Following the German invasion of France, many of the captured French armored vehicles were converted to suit German military needs. Among these were more than 300 French "Tracteur Blindé 38L" which had been stockpiled for future use as Panzerjager chassis.
In May 1942, with Rommel pressuring him for mobile heavy artillery, Hitler ordered that 40 of them be mounted with the 15cm sFH and shipped to North Africa. By late July a total of 94 conversions had been completed, a dozen or more of which were shipped to the D.A.K.
Thus the 155th Motorized Artillery Regiment of 21st Panzer Division was the first unit to take the "Lorraine Schlepper" SdKfz.135/1 into action. It was issued to the IIIrd Motorized Heavy Artillery Battalion sometime around October 1942. Many of these vehicles were later captured intact by the British during the El Alamein battles.
George Bradford
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