German Schnelle Brigade West

Mobile brigade ‘West’ (Schnelle Brigade West), 1943

This brigade was created in the summer of 1943 as a mobile unit for operational
reinforcement of important areas of German defense in the West. It included units
of motorized infantry, self-propelled guns, engineering and reconnaissance units.
An interesting feature of the brigade was its heavy weapons, which in the vast
majority consisted of samples created on the basis of French trophy equipment.
The Baukommando Becker design bureau led by military engineer Alfred Becker
was engaged in the processing and modernization of this equipment. Among the
samples of such equipment were self-propelled guns (105-mm self-propelled
howitzers and 75-mm anti-tank tank destroyers), created on the basis of the French
FCM 36 tank captured by the Wehrmacht in 1940. The transformation of tanks into
self-propelled guns was carried out by equipping them with armored cockpits with
installed in them with guns. The brigade also had French military vehicles, such
as the Laffly V15T all-terrain vehicle, which in the Wehrmacht had the designation
Laffly (f) Typ V15T. The brigade was trained and trained in France, and later.