After World War II, the Mauser firearms factory was captured by French Forces and restarted to supply the French. Mauser’s Department 37 development group was placed under control of the French War Department’s armament group, Direction des Etudes et Fabrication d’Armement (DEFA). The Mauser factory was renamed the DEFA Development Center, Oberndorf. The French continued work there through 1946, when German workers and equipment began to be transferred to the Mulhouse area of Alsace. The Alsace region was chosen because most of the people were bilingual in French and German. The new facility became the Centre d’Etudes et d’Armement de Mulhouse (CEAM). The transfer of operations to Mulhouse was complete by March 1948. The Mauser factory itself was ultimately destroyed by the French.

In February 1948, former Mauser engineers Ludwig Vorgrimmler and Theodor Löffler were assigned the development of roller-delayed carbines for the French. They worked separately on carbines for the experimental 7.65×35mm cartridge, developed by Cartoucherie de Valence. Their carbines were patterned upon the prototype StG45, which had been under development at Mauser prior to the end of the war. The French ultimately abandoned their 7.65×35mm cartridge in favor of the US .30 carbine cartridge. Vorgrimler and Löffler then went to work on roller delayed carbines for the latter cartridge. Ultimately, Löffler’s designs won out. Vorgrimmler then devoted his efforts to improving Löffler’s designs. Eventually, Vorgrimmler tired of this and left CEAM at the end of June, 1950. Months later, Vorgrimmler joined CETME in Spain.

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