AEC Armoured Car is the name of a series of British heavy

armoured cars Armored (or armoured) car or vehicle may refer to: Wheeled armored vehicles * Armoured fighting vehicle, any armed combat vehicle protected by armor ** Armored car (military), a military wheeled armored vehicle * Armored car (valuables), an arm ...

built by the

Associated Equipment Company Associated Equipment Company (AEC) was a British vehicle manufacturer that built buses, motorcoaches and trucks from 1912 until 1979. The name Associated Equipment Company was hardly ever used; instead it traded under the AEC and ACLO brands. ...

(AEC) during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The AEC came about following British experience in the Western Desert against Italian armoured cars. British armoured cars were only armed with light and heavy machine guns and the army was fitting captured Italian and German 20mm or larger autocannon to have enough firepower when meeting enemy reconnaissance vehicles. The

Daimler armoured car The Daimler Armoured Car was a successful British armoured car design of the Second World War that continued in service into the 1950s. It was designed for armed reconnaissance and liaison purposes. During the postwar era, it doubled as an inter ...

was under development with a 40mm 2-pounder gun as used on British tanks but no armoured cars were envisaged with the armour as well as the armament of a tank. AEC undertook development privately of a vehicle based on one of the lorry designs (a artillery tractor) that would have armour equivalent to a contemporary cruiser tank.

Design and development

AEC of

Southall Southall () is a large suburban county of West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...

, England was a manufacturer of truck and bus chassis and its

Matador A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

artillery tractor An artillery tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, is a specialized heavy-duty form of tractor unit used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights and calibres. It may be 6x6, wheeled, continuous track, tracked, or half-tracked. Trac ...

was used for towing medium field and heavy anti-aircraft guns. The armoured car based on the Matador artillery chassis was developed initially as a private venture and a mock-up was shown to officials in 1941 at

Horse Guards Parade Horse Guards Parade is a large parade ground off Whitehall in central London (at grid reference ). It is the site of the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour, which commemorates the monarch's official birthday, and the Beating Retreat. Hi ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where it made a favourable impression on

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

and following an initial contract for 120, 629 vehicles were produced from 1942–1943. AEC tried to build an armoured car with fire power and protection comparable to those of contemporary British cruiser tanks. The first version used the turret of a Valentine Mk II

infantry tank The infantry tank was a concept developed by the United Kingdom and France in the years leading up to World War II. Infantry tanks were designed to support infantrymen in an attack. To achieve this, the vehicles were generally heavily vehicle armo ...

complete with the 2 pounder gun. Subsequent versions received a 6 pounder or a 75 mm gun in a custom-built turret. The vehicle also carried a single

Besa machine gun The Besa machine gun was a British version of the Czechoslovak ZB-53 air-cooled, belt-fed machine gun (called the TK vz. 37 in the Czechoslovak army"TK" from ''těžký kulomet'' "heavy machine gun"; "vz" from ''vzor'' "Model"). The name came f ...

, a 2-inch (51 mm) bomb thrower (smoke grenade discharger) and a No. 19 radio set. Mark I vehicles had a

Bren light machine gun The Bren gun was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in World War II, it was also use ...

for defence against aircraft, later vehicles received a "PLM" mounting one or two

Vickers K machine gun The Vickers K machine gun, known as the Vickers Gas Operated (Vickers G.O.) or Gun, Machine, Vickers G.O. .303-inch in British service, was a rapid-firing machine gun developed and manufactured for use in aircraft by Vickers-Armstrongs. The hi ...

s. The turret was electrically driven with a manual traverse option. The driver was provided with two periscopes for vision when closed up; otherwise he could raise his seat to see over the glacis. The engine was mounted at a downwards angle reducing the angle on the transfer shafts and height over the rear hull deck. In normal on road use only the front wheels were driven.

Service history

The Mk I was first used in combat in the North African Campaign late in 1942, where a few vehicles were reportedly fitted with a

Crusader tank Crusader, in full "Tank, Cruiser Mk VI, Crusader", also known by its General Staff number A.15, was one of the primary British cruiser tanks during the early part of the Second World War. Over 5,000 tanks were manufactured and they made imp ...

turret mounting a 6 pounder gun. The Mk II and Mk III took part in the fighting in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

with

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

units, often together with the American-supplied

Staghound armoured car The T17E1 Armoured Car was an American armored car design produced during the Second World War. It saw service with British and other Commonwealth forces during the war under the name Staghound, but was never used on the front line by US forces ...

. The AEC armoured car with 75mm gun replaced US half-track 75 mm self-propelled guns in the four fighting squadrons of some armoured car regiments. The vehicle remained in service after the end of the war until replaced by the

Alvis Saladin The FV601 Saladin is a six-wheeled armoured car developed by Crossley Motors and later manufactured by Alvis. Designed in 1954, it replaced the AEC Armoured Car in service with the British Army from 1958 onward. The vehicle weighed 11 tonnes, o ...

. The

Lebanese Army ) , founded = 1 August 1945 , current_form = 1991 , disbanded = , branches = Lebanese Ground ForcesLebanese Air Force Lebanese Navy , headquarters = Yarze, Lebanon , flying_hours = , websit ...

used the car at least until 1976. Additionally for Lebanon, from 1956 some AEC turrets were added to Staghound armoured cars.

Variants

;Mk I : original version with turret from a Valentine tank, 129 built. Some in Middle East had 6-pounder gun fitted ;Mk II : larger turret for three man crew with a 6 pounder gun, redesigned front hull, diesel engine. ;Mk III :"Close Support Armoured Car", a Mk II with 6 pounder replaced by the

QF 75 mm The Ordnance QF 75 mm, abbreviated to OQF 75 mm, was a British tank gun of the Second World War. It was obtained by boring out the Ordnance QF 6-pounder ("6 pdr") 57 mm anti-tank gun to 75 mm, to give better performance against infantry ...

gun which had the same mountings. ;AA : Turret similar to Crusader AA tank turret with twin

Oerlikon 20 mm cannon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models emplo ...

capable of high elevation to engage enemy aircraft. Prototype built in 1944 but did not enter production due to

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

air superiority Aerial supremacy (also air superiority) is the degree to which a side in a conflict holds control of air power over opposing forces. There are levels of control of the air in aerial warfare. Control of the air is the aerial equivalent of c ...

in Northern Europe.

References

Sources

AEC Armoured Car Mark II front-left 2017 Bovington

* George Forty - ''World War Two Armoured Fighting Vehicles and Self-Propelled Artillery'', Osprey Publishing 1996, . * I. Moschanskiy - ''Armored vehicles of the Great Britain 1939-1945 part 2'', Modelist-Konstruktor, Bronekollektsiya 1999-02 (И. Мощанский - ''Бронетанковая техника Великобритании 1939-1945 часть 2'', Моделист-Конструктор, Бронеколлекция 1999-02). *B.T. White ''Armoured Cars'' (AFV Weapons Profile No. 21) Profile Publishing.

External links

Britain's Associated Equipment Company (AEC) Armored Cars
at wwiivehicles.com
Tank2.ru

Battlefront.co.nz
at warwheels.net

at warwheels.net

at warwheels.net {{AEC range World War II armoured fighting vehicles of the United Kingdom World War II armoured cars Armoured Car Armoured cars of the United Kingdom Wheeled reconnaissance vehicles Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944