[1][4][7] The Overvalwagen's exact origins are unknown, but earliest known records indicate that they were designed sometime in 1940[1][8] for the Stadswacht (Urban Home Guards).

The Stadswacht were tasked to maintain order in the cities and to guard against possible airborne assault on urban areas.

[8] Roughly 25 at least were made,[8] though higher numbers say 90[12][1] models were produced domestically[12] in the Dutch East Indies of all variants.

The Overvalwagen Type A were meant to be used by the Stadswacht and were organized in mobile columns (rapid reaction forces) to guard the urban areas.

As the possibility of war loomed over the horizon, most of the Type A were requisitioned by regular KNIL units and would see action during the Dutch East Indies campaign in such places as Eastern Sumatra, Palembang, and Timor.

[10] Apart from the KNIL, the Braat Overvalwagen also saw service with the Dutch Marines as part of the Navy battalion in Eastern Java.

[10] It was converted by welding an Overvalwagen hull to a flat wagon and installing a canvas cover over the open compartment to protect against scorching sunlight and hand grenades.

These armored wagons were attached to trains in the Priangan area as security measure against possible sabotage or ambush by Indonesian insurgents.

[14] The unpowered panser rel were used by the Indonesian Army in 1955 in response to sabotage on the Priangan railway lines by Darul Islam rebels.