GROSS & WELCOME to the SdKfz. 234 website! The History, Development, Organisation & Combat service of the schwere Panzerspähwagen 234 series of 1943-1945!

SdKfz. 234
SonderKraftfahrzeug 234 (Schwere Panzerspähwagen)

Introduction

This is not a political nor revisionist site of any kind. Our intention with this website is to make an attempt to clarify how, when, where and who used the vehicles in the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS during World War II. It is not our intention to make an ultimate site listing all the info & photo that is available to public, but to share our knowledge with others having the same interest. However, we are not willing to share the work with plagiarizers, so please do not copy anything from the site without our permission.
The work on this site has been very time-, work- and money- consuming.

Development & Production

SdKfz. 234/1 - 20mm KwK 38 L/55          
220 (approx.) built between
SdKfz. 234/2 - 50mm KwK 39/1 L/60       
101 built between
SdKfz. 234/3 - 75mm KwK 37 L/24    
88 built between June and December 1944
SdKfz. 234/4 - 75mm PAK 40 L/48    
89 built between December 1944 and March 1945

SdKfz. 234/1

SdKfz. 234/1 Specifications:

Very few SdKfz. 234/1 were rearmed with a 20mm Flak 38 L/112.5. They were known as
"schwerer Panzerspähwagen (2cm Flak 38) - Schwebelafette".
The same cannon was also mounted on a few SdKfz. 251, which were specified as SdKfz. 251/17.

SdKfz. 234/2 "Puma"

SdKfz. 234/2 Specifications:

- Crew: 4 (Commander, driver, gunner & loader/rear driver)
- Length: 6.80m
- Width: 2.33m
- Height: 2.38
- Armor: 6mm - 38mm (Front 30mm, Gun mantlet 38mm, Side 8mm)
- Armament: 50mm KwK 38 L/60, 1 x 7.62mm MG42
- Ammo: 55 x 50mm rounds, 1.050 x 7.62mm rounds
- Gun elevation: -10 +20 degrees

Sd Kfz. 234/2 "Puma" - 50mm KwK 39/1 L/60

SdKfz. 234/3

SdKfz. 234/3 Specifications:

Armament: 75mm KwK 37 L/24, 1 x 7.62mm MG42
Ammo: 50 x 75mm rounds, 1.950 x 7.62mm rounds
Gun elevation: -10 +12 degrees

View of the 75mm KwK L/24 gun fitted on the SdKfz. 234/3

SdKfz. 234/4

SdKfz. 234/4 Specifications:

Armament: 75mm PAK 40 L/48
Ammo: 12-15 x 75mm rounds
Gun elevation: +3 +22 degrees

Side view of SdKfz. 234/4

Organization

During 1944 when the production of the SdKfz. 232 had ceased, a new organization had to be structured for the replacor – the SdKfz. 234 series. Several tables of organization & equipment was made up in 1944.
The armored reconnaissance battalion or Panzeraufklärungs-Abteilung which was included in the Panzer- or Panzer Grenadier divisions most often had 4-5 companies.

The Panzeraufklärungs-Abteilung consisted of a staff and support company and;

- 1 or 2 Panzerspäh-Kompanie with recon vehicles
(armored cars & half-tracks SdKfz. 250/9)

- 2 Panzerspäh-Kompanie organized as regular Pz.Gren. companies
(HT’s SdKfz. 250 & 251 and other terrain vehicles)

- 1 heavy company as support with light field howitzers, AT-guns, Pioniere etc

A battalions organization sometimes differed a lot to a similar unit in another division at another front, depending on when, where, and by what authority the unit was formed.
Two types of TO&E’s with SdKfz. 234 was structured during 1944:

Total:
19 x SdKfz. 234/1
6 x SdKfz. 234/3

The Panzerspäh-Kompanie with armored cars often formed the first company in the Panzeraufklärungs-Abteilung. During 1945 a new TO&E was formed, and the Panzeraufklärungs-Abteilung got a mixed armored recon company with 16 armored cars, known as "gemischtes Panzerspäh-Kompanie Typ F".

COMBAT TECHNIQUES

Quoting Heinz Guderians war diary, October 1^st 1944:

"Panzerspähwagen is fast, moveable, lightly armored vehicles equipped with radio with a long range, great firepower but no armor piercing ammunition. As wheeled vehicles they are capable of crossing light terrain. They are the eyes of the battalion and only fight in self defense or to be able to complete their reconnaissance task. Using them as assault guns or tanks is forbidden. The armored recon group shall not be more than 3 vehicles.

"See much, but not be seen!"

Panzerspäh-Kompanie excercise the tactical ground reconnaissance. Only in open terrain, when being followed or to protect withdrawal the company is used all together.

Panzeraufklärungs-Abteilung gain through reconnaissance and combat information for the rest of the division, and it is the divisions quickest fighting force. The battalion is committed to battle all together. To commit independent combat duties it must first be reinforced."

The combat record of the SdKfz. 234/2 "Puma" is best covered, while info about the other three variants are very scarce.

Almost 500 SdKfz. 234 (all variants) were built until 1945. This number was sufficient enough to equip 20 companies, but with more than 50 Pz. Aufk.-Abt. within the Wehrmacht only, many units never possessed any 234’s.

The SdKfz. 234/2 was the first variant to reach the front units. The 2^nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" was one of the first units to receive them. It had a battlegroup of brigade-size at the front in Ukraine in winter of 1943/44. On February 1^st 1944 the recon squad in the battlegroup had a platoon with two SdKfz. 222 and two SdKfz. 234/2. If these were available when the group linked up with the division in France in May 1944 is unknown.

The newly formed Panzer Lehr division was given highest priority concerning supplies of new machines & equipment. The Panzer Lehr division, formed in France in January 1944, was equipped with a complete Panzerspäh-Kompanie Typ A with SdKfz. 234/2 for the Pz. Aufk.-Abt. The company was originally the first in the battalion, but it was later reorganized as a part of the staff company.

The 1^st SS Panzer Division "Liebstandarte Adolf Hitler" which was stationed in Belgium for refit and reorganization, reported on the 15^th of June 1944 that it had 10 out of the supposed 16 SdKfz. 234. These were issued to the 4^th Panzerspäh-Kompanie in the Pz. Aufk.-Abt. They were all, most probably, SdKfz. 234/2 as the first 234/1 and 234/3 machines just had been assembled at the Daimler-Benz factory.

Wehrmacht’s 2. Panzer Division also had SdKfz. 234/2 in France in the summer of 1944. They were all issued to the Pz. Aufk.-Abt. 1^st Panzerspäh-Kompanie.

Against the Allied invasion in June 1944 stood at least three Panzer divisions equipped with SdKfz. 234/2:

- 2. Panzer Division
- 1^st SS Panzer Division "LSSAH"
- Panzer Lehr Division

The Panzer Lehr Division’s Panzeraufklärungs-Lehr-Abteilung 130 was spearheading the divisions drive on the invasion area on the 8^th/9^th of June 1944.

A captured "Puma", probably from the Panzer Lehr division.

Panzeraufklärungs-Abteilung 2 of the 2. Panzer Division engaged the allies for the first time with their 234/2 "Puma" machines, attacking elements of the US 26^th Infantry Division in Caumont on the night to the 13^th of June.

The 1^st SS Pz. Div. "LSSAH" did not see combat until later.

The Normandy campaign ended in a disaster for the Third Reich, and its units were badly damaged. The few units that survived the Falaise pocket
(Panzer Lehr Division had 8 SdKfz. 234/2 left on the 22^nd of August 1944), lost most of its heavy equipment during the retreat in August/September 1944.
As the allies were forced to halt their offensive in the autumn of 1944, the Germans were given the opportunity to restore the combat value of some of its units. In general, all combat vehicles had to be replaced. The SdKfz. 234/1 and 234/3 were now more available than 234/2 machines. The 2^nd SS Pz. Div. "DR" which probably didn’t have any 234’s during the summer, did have 234/1 machines in its SS Panzeraufklärungs-Abteilung 2 at least from October 1944.

Panzeraufklärungs-Lehr-Abteilung 130 were provided with at least 7 new 234/2 during the autumn of 1944.

The 12^th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend" made its first contact with the 234 series in October/November 1944, as 16 new 234 machines and 30 SdKfz. 250 equipped a Panzerspäh-Kompanie. The 16 234’s were mostly 234/1 and some 234/2, but eventually also 234/3.

All earlier mentioned units saw action in the Battle of the Bulge, and one of the units who reached longest to the west (on Antwerp) was the Panzeraufklärungs-Abteilung 2 and Panzer Lehr – Aufklärungs-Abteilung.

The 16th Panzer Division and 20th Panzer Division were also provided with an unknown number of SdKfz. 234/2 in 1944/45.

The 1^st SS Pz. Div. "LSSAH", 2^nd SS Pz. Div. "DR" and the 12^th SS Pz. Div. "HJ" along others were transferred to Hungary in February 1945.
Panzer Lehr and the  2^nd Panzer Division remained in the west.
Panzer Lehr surrendered in the Ruhr pocket in April 1945, and the 2^nd Panzer Division which until April had been in the Mosel- and Rhine area, surrendered to the Soviets in Plauen in May 1945.
The 16 ^th Panzer Division which eventually were the only unit in Czechoslovakia with
SdKfz. 234/2, surrendered to the American at Brno in Czechoslovakia in 1945.

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Page established on:  September 1st, 1998
Last updated on: September 1st, 1998
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