Battle of France, spring 1940. Germany combat vehicles (Sd.Kfz.251/1 Ausf.A, Sd.Kfz.251/6 Ausf.A, le.gl.Einheitz-Pkw Kfz.2, Germany Drivers (1939-1945))

The Sd.Kfz.251 was seen as a real improvement for infantry mobility, and added weight to the doctrine of using motorized infantry to accompany the tanks. It was also a well-known propaganda tool in the newsreels, which led most of the Germans into thinking that the bulk of the German infantry was carried by these armored vehicles. But the reality could not be farther from the truth. Due to its cost and slow production, these vehicles were only allocated to some Panzergrenadier platoons, almost specialized elites within the infantry, and only attached to the best-equipped Panzerdivisions. Sd.Kfz.251/3 – mittlere Kommandopanzerwagen (Funkpanzerwagen) - The main radio version, which was subdivided into five versions, each using upgraded radio combinations, like the FuG8 + FuG5 (I, II), FuG1 + FuG7 (III), FuG11 + FuG12 (IV – long range, with a telescopic 9 m mast, and a command subvariant), and the FuG11 for the fifth subversion. The Kfz 2 Einheits-Pkw was part of a larger initiative to standardize military vehicles for the Wehrmacht.