BBG111 SKODA Radschlepper Ost (1 Viewer)

Jagdpanther

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Thinking about Buying this Tractor. So this Vehicle would be accurate to have in a Battle Of The Bulge Diorama? What area in the Ardennes Would these have operated? Would these have been seen around the Bastogne area?
 
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Thinking about Buying this Tractor. So this Vehicle would be accurate to have in a Battle Of The Bulge Diorama? What area in the Ardennes Would these have operated? Would these have been seen around the Bastogne area?

Hitler wanted about 50 Radschlepper Ost to be incorporated in the Ardennes assault . Only a handful made it . They were part of the Wehrmacht ( not SS) troops that participated in the BoB.
No specific theatre of operations is mentioned and not many pictures are existing. Here you have a picture of an abandoned Radschlepper during the battle of the Bulge ;
Guy:)
skoda bulg.jpg
 
I have had the same thought myself, there is a single picture, but no confirmation of location. There is no reference in the books I have read on the battle, I have 163 books on the battle and also visit the Ardennes every second year, great scenery, hiking and mountain biking as well as the Battlefield of course [Normandy in the years in between] and have not seen pictures in any museum etc.

There is a picture of some GIs looking over an abandoned one in the snow, as Guy put in his post, but little confirmation of where the picture was taken? There were orders to take them but as with many things ordered by the high command for the battle, it does not mean they actually turned up and took part. I would sway towards yes there were some, but not sure about around Bastogne and just how far towards the front they were. After all they were in a support unit and from the reports I have read they were terrible on icy surfaces and would not have been great in the battle.

I have it and have it in one of my BotB dioramas, together with the Panther and Stug. As it was Wehrmacht and not SS, I think it is OK to use in a generic BotB diorama, there is no proof it was not used, unlike the Elefant or the AS42 and the Italians. I have tried to look for proof and have even looked through the units which used them and cannot find conclusive evidence either way.

This was a great but off the wall vehicle for K & C, it is a nice vehicle and I am surprized there is no summer version for Russia or Normandy [or Holland which I have seen some pictures]. Would not be surprized if we saw a summer version of the vehicle released. Price also put me off but managed to get one for less than £200.

There is a model available from Riich in 1/35 scale [RV35005 1/35 Skoda RSO-Radschlepper Ost] and there is a BotB version, with the colour being just Dunkelgelb RAL 7028 (dark yellow), with an alternative Russian version in Grey.
 
There are extensive researches on WWII vehicles and equipment. They are usually in German or Russian. The photo Guy posted of the Radschlepper with the license WH-695392 as in the photo claims it was abandoned in thee Ardennes. Looking for confirmation I went to a Russian site where thousands of WH vehicles are listed - most with photos. WH-695392 is listed but without a photo or more information. (do NOT translate to English because the links work only in Russian


http://www.autogallery.org.ru/i/ynomwh609.htm

Terry
 

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