Sd.Kfz. 124 Wespe

The Sd.Kfz. 124 Wespe, German for wasp, was a self-propelled howitzer that carried a 10.5 cm leFH 18 field howitzer on a Panzer II chassis. After the 1940 Battle of France showed the Panzer II to be under-gunned and under-armoured as a tank, its mechanically sound chassis was reused to give artillery mobility. Alkett produced the design from the Panzer II Ausf. F chassis, moving the engine forward and lengthening the hull to take the rear-mounted howitzer, with a light superstructure of 10 mm plate left open at the top and rear. FAMO's Ursus plant in Warsaw built the vehicles from February 1943 until June 1944, 676 in all, plus 159 gun-less examples that served as ammunition carriers. It reached the Eastern Front in 1943, served in the armoured artillery battalions of Panzer divisions beside the heavier Hummel, and proved reliable and highly manoeuvrable, although its crew had little overhead protection.