One of the most characteristic symbols of the initial fighting phase in Normandy was a variety of bizarre armored vehicles, based on French vehicles captured at the Battle of France in 1940.
These vehicles were a conception of the very creative mind of Alfred Becker, an artillery officer who served in the German artillery in France in 1940.
Because of industrial contacts from his family, Becker managed to gather many captured vehicles and shipped them for transport to Germany, where at the Alkett factory in Berlin-Spandau many of them were rebuilt as self-propelled artillery. Becker's innovations improved the mobility of artillery used primarily in the 21st Panzer Division.
