Spezialfahrzeuge (German specialised Motor Vehicles)

[Great War Truck]

The next instalment of the superb Tankograd books, World War One – Imperial German Army Weapons and Soldiers of the Great War has arrived. This is another book within which I have been involved.

Spezialfahrzeuge (German specialised Motor Vehicles) is a superb addition to the collection and carry’s on from the previous two books Lastkraftwagen German military trucks volumes one and two. Written in English and spread over 96 pages illustrated with 230 photographs it describes in detail in 21 chapters some of the more unusual vehicles which did not make it into volumes 1 and 2. Vehicles such as recovery trucks, signals vehicles, searchlights, tankers, busses, delivery vans, mail trucks, motorised dummy tanks, postal trucks, trench diggers to name but a few.

The photographs are all of superb quality and from the authors collection. I have been collecting WW1 German vehicle photographs for 20 years plus and have only seen one of the 230 photographs previously. On the whole, the book is a massive treat for me as this is a subject which I find fascinating and on which very little has been written previously. I cant wait to see what the next book in the series will be.

 

PUBLICATIONS - TANKOGRAD Publishing - Verlag Jochen Vollert - Militärfahrzeug   

[bierast]

Aha - it seems that the wheeled platform in this photo of mine is a Bergeanhänger!

The unit here is a Wachtkommando of Landsturm-Infanterie-Bataillon Schneeberg XIX.17, operating at Immobiles Kraftwagen-Depot 11 in Werdau near Zwickau. This detachment from Zwickau's resident Landsturm home service battalion was presumably guarding POW labour, which is known (from Saxon archival documents) to have been been employed at the depot.  As you probably know, IKD 11 was associated with the Sächsische Waggonfabrik Werdau and (kgl. sächs.) Kraftfahr-Ersatz-Abteilung 9. 

After the war my great-grandfather's first job was at the 'Autopark Zwickau' (presumably the former IKD 11), where he was responsible for selling off the remaining inventory on behalf of the state...

[Great War Truck]

Thanks. That is fascinating. I had not seen a picture of one until now (outside the book). 

In selling off the inventory, did it go to German buyers or was it all for other European Countries?

[GreyC]

Here are two (one an Opel lorry) designed as mobile motor winches to which weather ballons were attached, here with Felddrachenwarte 54 which as their name suggests did not only use ballons but also kites to get weather data. I wonder if these mobile winches also feature in the Tankograd publication?

GreyC

[bierast]

On 14/06/2022 at 06:48, Great War Truck said:

Thanks. That is fascinating. I had not seen a picture of one until now (outside the book). 

In selling off the inventory, did it go to German buyers or was it all for other European Countries?

Unfortunately I do not know; below are all the sources I possess for this part of his life. Oddly he is said to have been in charge of Einkauf rather than Verkauf, but the formation was nevertheless part of the Reichsverwertungsamt (responsible for valuation and disposal of surplus war material) and the job ended when the operation was wound up in February 1920.

Note that my great-grandfather Arno Bierast had no prior involvement in the motor industry or Kraftfahrtruppen (he was a Kriegsfreiwilliger-Gefreiter in Saxon FAR 48 during the war). He was however a trained bookkeeper, with professional experience which included managing a trading post in the interior of Kamerun!

Job reference for Autopark Zwickau, taken from Arno's CV (prepared ca. 1935):



The first photo was sent as a postcard to Arno's future wife in December 1919 (he's the bespectacled gentleman in the suit, standing in the middle). I suspect that this picture is intended to show off the brand-new rubber tires in the foreground, which will be installed on the vehicles in place of their wartime substitutes.



This one is undated:

[GreyC]

Hi Bierast,

quite interesting. Here a photo of a convoy made up of cars from the  9 Ers.Abt. Kraftfahrbataillon Zwickau 1916.

Best,

GreyC

Edited 15 June , 2022 by GreyC

[Great War Truck]

That is really interesting and those are great photos. Thank you for sharing them. The winch truck is very interesting. I have not seen one with that kind of arrangement. The balloon corps and support vehicles were covered in a previous edition of the same series. But nothing quite like that machine.

[bierast]

4 hours ago, GreyC said:

quite interesting. Here a photo of a convoy made up of cars from the  9 Ers.Abt. Kraftfahrbataillon Zwickau 1916.

Thanks! Anything written on the back beyond the year and location?

I have very little in my collection from KEA 9, despite its substantial significance for the Kgl. Sächs. Armee. Besides the related IKD 11 and Autopark Zwickau photos, this is the best one I own ("Zwickau 1918" is written on the back). The rubber tyre here is a rather surprising sight - maybe the opposite tyre swap to the one probably going on in Arno's post-war photos, swapping the valuable rubber out for recycling?

[GreyC]

Hi,

thank you for your interest and coments.

There was no more information on the back of the convoy-card than the one mentioned. Rubber was scarce indeed at the end of the war. I have photos of some very inventive wheels to replace them-

The Feldluftschiffer issue by Tankograd looks interesting, too. Maybe the trucks/vehicles are different, because the ballons obviously differed considerably in size. And the observer ballons were manned of course, the meteorological ones weren´t.

GreyC