Well, I’d call an Sdkfz 7 an Sdkfz 7 in a post, because I think most people interested in German WW2 vehicles would know exactly what this means. But I’m pretty sure that’s not what a WW2 German squaddie would have called it. For example the 3 ton armoured half-track, Sdkfz 251, was known to the Wehrmacht as an SPW (Schutzenpanzerwagen). The large unarmoured halftracks were known as “zugmaschinen” I believe, or “halbkettenfahrzeuge” (half track), in the same way we would refer to a truck as a truck. Personal testimonies frequently refer to any armoured vehicle as a “panzer” (“armour”), whether it’s an armoured car, tank or whatever.
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