a made up name in a strategy game

[@doomedwit1010]

I don't speak german, can I call my minivan a kinderschlepper? That was my first thought.

[@kenstrumpf909]

@@csours or from a Mel Brooks movie.

[@groofromtheup5719]

@@doomedwit1010 American children can be kind, but German children are kinder.

[@alandpost]

@@doomedwit1010 Yes. Sachenschlepper also works: "stuff hauler".

[@lionheartx-ray4135]

Many times the most boring thing is often the most important.

[@andrzejalf82]

There is like hundreds small tings intresting in this vehicles 👍

[@IrishCarney]

7:16 Adorable!

[@raymondmoore2707]

I love these half track trucks

[@66kbm]

"The most boring WW2 vehicle?"....... Not if you are Sofilein.

[@jamesbeemer7855]

Nice pick up truck .

[@Silly_dutch_femboy]

Pov your fave history youtuber just called your fave vehicle boring:

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

:)

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

only in the title ;)

[@dejectedfrogcat2840]

I only found out about this thing after Company of Heroes 2's expansion was released.

[@ScottAT]

What a great name!

[@csh5414]

The Armoured version is very cool.