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The German "Hanomag" - Sd.Kfz. 251 Full Tour

American Heritage Museum / Collings Foundation

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The Sd.Kfz 251 is a German Half-Track that saw service on all fronts of the second world war. Designed for use by Panzergrenadiers (German Armored Infantry), the 251 is one of the first mass produced armored personnel carriers in history.

In this video we take you on a full inside-and-out tour of our original Sd.Kfz 251/1 Ausf.D. Going over the parts that make up the vehicle, as well as the uses and variations of one of the most iconic vehicles of World War Two.
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Check out our website to learn more about our incredible collection, get your museum admission tickets (for a $2 discount), and even book a ride in one of our REAL World War Two era tanks!
https://www.americanheritagemuseum.org

American Heritage Museum
568 Main Street
Hudson, MA 01749
(978) 562-9182

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Attributions:

Assorted photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Armedconflicts.com, Ghostmaxi, Bushmakow, Bundesarchiv

20 Comments

@haydenskilton 7 months ago

Most descriptive explanation of a 251 I’ve ever seen , thank you 🙏 👍🏻

@stanislavczebinski994 7 months ago (edited)

5:14 "Kraftstoff" = fuel. Literally power substance ("Kraft"+"Stoff").

Those little bottles are for priming the carburator before engine start.

Greetings from Germany!!

@jasonbeale6875 6 months ago

The green light distance system is insanely interesting

@MadCDeeJay 7 months ago

TANK YOU so much for the demonstration of the quick barrel change and the swing range of the AA MG mount. I always wanted to see those in action.

@jerryjeromehawkins1712 7 months ago

Its worth noting that the Hanomag did not have a powered front axle because it was not necessary.
Compared to the US halftracks, the rear tracks on a hanomag were longer with a greater ground contact area.

@stephenkissinger4434 7 months ago

7:17 "I'm really not sure who you're protecting your stuff from."

Anyone that's not part of the vehicle crew. The only people more likely to loot the vehicle than enemy infantry are friendly infantry.

@VegasCyclingFreak 7 months ago

I always thought the German half tracks were kinda bizarre but after watching this video I get it. Pretty cool stuff.

@marvwatkins7029 7 months ago

Never heard of this museum, just the "Society". It looks worth a visit.

@stanislavczebinski994 7 months ago

13:30 Old air-cooled VWs had the same style of gas pedal.

@Panzerjager2344 7 months ago

One minor mistake, the 234/1 was not the "Puma", it was the 234/2 mounted a 50mm cannon

@peterecos634 3 months ago

Probably the best vid walkaround of any WWII vehicle. Thanks for posting, learned quite a few things.

@JB-ng5yx 1 month ago

This was very informative!

@adriangunn 7 months ago (edited)

retired soldier here: locks on the storage boxes are to keep other people from your unit or more likely, other units, from stealing your shit. “Appropriating” things like tools and other useful bits of kit from other units is a time honored tradition of soldiers worldwide.

@Swamp_Fox 7 months ago

WOW!! I sincerely appreciate how in depth you all go into showing all of the features of the vehicles in your videos. I am still thinking about how cool the rear Notek light was! Keep up the great work!

@bikecommuter24 7 months ago (edited)

10:32 that is indeed air hook up for a trailer, that design is still used today, they are called Glad Hands on current big rigs there are two systems blue and red , blue is the service line and red is the emergency line.