In 1943, during a German retreat in the USSR during the rasputitsa season, Adam Pfaff remarked to Corporal Arno Baatz that he wouldn't mind being with the Panzergrenadiers and riding in a SdKfz 251. Baatz, who was equally tired of slogging through the thick mud, agreed that he had heard ideas he liked less. About 10 minutes later, they tramped past a SdKfz 251 buried in mud to its front axle, with the crew and passengers trying to get it out. Pfaff announced he had changed his mind, that he was happy to not be a Panzergrenadier.