Pzkw III conversions to StG III?

[JeffF.]

Were any Pzkw III tanks returned to factories from the field for conversion into the family of StG III assault guns? Or were Pzkw III tanks kept witht the front line units until they were attrited away? Or perhaps a combination of both?
thanks,
Jeff

[Ernst Udet]

Pzkpfw III's were indeed rebuilt into StuG's, there's a picture of a verly late / final version of the G model in the japaneese book Achtung Panzer No.5 page 101. There are numerous photos of panzer wrecks shipped back to Germany and atleast some of these were rebuilt.

Even the russians used captured Pzkpfw III's to make an assaultgun of their own, the Su-76i ("i" stands for foreign) where they placed a new superstructure on top of the captured hull, but thats a different story.

[PanzerPeter]

In 1943 there were 142 chassis of PzKpfw III Ausf M (manufacturer MAN) used by manufacturer MIAG as base for building StuG III Ausf G.

In 1944 there were 173 PzKpfw III Ausf J to M converted to new Stug III Ausf G.