Early German Armoured Cars
by Tim Rigsby
 

 

Germany like England, France and Belgium during the early stages of the First World War were scrambling to exploit the new form of mobility “namely the automobile” as a military weapon. The German high command was not impressed by the early examples of armoured cars offered. Such as the Opel Darracq 1906, Ehrhardt Ballon Abwehr 1906, Austro-Hungarian Daimler Panzerwagen 1904-1905, and the Daimler Panzerkraftwagen auf 5.7 cm Flak.  Therefore, these vehicles were never put into production. Before the advent of the Bussing, Erhardt and Daimler armoured monstrosities, the German army acquired standard civilian vehicles, such as the Benz, Daimler and foreign made vehicles such as the Renault. They as other nations did placed rudimentary armour around the most vulnerable areas, such as the engine and crew department.

Although early versions were lucky to have enough armour to protect the engine cowl and the driver. Some vehicles were quite elaborate, and were well thought out. With better armour, and firing slits so the crewman could place his rifle through the opening and fire, while not being totally exposed. Also during these early stages of development , the armies of Europe thought they needed search lights, therefore we see a lot of early war vehicles, such as the Armoured Car carrying these as well as machine guns.

The majority of vehicles were nothing but a mismatch of armour plates hear and there to give some sort of rudimentary protection to its crews. The German army was also very fast in turning captured Armoured Cars, from England, France, Belgium and Russia against there former owners. The German High Command saw the need for better protection for its crews so they set forth searching for replacements for its rag tag armoured car units. The Bussing, Ehrhardt, Daimler and the Panzerkraftwagen Mannesmann Mulag came from this need really too late to be of much use on the Western Front. By the time they went into production as we know, the war had ground to a halt and mobility was very limited. Therefore, the High Command decided to search for other means of mobility.  A few such ideas were the Bremer Marienwagen I-III, Benz Brauer, and ultimately the A7V.  And even these vehicles were unable to navigate the horror of No Man's Land.