The Sonderkraftfahrzeug 251half-track was a World War II-era German armored personnel carrier designed by the Hanomag company, based on its earlier, unarmoured Sd.Kfz. 11 vehicle. The Sd.Kfz. 251 was designed to transport the Panzergrenadier (German mechanized infantry) into battle.
Some sources state that the Sd.Kfz. 251 was commonly referred to simply as "Hanomags" by both German and Allied soldiers after the manufacturer of the vehicle; this has been questioned, and may have been only a postwar label. German officers referred to them as SPW (Schützenpanzerwagen, or armoured infantry vehicle) in their daily orders and memoirs.
