Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Museum Part 3: Other WWII originals

Hello Guys! Today I'd like to show you some more classy WWII originals I photographed at the WTS in Koblenz.
Go through it all, you'll see pleasing stuff like a French FT-17 light tank from the inside, german WWII infrared nightvision devices,  the Kettenkrad, the HUGE Schwerer Zugkraftwagen 18 to. (Sd. Kfz. 9) and a load of other beautyful stuff!

leichter Ladungsträger Goliath (Sd.Kfz. 302)

leichter Ladungsträger Goliath (Sd.Kfz. 302) - sprocket wheel
 As far as I remember I saw the following Vehicle in every german museum that features WWII vehicles. The Kettenkrad seems to be a must-have. I should have one too...
Kleines Kettenkraftrad Typ HK 101 (a.k.a. Kettenkrad) (Sd.Kfz. 2)

Kettenkrad (Sd.Kfz. 2) drivers seat

Kettenkrad (Sd.Kfz. 2) with trailer
 But if I cannot have a Kettenkrad, I would also be satisfied with one of the next two. Unfortunately you pay up to 70.000 € for a BMW R75 in good condition...
"Schweres Wehrmachtsgespann" BMW R 75

"Schweres Wehrmachtsgespann" Zündapp-KS-750

Schwerer 8-Rad-Panzerspähwagen Typ GS (Sd.Kfz.231)

Same, obviously disabled by 2 20-37mm shots in its back

leichter Zugkraftwagen 1t (Sd.Kfz. 10) - incomplete
 What comes next, completely blew me off my feet. Compared to todays trucks, it might be not THAT big, but honestly, I was really impressed of the size of this Sd.Kfz. 9!
schwerer Zugkraftwagen 18t (Sd.Kfz. 9) - Front

schwerer Zugkraftwagen 18t (Sd.Kfz. 9) - side

schwerer Zugkraftwagen 18t (Sd.Kfz. 9) - Engine Block

schwerer Zugkraftwagen 18t (Sd.Kfz. 9) - Drivers seatrow
 This is pretty cool: Lacking an opto-electrical indicator, they added a "winker", an arm that shows the direction, the driver is going to turn to.
schwerer Zugkraftwagen 18t (Sd.Kfz. 9) - Indicator (a.k.a. Winker)

schwerer Zugkraftwagen 18t (Sd.Kfz. 9) - rear seatrow

Its so huuuuuge!

Leichter geländegängiger Einheits-Lkw 2,5t

Willys Jeep along with some postwar Kübels

VW Typ 82 Kübelwagen

VW Typ 166 Schwimmwagen

VW Typ 166 Schwimmwagen - Back

VW Typ 166 Schwimmwagen interiour
One thing that really pleased me, was that most of the exhibits are standing free. You can touch that cold steel and sometimes get a sneak peek inside. Thats what I did with this beautyful FT-17...
French FT-17

French FT-17 drive detail
 Here you can see the tail-attachment witch is useful for passing bigger trenches. The crew can tilt it up to access the inertia-starter.
French FT-17
 A look through the open turret-hatch in direction of the drivers compartment.
The only thing that seems missing down there is the seat-cushion, as the user-elements were pretty basic (see interior details Wikipedia)
French FT-17 Drivers compartment

French FT-17 Ammo

German WWII Air-to-air Missile R4M "Orkan"

Nachtsicht Fahrgerät

Wehrmacht Infrared Vision FG 1250
Have you ever seen, where the Tiger's roar comes from? Watch this:
Maybach HL 230 P 45 as used on Tiger I

Tiger I Crankshaft with Pistons

Tiger I driving and steering transmission

Tiger I driving and steering transmission
 And some parts from his little brother:
Panther driving and steering transmission

Panther driving and steering transmission
 Since I was short in time, I could not take more shots of this pretty interesting chapter: Uniforms and personal equipment...
German Camo Uniforms

German Uniform

German "Sumpftarn" Camo Uniform
 Now, some more small Dakka-Dakka ;-)
Granatwerfer 36

Some MPs

Various StGw 44

FG 42 in all three versions

Machine guns
 Another curiosity: This model of the Infantry Assaultbridge on Pz. Kw IV was (most probable) used to demonstrate Hitler the design and functionality of a concept for a bridge-laying tank:
(Original) Model of the Infantry-Assaultbride on Pz. Kw. IV

One man Splinter-Shelter

Rolling Bomb (used to blow up reservoir dams)

British Airmine HC 4000 lb
These were the last pictures of WWII equipment and vehicles that I shot at the WTS in Koblenz. Unfortunately the Panther-tank and the StuG III were off to Trier for some refurbishment. That made me a bit sad...
So what, I'll have to go there again :-D

Next time, I will show you some Post-War developments shown there. Some of which seem pretty peculiar...

Have a nice time!

//mojo

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