It was first issued in late 1939 and first used in action in France in 1940, towing 18-pounder, &lt;a href="Ordnance%20QF%2025-pounder"&gt;18/25-pounder&lt;/a&gt; and 4.5-inch howitzers. Many were lost in the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from France and as a result some of these were taken into service by the Wehrmacht.