Wehrmacht team
As Wehrmacht team are specifically for the Wehrmacht developed and from 1941 to 1944 employed about serious motorcycle sidecars BMW R75 and Zündapp KS 750 sidecar called.
In addition, other motorcycle combinations were used by the Wehrmacht: BMW R 12 (with single carburetor), NSU 601 OSL Wh, Zündapp K 800 , the Belgian captured machines FN M12 , Gillet Herstal 720 AB and the French Gnome et Rhône AX II .
history
Motorbike combinations in World War I were used to a small extent. In 1915 a machine gun carrier from NSU Motorenwerke appeared . The machine gun was mounted on the sidecar against the direction of travel. The development of the 20s and 30s made the use in larger numbers interesting for the military. There was a particular need for former units of the cavalry , which were converted to motorized units of various types, as well as for motorcyclists and reconnaissance . The Wehrmacht was initially equipped on the basis of adapted vehicle models from the 1930s. In the 1940s, models were added whose construction was primarily geared towards military use. Such vehicles were also delivered to foreign units of the allied Axis powers .
technology
All Wehrmacht teams had switchable sidecar drives; Both types were a common development based on the Zündapp design, which was carried out in accordance with the specifications of the Wehrmacht High Command. The transmission of the BMW R 75 / Zündapp KS 750 had four street gears and one reverse gear ; the street aisles at BMW could be stepped down to three cross-country gears; Zündapp had a cross-country gear. To improve off-road mobility, the teams had a differential lock. The rear and sidecar wheels had hydraulic brakes. The teams were characterized by their robustness, good reliability and stability as well as their enormous cross-country mobility. Equipped with standard bulky hooks, the Wehrmacht teams served as tractors for light trailers (350 kg) and light guns.
Quantities
16,510 units of the BMW R 75 sidecar were built by 1944 and 18,635 units of the Zündapp KS 750 sidecar by 1948. The teams were available in Wehrmacht gray, Luftwaffe gray, Africa beige ("Sahara") and dark yellow (beige) paintwork (from 1943 for all Wehrmacht vehicles).
Replicas
The military vehicles manufactured in the Soviet Union during World War II , which were built under the name M72 and later Ural in Irbit or from 1974 as Dnepr in Kiev , are not replicas of the BMW R 75 or Zündapp KS 750, but a copy of the BMW R 71 from 1938. Production of the Ukrainian Dnepr MT-12 ceased in 1988. A Chinese version of the BMW R 71 is sold under the name Chang Jiang 750.
Others
The BMW R 12 combination was also used as a starting aid using the "Orgasser starting device". The so-called "motorbike crankshaft starter" could be used for other trailer models.
reception
The only sensible role for the use of motorcycles and motorcycles with sidecars in the army seems to be in the courier service.
“The enormous costs for the war elephants [...] were never in proportion to the purpose. With the advent of lightweight all-terrain Kübelwagen, which were cheaper to manufacture and more versatile, the era of the over-heavy motorcycles quickly came to an end. "
"As a result of their elaborate construction [...] they cost almost twice as much as a VW Kübelwagen , which was of far greater use thanks to its versatility and better weather protection [...]."
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Werner Oswald : Motor vehicles and tanks of the Reichswehr, Wehrmacht and Bundeswehr. Catalog of German military vehicles from 1900 to today. 14th edition. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-87943-850-1 , p. 64.
- ^ Peter Schneider: NSU im Bild - Motorräder since 1900, 1st edition, Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-613-02063-7 , p. 35.
- ^ Frank Rönicke : German military motorcycles. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-613-03215-6 , p. 80.