Wheeled Armoured Vehicles
Jan Hyrman

When the Second World War started, the step of introducing a modern, up-to-date design of a British armoured car still had to be made. Designs in service in 1939 included mostly vehicles developed on the basis of World War I or inter-war armoured cars, such as the Rolls Royce 1924 pattern armoured car upgunned by adding a new turret with a BREN machine gun and a Boys anti-tank rifle.

The development of new designs has of course begun with the imminent threat of a second world war becoming increasingly dangerous. Putting them into practice was the problem, as was the development slowed down by the inter-war cuts in the defence budget and the relatively low priority given to the pre-WWII development of armoured and scout cars.

1938 brought a renewed iniciative looking into new ideas in armoured cars development. At first, an attempt was made to mechanize regiments with a cheap alternative to a new design, a lightly armoured body on top of a standard military 15cwt Morris truck chassis, but the War Office was beginning to turn its attention to all-wheel drive, which could cure at least partly one of the shortcomings of a wheeled armoured vehicle in comparison with a tank - the limited cross-country ability.

A number of car companies stepped forward with designs based mostly on chassis developed for commercial or military vehicles of different types. Two designs out of the several were to stand out, namely the designs by Guy Motors of Wolverhampton, who made good use of the chassis designed for their Guy Quad Ant artillery tractor, and by Steyr-Daimler-Puch of Austria. The former one prevailed in the end, being less complex and easier to manufacture.

The result was the Light Tank (Wheeled) Mark I, later designed more aptly Armoured Car, Guy, Mark I. The design had a major impact on the development of British armoured cars during the WWII period, together with the Daimler Mark I armoured car.

It was here that the branching development of wheeled armour into several different types of vehicles can be clearly seen.

Firstly, there was the scout car. Through the war, the scout cars were light, all-wheel drive vehicles with light armament, ranging from one to two BREN machine guns in various types of mounting. Examples of this type were Daimler and Humber Scout Cars.

Secondly, armoured cars emerged as a separate category of multi-purpose vehicles with heavier armament mounted in turrets, giving them the possibility of all-round traverse and limited elevation. Examples of such vehicles were the Daimler & Humber Armoured Car, essentially upsized versions of the scout cars mentioned above. Towards the end of World War II, armoured cars were continually upgunned, the development resulting into tank turrets eventually mounted on armoured car chassis. Turrets from tanks no longer in first-line service, such as the Valentine (AEC Armoured Car) and Crusader (Staghound Mark 3) tanks were used, upgrading the armament to the ultimate British armoured car weapon, the 6-pounder gun (more information available in the article on the 17-pounder gun), used until recently in virtually all British cruiser and infantry tanks.
An Armoured Command Vehicle advancing with an armoured column.
Two vehicles of this category of large, armoured mobile offices, an Armoured Command Vehicle, A.E.C., 6 x 6, was also used by the Czechoslovaks. These were heavy lorries with a roomy armoured compartment, equipped with radio sets, typewriters and map tables. Based on the standard A.E.C. truck chassis (model no. 0857), this particular type was powered by a 6 cylinder 150 H.P. diesel engine, with a different layout of the body compared to the previous 4 x 4 design. The silhouette was now longer and lower, helping the vehicle to gain a more lorry-like appearence and some additional room inside. Over 150 of these vehicles were built between 1944 and 1945.


Humber Scout Car

Slightly larger and heavier than 'Dingo', the Daimler Scout Car, the Humber weighed 3.39 tons, was 384 centimetres long, just over 183 centimeters wide and 212 centimetres high. The engine was a Humber 87 H.P. unit, giving the vehicle a top road speed of over 90 kilometres or 60 miles per hour.

The crew consisted of three members and their fighting compartment was protected by armour of 14 millimetres maximum thickness - less than half compared with that of the Dingo, yet this was necessary to decrease the vehicle's weight inspite of the larger size. Sliding hatches protected the crew from above. One or two roof-mounted machine guns were the vehicle's only armament. The guns could be remote operated from the fighting compartment by a system of wires, giving the gunner better protection from enemy fire. Approximately 4,300 were built during the war.

Humber Scout Cars were the standard vehicles for despatch riders of the C.I.A.B.G.'s Headquarters Squadron, the Armoured Reconnaissance Squadron, later converted into the 3rd Armoured Regiment, and recce elements of the two original armoured regiments, where they were used particularly as liaison vehicles, connecting units around the Dunkirk perimeter.


Beaverette Light Reconnaissance Car

The Beaverette was one of two designs hastily put together to put the British Army and the Home Guard back on wheels after the disaster of Dunkirk. It was a small, handy vehicle based on a standard saloon car chassis.

Due to severe shortage of metal after Dunkirk, Beaverette Mark I even had wooden planks replacing rear armour. Mark II had an all round armour and some of the vehicles were fitted with wireless radio sets. Two additional versions, Marks III and IV, were produced, both with a circular turret and some minor adjustments to the original designs. All variants were armed with BREN machine guns in various mounts. The 14 H.P. engine gave the 2.5-ton vehicle a top speed of about 40 kilometres or 24 miles per hour.


M3 White Scout Car

The U.S. based White Motor Company officially began producing these vehicles in 1938, basically putting an armoured body on top of a commerical truck chassis, a practice widely exercised in Great Britain as well.

The primary intention in the production of this vehicle was its use as a fast scout car and an armoured personnel carrier, however, this role had to be relegated later to other types of vehicles due to the limited seating capacity of the scout car, which could carry only 6 passengers aside from the actual crew of two (a driver and a commander).

By mid-1943, when two Allied armies finally crushed the Afrika-Korps to surrender in Tunisia, the White Scout Car was already beyond its climax. Already before D-Day, the vehicle began moving to second-line, rear-echelon units, giving way to the famous half-track, which had better cross-country performance and a roomier body, making it more convenient as an armoured personnel carrier.

There were several variants, the M3A1 Command Car with an armoured windshield, a .50in machine gun and heavier side-armour, plus variants with a diesel engine (M3A1E1), an armoured roof covering the standard open-top armoured body (M3A1E2) and a main armament of 37mm gun (M3A1E3).

M3 and M3A1 Scout Cars were used by the Motor Battalion of the Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade Group, as well as by rear echelon units, carrying mechanics, armourers, medics and other personnel.
Humber (front) and Morris (rear) Armoured Cars.
Armoured Command Vehicles (A.C.V.) could be classified as a third category - and a category virtually exclusive to the British, as neither other Allied armies or the enemy had anything similar to these vehicles, definetely not as far as size is concerned.


Armoured vehicles used by the Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade Group

Armoured Command Vehicle (A.C.V.)

Armoured command vehicles were developed specifically for armoured formations and their commanders and staff, as it soon became obvious that commanding armoured formations from the confined spaces of the standard armoured cars was impossible, while lorries offered room but not the protection of an armoured office body.

The vehicles were equipped with extra radios, mapboards, files and coding equipment, giving the commander protection and more comfort at the same time. As the Germans lacked any such vehicles, these Mammuts (Mammoths) were highly valued spoils of war during the campaign in North Africa. Two of the 4 x 4 cars even became command vehicles of the dreaded Afrika-Korps under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.

The 4 x 4 design, the Armoured Command Vehicle, A.E.C., 4 x 4, was indeed true to the nickname given to it by the Germans - it was huge. Built on the very good A.E.C. Matador (model no. 0853) chassis, the armoured body could seat four officers and two radio operators. Due to its unearthly appearance and relative comfortable rear body, the vehicle was nicknamed 'Dorchester' after a famous London hotel. 416 of them were built for the British Army and the Commonwealth forces (seven were used by the 1st Australian Armoured Division).