Ok, my first question quite about that : what's the assault bridges purpose??? I'm talking of these arc-shaped narrow bridges displayed on the hull of engineers Sdkfz 251.

They were used to cross ditches and trenches I guess but by who/what? By infantry only? Vehicules (like the 251)? Were they strong enough to support tanks?

My second question, is rather large and a kind of sub-question...

I want to build up a diorama with the new DML Sdkfz 251/7 D. I initially wanted it to take place during summer '43 at Kursk (I'm not original, I know) but I still haven't found references about the date of introduction of this variant and where it was used. Your help would be greatly appreciated on this point too.

I'll post pictures of this dio on this site, be sure! I'm confident that it will look great, I have finished a captured T34/41 (DML) and i'm halfway on a scratchbuilt peasan house (styrofoam and plaster, yeah!).

Salut

Maybe it should be moved in the History section?

I think you're on the right track - from what I've seen in photos, the assualt bridges were used to, well, bridge gaps...
I've seen a photo of them being used to make a ramp between a railway platform and a flat car while loading trucks.
An educated guess would be that they could also be used to bridge shell holes or blown/collapsed culverts, make ramps to mount embankments, etc.
Don't know if they'd support the weight of a Tiger, but these bridges were engineered by the Germans so anything's possible - maybe if they were doubled up side by side they'd be panzer proof, but that could be a diorama hook in itself with a tank edging over a bridge and the engineers guiding a worried looking crew across...

$0.02

acav out

The Ausf. D version of the SdKfz 251 wasn't produced until September 1943, a few months after Kursk. For the Kursk battles, you would need to use a SdKfz 251/7 Ausf. C. As for when the /7 was introduced, I'm not sure. It was probably introduced with the Ausf. C sometime in late '40 or early '41.

Chris "toadman" Hughes
Toadman's Tank Pictures

by it's very nature of being an "assault" bridge I would have assumed that it could carry the halftrack at least, making it possible for mechanised infantry to cross anti-tank ditches and other obstacles.

I doubt that they could support a full blown panzer or Tiger, the narrow bridge would surely have just got pushed into the dirt or mud with ease.




look at the texture of the bridge and the length/curvature....it just looks like it could support the halftrack to me.

I am going to be leaving these off my model (I have the same DML kit as the original poster) as I want a more infantry based track than an engineer track... I just bought the kit as I saw a review of it and it looked great, especially as DML include so many cool extras.