Marder I Self-Propelled Gun by Bruce Culver
The Lorraine 37L (Tracteur de ravitaillement pour chars 1937 L, “Tank Supply Tractor 1937 L”) was developed in 1936 to meet a French Army requirement for a fullyarmoured supply tractor to support its Bataillon de Chars de Combat (independent tank battalions).
The experience of the ‘Great War’, World War I, had led the major belligerent powers to devise special vehicles to supply front line troops and also to tow the heavy siege guns that were a feature of Great War artillery, used against the many forts and military structures. Brought into service during the war were four-wheel drive trucks and lorries and tracked tractors, both used as supply vehicles and to tow artillery. A major concern was the ability to tow guns or traverse the badly torn-up fields in “no-man’s land” which heavy artillery bombardments had turned into a lunar landscape of muddy bogs and overlapping water-filled craters.
The Central Powers aligned with Germany used the Austro-Daimler heavy trucks as artillery tow tractors and for carrying troops and supplies. The Allies aligned with England and France used both wheeled lorries and tracked tractors. One of the major types used was the French Schneider CD tractor, built on the chassis of the Schneider CA assault tank. The success of this vehicle led to the development of French supply practices which remained after the war was over in 1918.
The post-war years were a time of retrenchment for the military establishments in Europe. The loss of a generation of young men and post-war economic problems traumatized England and France, and military budgets were cut to the bone. The most common French tank in use in the 1920s and early 1930s was the Renault FT, a small two-man light tank armed with either an 8mm machine gun or a short 37mm gun. During the 1930s, it became obvious more capable tanks were needed, and this increased the supply demands on the transport of materiel.
NEW TACTICS, NEW VEHICLES
French Army infantry units were supplied using the small Renault UE Chenillette (small armoured tractor), but this vehicle was too small to supply French infantry tank units, the Bataillon de Chars de Combat. As new tactics were being developed it was obvious that other tractors in development would be unable to accompany the tanks up to the front lines. In the Great War, the tanks would return to the line of departure for rearming and refuelling. In the newer and faster wars of manoeuvre, this was no longer possible – the supply tractors would have to accompany the tanks up to the front lines and that necessitated a fullyarmoured design optimised for close support.
This model was the Lorraine 38L Voiture blindée de chasseurs portés 38L (“Armoured mounted infantry vehicle 38L”). It seated four infantry troops in the rear compartment and six more men in the armoured trailer. 150 had been completed by the German invasion in June 1940.
Between 480 – 490 Lorraine 37L tractors had been delivered by 25 June 1940, far below the planned level. Following the French campaign, German forces captured some 360 of these tractors, designating them the Lorraine Schlepper (f).
Major Alfred Becker was a German engineer and artillery officer who developed several conversions for French and British vehicles captured during the French campaign. He formed an organization, Baukommando Becker, which converted some 1800 captured armoured vehicles.
One of Maj. Becker’s first designs was this conversion of a British Mk VI light tank to mount a WWI 10.5cm leFH 16. Called the 10.5cm leFH 16 Geschutzwagen Mk VI 736 (e), this small self-propelled gun was protected by 20mm armour to add sufficient mass to counter recoil forces.
The French Army ordered a new larger supply tractor for its infantry tanks in 1934. The resulting Renault 36R TRC (Tracteur de Ravitaillement Pour Chars) was a fully tracked vehicle with a full-width steel cab and wooden rear cargo bed, but it was only partially armoured. While 260 Renault 36R TRC tractors were built, the Army still had a need for a fullyarmoured supply tractor, so in 1936 they issued a specification for a fully-armoured tractor.