>But, what I have never seen before is a weird looking vehicle that
>seems to resemble a motorcylce but with tracks in the rear.
>
What ?
Good Heavens !
A Kleines Kettenkraftrad Sd.Kfz.2, more usually referred to as a
Kettenkrad and a very handy tool; once as common to the Wehrmacht as
jeeps are to you.
The Kettenkrad is a quite novel device and mechanically fascinating, the
steering operates track brakes beyond small steer angles and on very
rough going the front wheel is often removed entirely. They are
surprisingly strong and were used for many duties including aircraft
towing and as a field artillery tractor, few survived the war only since
there was a commercial application in farming and forestry work.
I'd concur that a look at Andreas's Kettenkrad site
http://www.kettenkrad.de/ is well worthwhile and you might find a browse
through Bart Vanderveen's pocket book "The Observer's Fighting Vehicles
Directory - W.W.II" to be a fascinating read, sadly out of print now but
often referred to as "The Bible" in MV circles with some justification,
if you see one on a stall; buy it immediately.
The KK used in the film was marked as 7th Flieger Corps which is
strictly speaking incorrect for the location but a valid unit marking, I
think it also carried the letters BS. This was standard practice in the
Wehrmacht although little known now and it is the initials of the
commanding officer, in this instance Bruno Schramm.
Richard
(Southampton UK)
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