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Posted on 10/17/2005 7:51:59 PM PDT by alfa6
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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 The Kettenkraftrad, type HK 101 is one of the most unique vehicles developed during the Second World War. The "tracked motorcycle" concept was conceived and patented by a German inventor, Heinrich Ernst Kniepkamp, in June of 1939. This was in response to a request for a fast, tracked vehicle capable of moving small loads in mountainous terrain.  The 'HK 101' Sd. Kfz. 2 Kettenkrad was originally conceived as a light prime mover for mountain troops to be used for towing ight mountain guns, mortars, the MG36 and telephone wire drums. It found favor with all Wehrmacht troops, especially those in the Eastern Front where it's excellent cross-country ability allowed it to manuever in the mud-bogged roads and the mountainous Caucasus region. It was also engaged by paratroopers units and by the Luftwaffe for aircraft moving duty.  It was however, the NSU Werke of Neckarsulm, Germany that developed the Kettenkrad as we know it. Interestingly, many of the prototypes used spoked motorcycle wheels, not only for the front and road wheels, but also on its attendant trailer. Trailers for the Kettenkrad were a concurrent development and are discussed later in this article. Although the concept was embraced immediately, the vehicle was not introduced is troop service until early June of 1941. The official designation was "kleines Kettenkraftrad SdKfz. 2". "Kettenkrad" became the common abbreviation soon after.  Powered by a 4 cylinder 1.5 ltr. Opel-Olympia water-cooled engine, its top speed was 80 kph. It carried a crew of 3. Built by NSU Werke AG Neckarsulm and Stower Werke Stettin, a total of 8345 vehicles were produced between 1940 and 1944.  Production was expanded to the Stoewer Werke in 1943 and by war's end 8,345 vehicles had been produced (although some higher serial numbers have been reported). The French firm of SIMCA manufactured parts for the Kettenkrad but they did not produce or assemble the entire vehicle.  Variants  Assembly of the Kettenkrad at the NSU Werkes is said to have continued until 1948. Approximately 550 post war Kettenkrads are reported to have been assembled using existing parts as well as portions of wartime units that were in Neckarsulm for major service. Some vehicles are said to have been imported into the U.S. to see use with the Forest Service but I have not been able to find any records to verify this.  At least one French company, Babiolle, offered rebuilt versions of discarded Kettenkrads after the war. These had the front wheel and steering gear removed to create a small farm tractor. The mostinteresting thing about this vehicle was that it operated "backwards". The redesign included changes to the gearbox and reversed the chassis so the drive (sprocket) wheel was in the rear instead of the front.  There were two sub-variants of the Kettenkrad, SdKfz. 2/1 "kleines Kettenkraftrad fur Feldfernkabel" and SdKfz. 2/2 "kleines Kettenkraftrad fur schwere Feldfernkabel." Both vehicles were used in conjunction with a trailer and had field communication wire spools mounted behind the driver. The 2/1 vehicle mounted a small wire spool and frame similar to the backpack piece used by the infantry. The 2/2 utilized much larger spools, two of which were mounted on a frame behind the driver. Additional spools were mounted in a specialized trailer (Sd.Anh. 1). Late in the war, portions of the stretched version HK 102 Kettenkraftrad suspension were used to create the "Springer" demolition vehicle. This was designed as a replacement to the Borgward series and NSU (only) produced about 50 of these vehicles by war's end.  There were several different trailers designed during the war for the Kettenkrad. The first was designed with the prototype and never reached production status. The second, was the most numerous and was a derivation of the earlier prototype with a longer hitch pole and solid disk wheels. This trailer had the designation of Sd.Anh. 1 (sonderanhanger: "special trailer") This was the only one designed exclusively for the Kettenkrad. Two variations of this trailer, the Sd.Anh. 1.1 and the Sd.Anh. 1/2 . Both of these were modified to be used in conjunction with the SdKfz. 2/1 and SdKfz. 2/2 respectively. These trailers were fitted with cable drum mounting devices.  The other trailers used by the Kettenkrads could be used for other lightweight vehicles such as the Kubelwagon and the Schwimmwagon. One of these was designed specially for use with Gebirgsjager units and was a modification of the standard infantry cart (Infanteriekarren). The infantry cart had exchangeable tow bars. One with handles for human power towing, one with a "lunette eye" for the towing pintle as on the Kettenkrad, and one for dog towing  The Kettenkrad has enjoyed, from what I can tell, a bit of a reputation as a poorman's war vehicle. There are for the, relativly few numbers manufactured, quite a few of them still around and running. Check out the Educational sources for more info on the civie versions of the Sd.Kfz 2 Kettenkrad. 
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Thanks alfa6. We certainly know what work goes into putting up a thread. Today's is really neat. What a cool vehicle.
Adorable as always.
Good morning feather.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Good morning!!
Das isa goot von!
You gonna buy one for your old uncle blackie? ;)
Cool machine. I've been enamoured with these with some time.
Hi miss Feather
I look at this Kett and think about so many other German innovations, their Panzers, the mighty 88, the ME 262, and I realize what a really formidable opponent they were. It is no wonder that they overran the Europe, North Africa and Russia.
Fighting Germany was the ultimate confrontation. These ragheads we are fighting now are not even in the same league.
She's feeling better as well. Of course she'll passed on to dear old dad.
Hiya Sam
Howdy ma'am
BTW, what an odd little vehicle. Did the front wheel handle all the steering or did the tracks also help?
Ahhhh.
I just had a very handsome young man from the US Army come into the store. He is an infantry man just out of basic but assigned to local recruiting.
The poor soul was nervous. "Would we consider letting him put up his brochures?"
Of course I was beaming and telling him about Sam and how we would be proud to put up their display and of course thanked him for his service.
It's a good day. :-)
Thanks, Iris. Very astute. I think you're right.
Awesome!!!
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