What about identifying this one?

[Ron Goldstein]

Heartened by site member's ability to identify my Norton motorbyke I now offer this snap taken in Austria in 1945.

My unit, like most of those who had been actively involved in the "sharp end" of the war in Italy, had managed to "comandeer" the odd German vehicle and in some cases, even the odd German prisoner who were un-officially attached to the unit as grooms to the officers horses.

This because the IVth Hussars, as a cavalry unit, were quick to realise that the SS Cavalry Div that they had just taken prisoner had loads of first class mounts to spare.

Our German vehicles were usually parked well away from Squadron vehicle parks just in case of any official inspections.

The question this time is: What was the German vehicle against which yours truly is resting his backside ?

[Kyt]

Possibly a Kfz.15 Staff Car (just jumping in before VP et al turn up!)

[sapper]

Ron. We captured a large Enemy limo. Like the one Hitler stood up in at parades, kept it till it broke down, part of the Company transport. It took us to the lowlands.
sapper

[Ron Goldstein]

Hi Sapper
I suppose that most of the German vehicles would have been kept until they broke down and then the inability to get spare parts would have meant they were ditched
Cheers
Ron

[Rich Payne]

Ron, It looks like a Horch to me. A kfz.15 Medium car type is most likely. - It would be easier if you hadn't stood in front of it

The car still has its Luftwaffe registration plate. Whose insurance were you driving on ?

[Ron Goldstein]

Hi Rich

Thanks for the info.

I see you query the insurance on the vehicle.

I also think it fair to warn you that when I got out of the Forces in 1947 I just swapped my Army driving licence for a civilian one so I never actually passed a UK driving test.

Just think.....

I've been driving these sixty odd years without a test........

Makes you think, dont it

[Rich Payne]

Hello Ron, the Insurance question was tongue in cheek ! When did the driving test first come in ? 1936 or so I think so. You obviously kept your entitlement up anyway. My Dad let his drop after the war and had to take a test in the 1960s

Rich

[von Poop]

Distracted a little by the Adonis-like figure standing in front but it does appear to be an Auto Union/Horch 901 type 40, 'Kfz.15' would cover it but identical front ends can be seen on some 'Kfz.17' types so it's often less confusing to ignore the overall kfz numbers when referring to a specific vehicle.

The German name for the overall chassis class that these medium cars came into was the rather magnificent:
'Mittlere gelandegangige Einheits-personenkraftwagen' or 'm.gl.E.Pkw.'....
(or as the British would rather less fulsomely have had it: 'Car, Medium, 4X4')

Outside of the rivet-counting world, I'd just call it a 'Horch medium'.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Ron Goldstein]

Adam

I think a "viel dank" is called for

Ron

[Gerry Chester]

Hi Ron,

At the conclusion of hostilities in North Africa, the large numbers of abandoned German and Italian vehicles, everywhere to be found, became a hunting-ground for each tank crew seeking personal transportation.

Dick Hayward (my Churchill's driver) and I came across a beautiful Bugatti Open Tourer only to find, on opening the bonnet, the distributor cap to be non-existent. After searching in vain for the cap we eventually settled for Lancia diesel powered open-deck lorry which Dick, being the expert mechanic he was, fine-tuned the engine. The fun the crew of Bangor had, swanning around Northern Tunisia, was not lessened when later we discovered that "our" Bugatti had been salvaged by another tank crew.

Alas, the use of personal transport ended two weeks later when the Army Command issued orders that ALL Axis vehicles, by a certain date, had to be handed in. Taking the order literally, before the deadline, the Bugatti became a British vehicle when it was repainted, appropriately numbered and ceremoniously presented to the OC for his personal use. The car stayed with the Squadron while in Africa but I cannot recall whether it was, in fact, shipped to Italy.

Cheers, Gerry