GERMAN SDKFZ251/17D GE259

Soviet Il-2 Sthurmoviks had caused the Germans much trouble on the Ostfront and the situation didn’t improve in the west with "Jabos", or Allied fighter-bombers. When the German Luftwaffe lost air supremacy over Europe in the summer of 1944, it fell to the ground units to do as much as they could to protect themselves. They started to produce more and more modifications adding light or medium calibre anti-aircraft guns to standard-issue vehicles.

One result was the SdKfz 251/17 D model, which used a very compact gun that dropped into a standard Sd.Kfz. 251/1 hull. Ammo racks were added fir up to 600 rounds of ammunition. While cramped, it did provide the platoon with a powerful anti-aircraft cannon to help keep enemy fighters at bay.

The gun was mounted using the Schwebelafette, or suspended mount, which boosted the 2 cm gun up over the top of the armour. This allowed the gun to be fired from within the half-track’s armoured hull and also engage ground targets in a 360 degree firing arc.

In Flames Of War
The SdKfz 251/17D (2cm) begins to appear in the Gepanzerte Panzergrenadier platoons found in Cobra. With a few of these protecting your of platoon, Allied aircraft will find it difficult to strafe your forces at will.

The blister includes a SdKfz 251/17 (2cm) halftrack.

Painted by Jeremy Painter
Sclupted by Evan Allen