AB
On 12 December 1942 the Reconnaissance Group of the 1st Armored Division received a company of German armored cars SdKfz 222 (10 pieces), with the designation AB.

After the Battle of Stalingrad, in Romania it was formed the Fast Detachment, a training unit for the 1st Armored Division, made of subunits of the division. It included one SdKfz 222 armored car for communications.

In September 1943, the German Army offered as logistic support to Romanian Army eight AB 41 armored cars, former belonging to the Italian expeditionary corps in Russia.

More armored cars were imported from Germany as part of the armament delivery program Olivenbaum that took place between November 1943 – August 1944.

At the moment of the Soviet offensive of 19 August 1944 on Moldavian front, the 1st Armored Division had 12 armored cars.

The Armored Detachment "General Niculescu", formed on 24 August 1944 with elements of the Motomechanized Training Center of Targoviste, had a reconnaissance group made of one armored cars platoon and one amphibious cars platoon. The detachment took part in the fights in Bucharest, Baneasa, Otopeni, then in the operations at Oarba de Mures, as part of the Motomechanized Corps "General Rozin".

On 1 Ocotber 1944, with the elements of the armored detachments "Lieutenant-Colonel Matei" and "General Niculescu", disbanded on 28 September 1944, it was formed the Armored Group of the 4th Army, which had in composition a reconnaissance company (5 armored cars, one halftracked armored carrier, one section of Volkswagen amphibious cars and Horch off-road vehicles). This group took part in the final stage of the offensive for liberating the north-western Transylvania, then in the operations in Hungary until reaching Tisa.

The 2nd Tank Regiment, the last formation of the 1st Armored Division operational at the end of the war, had one reconnaissance company made of eight armored cars and five SPWs.

The following armored cars were used by the Romanian Army during the Second World War:

Author: Dragos Pusca
Sources:
Scafes C., Serbanescu H., Armata Romana 1941-1945, RAI, Bucuresti 1996.
Modelism 2/2002 (77)
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