Krankenpanzerwagen

Sd.Kfz.251/8 Ausf.A WWII German Ambulance

The Sd.Kfz.251 semi-tracked armoured personnel carrier was the main armoured vehicle of the Wehrmacht. It was designed by Hanomag in 1938 and mass production started the following summer. The armoured personnel carriers were in service with the German army throughout the Second World War and were used in all theatres of operations, with a total quantity of 15,252 vehicles of various series and modifications. The first modification, the Sd.Kfz.251 Ausf.A, was produced in 1939-1940. One of the versions was the Sd.Kfz.251/8 for evacuating the wounded from the battlefield. It could carry a different number of wounded, for example, two lying on a stretcher and four sitting. The stretchers were suspended on special mounts, and semicircular rails for an awning were installed on top of the body to protect it from the rain. The equipment of the transporter also included a drinking water tank, and an additional step was installed at the rear to facilitate boarding the transport compartment. Usually, armoured medical transporters were part of Stabskompanie. To distinguish them from other vehicles, they had large signs with a red medical cross on their bodies.