| Johnny Boy | 15 Nov 2009 10:46 a.m. PST |
I am at a loss with this subject.
I am looking for the numbering convention, if any, for german artillery vehicles – in particular the Wespe.
Cruising the internet shows the vehicles with:-
No visible markings;
Either a two or three digit number in any location on the superstructure you want;
A single capital letter generally on the front of the superstructure.
Does anybody know what is the correct convention, what colour would the markings be and the commonest location for the markings. John |
| Jovian1 | 15 Nov 2009 11:31 a.m. PST |
Most did not have visible markings because they were not front line combat units. The conventional wisdom was not to mark them with numbers and markings which made them more visble to air attack. This was true from the beginning too. Even in France and Poland there are no numbers or big tactical markings on artillery or tank hunters. Only the dedicated assault gun units got tactical numbers from what I've seen. Of course there are probably people in here who know more. |
| Martin Rapier | 15 Nov 2009 1:28 p.m. PST |
They may have had: SP artillery tactical markings (the jazzy geometric tac symbols, with or without unit ID) Standard three number tac numbers, used in all branches of self propelled artillery, but certainly not universally. Battalion/battery/gun. Sometimes these only have two digits (battery/gun) Those enigmatic letter codes, never figured those out. Balkan crosses seem quite common. Divisional (or other) unit insignia. There isn't a standard, it varies by unit, so if you absolutely want to be sure, go down the modellers route and only put markings on for a specific vehicle in a specific photo associated with a specific unit. I would suggest that all vehicles within a specific battery or battalion would be marked in a similar way. |
| Garand | 15 Nov 2009 1:38 p.m. PST |
Letter codes: If the vehicle as a large letter code, it designated what army it belonged to, by the army CO. Thus a K indicates it belongs to Armygroup Kleist, an H Armygroup Hoth, etc. Damon. |
| Martin Rapier | 15 Nov 2009 1:53 p.m. PST |
The G and K Panzergruppe markings are pretty distinctive, these are more commonly small capital letters (A and C spring to mind). |
| donlowry | 15 Nov 2009 2:22 p.m. PST |
Battalion numbers on Wespes or Hummels would seem to be unnecessary, since only one battalion in each panzer division was supposed to be self-propelled (usually the I Battalion). It was to contain 2 batteries of Wespes and 1 of Hummels. I've never noticed any photos of either kind of SP with any numbers, just Balken crosses, on the sides of the armor protecting the gun, above the hull. They might well have had the small tactical signs -- hard to spot from a distance. If they had those, they'd be in white, probably on the rear of the vehicle. |
| Etranger | 15 Nov 2009 5:53 p.m. PST |
Weren't the letter codes generally for either individual guns within a battery (A-D) or less commonly for different batteries within the battalion? They aren't the same as the well known AG codes (K & G etc). Some units also seemed to use names, typically hunting animals. |
| Martin Rapier | 16 Nov 2009 2:42 a.m. PST |
I've seen photos of Wespes with both divisional and artillery tactical signs. I wondered if the A-E type codes were for individual guns, but I wasn't sure how the Germans referred to their guns within each battery. |
Marc33594  | 16 Nov 2009 6:16 a.m. PST |
As suggested German Self-Propelled artillery usually had simple markings. Often is was just a German cross. Since you asked specifically about the Wespe indeed it could be found, at times, with a number on the side near the cross. In the Concord Armor at War Series book # 7022 "German Self-Propelled Guns: Self-propelled artillery, anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns" by Gordan Rottman there is two pictures on the bottom of page 12 showing a Wespe with a large cross and the number "11" behind it. This stands for the first gun of the first battery. In the same book, on page 14, is another Wespe with the divisional symbol and tactical symbol on the left rear armor of the superstructure. As to the large letters they were indeed used similiar to the number system to identify a specific gun in a battery. Sometimes crews would also give the vehicle a name to correspond to this letter. |
| Johnny Boy | 16 Nov 2009 6:29 a.m. PST |
Thank you for all of your input on this.
I think i'll go with the double digit gun / battery idea which will I think look better. John |
opens the box on one of the re-released European Buildings series.
