I’ve been working on a diorama idea for some time and want to know if one aspect has any historical basis before I proceed with it. I want to show a German unit replenishing supplies from an SdKfz 251/1 masquerading as an ambulance, but carrying munitions.
I know this could be considered a “ruse de guerre,” but it could also be considered an abuse of the red cross symbols carried on the vehicle, therefore the “need” for historical backup. Has anyone heard of any such incident?
If it makes a difference, it’s a Wehrmacht unit preparing for the Ardennes offensive, mid-December 1944. (If it were Waffen-SS, I wouldn’t care as much about offending anyone, but I figure the average German soldier was just as honorable as the average Allied soldier.)
Is it a legitmate idea? Sure, but I’d ask you these questions:
since it’s the build up, why the need for secrecy/deception?
since it’s the build up, why the lack of dedicated service and supply vehicles? A highly specialized vehicle such as a SdKfz 251/8 ambulance would be worth its weight in gold, especially on the eve of a big operation. I don’t see how the Sanits officer or NCO would consent to allowing one of his ambulances to be utilized in that manner.
Say, the battle is already going on – the only benefit of using the ambulance as ammo support would be if it’s VISIBLE to enemy observation. Otherwise, if spotters heard German vehicles, they’d just call down artillery fire sight unseen.
One final note: recall that there was no snow on the ground before the actual offensive. Good luck to you!
Darn good points, Roy. You reminded me that though it might be pictorially pleasing, it wouldn’t be particularly historically accurate, or likely.
I don’t think the German had yet whitewashed their tanks before Wacht Am Rhein began – is that right? Been a while since I read that, but I THINK I’m remembering it accurately.
Whitewash would not have been applied. I believe the snows fell just at the beginning of the offensive, Dec 16 so the majority of photographed vehicles show none as they would have travelled to start off areas in earth tones.
Whitewash appears in some photos but there’s a pretty heavy ground accumulation – thus probably after Christmas.
One last thing: your idea is sound and backed by soldiers’ memoirs – of enemy combatants using the cover of medical vehicles or evacuation points to hide combat related duties. They’re noted in soldiers minds because they were definitely seen as “crossing a line”. I recall reading during the siege of Brest, about a German field hospital that was shelled because some German mortar or artillery units were firing very from fields nearby the otherwise “off limits” hospital. US observers were incensed and called down shells on the whole area.