A light tank destroyer with a complex lineage
Among the trophies captured by the Germans in 1940 in France, there were also eight hundred French R 35 light tanks. Many of these vehicles with dubious combat qualities for the early 40s were modified and used as artillery tractors, armored evacuation vehicles, chassis for cranes. About 200 French light tanks R 35 were reconstructed by the Germans into a light tank destroyer, armed with a good 47-mm Czechoslovakian cannon P. U. V. vz. 36.
One such 4.7 cm Pak (t) (Sfl) auf Fgst. Pz.Kpfw.35 R 731(f) has survived to this day, which is in the collection of the tank museum in the Swiss city of Thun (canton of Bern). The SPGs «lost» the aft niche and many internal details, but it retained its appearance well.
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