The road gantry cranes were an indispensable tool for maintaining the new Tiger and Panther heavy tanks and Elefant tank hunter near to the front line. An exceptional use for the gantry crane was from 1944 onward with the Division z.V. for loading and unloading of delivered A4 (V2) rockets onto the 'Vidalwagen' or 'Meillerwagen' launching trailers.
For the first time this fascinating gantry crane’s development history is documented, with patent applications, as well as its use in action with the Panzer-Werkstattkompanien, engineering units and Division z.V., based on original documents and a lot of pictures. Seen for the first time is a complete series showing the removal and replacement of a Panzer turret and other usage. By drawings and close-up pictures a comparison of 15t and 16t Strabokran shows the differences of both gantry crane types. Also included for modellers a detailed set of drawings of all Strabokran variants in 1/35 scale. 256 pages, more than 240 images, contemporary and close-up pictures of survivors, mostly printed in large format, tables, patents, K.St.N., and scale drawings.
Who is the author?Volker Ruff works as manager in the European aeronautical industry, and lives in Germany. He is an experienced modeller with an interest in military history.
An original gantry crane was found at the end of the 1970s and the idea was born to create a photo file. 25 years later and the friendship to Lukas Friedli, Volker wrote a small article for his book 'Die Panzer-Instandsetzung der Wehrmacht', which prompted him to document his findings. Years of research locating documents in military, governmental and private archives are now presented in his first book about a German crane: DER STRABOKRAN. The indispensable tool of the German Panzerwerkstatt.
