Schützenpanzerwagen Sd.Kfz.251

With the development of the blitzkrieg tactics it soon became apparent to Wehrmacht leadership that an armored personnel carrier must be developed so that grenadiers could go anywhere the Panzers could and with at least the protection of some armor.
Up to this point infantry had to be transported by truck and were limited to use on roadways and could not follow the panzers cross country. Thus the genesis for the creation of the world’s first armored personnel carrier, the Schutzenpanzerwagen 251. The first units saw service in 1939. Though always in short supply, elite units such as Grossdeutschland had more than their fair share of the SPW. The SPW was viewed not simply as a transport but a weapon itself. The SPW gave the panzer grenadier the status of being the most powerful infantry in the world.

The 7th Kompanie Grossdeutschland SPW is named Anna. Many German wartime SPWs were constructed under contract in Czechoslovakia by the famous arms manufacturers, Skoda and Tatra. Their being no equivalent Soviet design the Czechs continued to use these units in their post war army. Eventually the SPW production line was reactivated and approximately 2,400 additional post war units were produced. Anna is one of these post war units. A shop that specializes in restoring armor was hired to remove the post war modifications and restore ANNA to a wartime appearance. Anna is the most faithfully restored vehicle of its kind anywhere.