A short U.S. intelligence report on a German stretcher for use in swampy terrain during WWII, from Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 39, December 2, 1943. [DISCLAIMER: The following text is taken from the U.S. War Department publication Tactical and Technical Trends. As with all wartime intelligence information, data may be incomplete or inaccurate. No attempt has been made to update or correct the text. Any views or opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the website.]

GERMAN SWAMP STRETCHER To move sick and wounded through the almost impassable marshlands of the Kuban front, the Germans adapted the Finnish plywood "akja" sled (see Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 19, p. 28) as shown in the accompanying illustration. In a terrain where to attempt to carry wounded in an ordinary stretcher would have been exhausting to the point of impracticability, this sled provided an easily-handled and reasonably-comfortable vehicle. At a later stage, the patients were moved in shoal-draft, outboard-motor skiffs.

Back to Articles by Subject | Intel Bulletin by Issue | T&TT by Issue | Home Page