In 1940 the British War Office requisitioned every available Matchless motorcycle to replace those lost at Dunkirk. Developed from the pre-war G3, the 'L' in the G3/L stood for "lightweight" in response to the War Office requirement for a motorcycle more suited to off-road use, as the designers managed to reduce the dry weight of the prototype by (although the later models were not so lightweight due to the additional army equipment that needed to be added). The real innovation of the G3/L was the "Teledraulic" forks, which were the first telescopic design with oil damping – an idea that was to become the standard for almost all future motorcycles.