Frenchy,
I am not doubting you at all and I am familiar with the series of photos that you are refering to, but I am not trusting of the accuracy of the caption assigned to these photos. Especially because they include the photo of the Stug III column which dose not resemble the other photos in any way except for the fact that they are all black and white. We are all aware of the frequency of mistitled photos and information in this hobby. Some of these errors are eventually repaired and yet others remain controversial.

All I am saying is that records indicate that the III Battalion, 1st Flak Regiment, Herman Goring Division received eight vehicles of this type and that this unit was one of the units that was rushed to Tunisia that eventually formed part of Kampfgruppe Schmid, and that Kampfgruppe Schmid fought in the southern sector of Tunisia that is very mountainous. Considering that there could not have been many of the Schwere Gelandegangiger Lastkraftwagen 4.5t fur Flak as they were official refered to, in service at any given time, and all of them appear to have been assigned to Luftwaffe groung units. The photos most certainly were taken in a tropical enviorment and the vehicles reflect a late 1942/early 1943 configuration... what are the odds.

This of course is also dependant that the records that this info was gleamed from is correct.

No problemo Joe I, too, know that sometimes even official defense-related websites can have some captions wrong. Furthermore, the location of the pics was not the main topic of this thread...

Frenchy

Frenchy,
I am sorrry, I thought we were discussing photos from the Polish National Digital Archive. 90% of all wartime photos that are veiwed today originate from some countries national archive and yes, they do have many mistakes. In fact, most archives today still have photos and info from WW2 that has yet to be catologed... oh well, that is why we enjoy the hobby

This drawing definitely rings a bell



Frenchy

I believe a "Erdkampfschild" is a gun shield designed for ground fighting - that's what Erdkampf means (as opposed to one designed for AA role ? ) My guess would be that this kind of shield has a lower profile than AA ones that makes them easier to conceal...



Frenchy

Thanks everyone for the discussions on the guns. Will probably just go with the Flak 37 gun.

Hey, I am pretty sure I have found this beauty. It is a MB 4500 A with 5 cm flak 41. The Exact desc: Mercedes 4.500 mit aufgebauter 5 cm Flak 41 und Entfernungsmesser Resin-Epoxid Komplettmodell mit Messingrohr Fotoätzteilen und Decals

I Have located it in Europe, here is the photo:

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Keep it Real, well, make it look Real!
Powertyrant

Always liked this vehicle ,,i've got the Zevezda Merc 4500 truck with standard cab and i will be converting it into one i seen a pic of with a Bofors 40mm mounted on the back ,,this i think was a field mod cause i've never seen another pic of it and i can't seem to find any info on it ,,but to be honest i've not done alot of looking ..its got the same set up as the 5cm version with the out riggers and armoured cab ,,i wonder if it was a test vehicle or the crew of the 5cm lost their gun and needed a fast replacement .