The Condor Legion: Kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen 1 Ausf B (PzBefw 1)

Germany sent 4 Befehlswagen 1 Command tanks to Spain. They were first issued 1 per company, and 1 in the battalion headquarters.

These were a version of the PZKPFW 1 AUSF B, but with a fixed superstructure and additional radio equipment. The provision of dedicated radio vehicles was due to the Wehrmacht’s prescient view that radio communications were essential in co-ordinating modern mobile operations. The German Command considered that the leader of a tank subdivision himself should not necessarily participate in the battle; his task lied in the battle control. Therefore, commander’s tanks of the first series had no armament at all. The tanks crew consisted of three people: a tank commander (who was also the leader of the tank division), tank driver and radio-telegrapher. Later it was determined that the tank should have arms and it was equipped with one MG - 13 machine gun of 7,92 mm caliber. Radio equipment included a transceiver FuG 6 with 13 - 16 km reach and receiving radio station FuG 2.