 The projects were very disparate, including those for a trolleybus, the Caterpillar du Transsaharien (a regular cross-Sahara track and rail connection) and a tracked snow blower for the "Kriegsmarine" to be used in Norway.Firms involved were "Laffly" and "Lorraine"; also a military design team in occupied France, headed by Maurice Lavirotte, was active.When in August 1944 Paris was liberated, the new provisional government of France did its utmost to regain the country's position as a great power, trying to establish its status as a full partner among the Allies by contributing as much as possible to the war effort.