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In October 1941 the production of so called box sleds was rushed into service. In mid November the produced box sleds were available, but there were problems with their use and effectiveness. The first sleds arriving with the troops at the front were the models Hf. 61, Hf. 61/1 and Hf. 62, these were drawn by one horse and the models Hf. 41, Hf. 42 and Hf. 43 were drawn by two horses. Aside from these sleds there was a variety of confiscated Russian sleds and numerous selfmade sleds by the troops. The box sleds had so many inadequacies in their daily use, that after a short time Hf. 62 was the only sled to meet the requirements - now given the designation Hs. 1.
The new army sleds developed got the designation Hs. 1 (Hs. “Heeresschlitten“), Hs. 3, Hs. 3/1 and Hs. 5. The new sled Hs. 1 was equivalent to the former Hf. 62. The sleds Hs. 3, Hs. 3/1 and Hs. 5 were totally different from the forerunners of the winter 1941/42. The range of the sleds in the Wehrmacht was diverse and it had a varied assortment. The most common sled was the confiscated so called “Panjeschlitten” (farmer sled). This was simple sled made out of local wood and was drawn by a small rural horse. |