Vollert, Jochen Fahrzeugraritäten

"Hedi" and other Rare and Unusual Vehicles

The German Army's key weapon systems of the First World Warincluding tanks, armored cars, artillery tractors, anti-aircraft gun carriers, trucks, motorcycles, medical vehicles, and specialized vehicleshave already been covered in earlier volumes of this series. The author had originally intended to add supplementary chapters to some of these books to delve deeper into the subjects or to trace the history of specific vehicles beyond the end of the war; however, economic constraints made this impossible. The present volume fills many of these gaps, with each chapter offering a comprehensive account of its respective topic for the first time. The chapter on tracked transport vehicles provides a detailed examination of fully tracked truckssuch as the *Überlandwagen*, *Dür-Wagen*, *Orion-Wagen*, and Lanz tracked tractorsas well as other full-track and half-track trucks. Using the "Hedi" police armored car as a case study, the book traces the history of the A7V tank into the turbulent post-war era of the *Freikorps* and includes the first detailed scale drawing of this vehicle. The chapter on road locomotives is dedicated to the steam-powered tractors manufactured by firms such as Fowler-Magdeburg, Kemna, Lanz, and Heuke, which were used during the war to transport the heaviest siege artillery; this is complemented by a brief chapter on steam trucks from Badenia and Wolf. Another topic covered is the use of trucks for transporting field artillery and as self-propelled gun mounts during the war. Finally, the chapter on *Schupo-Sonderwagen* (special police armored cars from Daimler, Ehrhardt, and Benz) and other armored vehicles expands upon the previously scant documentation of First World War German armored cars, detailing their far more compelling service with post-war riot police units and their subsequent use by the *Reichswehr*.