The Humber Light Reconnaissance Car, also known as Humberette or Ironside, was a British armoured car produced during the Second World War.

Design

Produced by the

Rootes Group The Rootes Group or Rootes Motors Limited was a British automobile manufacturer and, separately, a major motor distributors and dealers business. Run from London's West End, the manufacturer was based in the Midlands and the distribution and dea ...

, the Humber Light Reconnaissance Car was an armoured car based on the

Humber Super Snipe The Humber Super Snipe is a car which was produced from 1938 to 1967 by British-based Humber Limited. Pre-war Super Snipe The Super Snipe was introduced in October 1938, derived by combining the four-litre inline six-cylinder engine from the ...

chassis (as was the Humber Heavy Utility car. It was equipped with a No. 19 radio set. From 1940 to 1943 over 3600 units were built.

Operational history

The vehicle was used by Infantry Reconnaissance Regiments and the

RAF Regiment The Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regiment) is part of the Royal Air Force and functions as a specialist corps. Founded by royal warrant in 1942, the Corps carries out soldiering tasks relating to the delivery of air power. Examples of such ta ...

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Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

. After the war, some vehicles remained in service with the British units in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and in the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

. The LRC was used widely by the

Reconnaissance Corps The Reconnaissance Corps, or simply Recce Corps, was a corps of the British Army, formed during the World War II, Second World War whose units provided reconnaissance for infantry Division (military), divisions. It was formed from infantry brigad ...

and was also used by the Reconnaissance squadron of the 1st Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade Group. Three Mk I vehicles were modified for use by the British Royal Family and the

Cabinet ministers A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countries ...

and were known as "Special Ironside Saloons".

Variants

Tanks and Afvs of the British Army 1939-45 KID826

*Mk I The original version with open-topped hull and 4×2 drive. Armoured to a maximum of 10 mm on the front and 7–9 mm on the sides.Doherty p9 Armament was a

Boys anti-tank rifle The Boys anti-tank rifle (officially Rifle, Anti-Tank, .55in, Boys, and sometimes incorrectly spelled "Boyes"), is a British anti-tank rifle used during the Second World War. It was often nicknamed the "elephant gun" by its users due to its si ...

and 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 ...

. Only a limited number were built before the Mk I was replaced by the Mk II. *Mk II The Mk II had an enclosed roof with a turret for the machine gun and retained the 4×2 drive of the Mk I. The Boys faced forward in the front of the hull. Otherwise armoured as the Mark I, the roof was 7 mm and the turret 6 mm. IWM-KID-1122-Humber-LRC

*Mk III (1941) The Mk III was externally similar to the Mk II but had 4×4 drive. Production began in late 1941.War Wheels: Humber LRC III
/ref> *Mk IIIA (1943) The only difference from the Mk III was additional vision ports at the front angles of the hull. Armour was 12 mm to the front, 8 mm to the sides, 7 on the roof and rear, and 6 mm on the turret. *Ironside Special Saloon Built for VIP use, the body by

Thrupp & Maberly Thrupp & Maberly was a British coachbuilding business based in the West End of London, England. Coach-makers to Queen Victoria they operated for more than two centuries until 1967 when they closed while in the ownership of Rootes Group. Mr Thru ...

included a relatively luxurious interior which was split by a

Perspex Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite ...

screen to separate driver and passengers. A passenger side door was provided to make entrance and exit easier, the two-part screen running in tracks fitted to the front seats: sliding both portions to the driver's (right) side allowed the front passenger (left) seat back to be folded for an easier exit. Two Ironside 'specials' of this kind were used by cabinet ministers and members of the royal family, while six minus the privacy screen were used as armoured staff cars. In all 3,600 Humber Light Reconnaissance Cars were built (including the 200 Ironside Is) and the MkIII and MkIIIA were the cars most widely used by the Reconnaissance Corps in action, and many were also employed overseas by the RAF Regiment for airfield defence.

Surviving vehicles

Humber Light Reconnaissance Car at RAF Museum London (side).jpg, Side view RAF Museum MkIIIA Humber Light Reconnaissance Car at RAF Museum London (front).jpg, Front view RAF Museum MkIIIA Armoured car turret detail, RAF Museum, Hendon. (11330875276).jpg, Turret detail RAF Museum MkIIIA A number of vehicles are preserved in museums: *

Dutch Cavalry Museum The Dutch Cavalry Museum is located in the centre of The Netherlands in the city of Amersfoort. The museum is hosted in two large buildings at the ''Bernhardkazerne'' army barracks. The collection contains small objects, like uniforms, firearms, ...

Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and of Military History The Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History (french: Musée Royal de l'Armée et d'Histoire Militaire, often abbreviated to MRA, nl, Koninklijk Museum van het Leger en de Krijgsgeschiedenis, KLM) is a military museum that occup ...

, Brussels, Belgium *

Royal Air Force Museum London The Royal Air Force Museum London (also commonly known as the RAF Museum) is located on the former Hendon Aerodrome. It includes five buildings and hangars showing the history of aviation and the Royal Air Force. It is part of the Royal Air Forc ...

has a Mk IIIA * National War and Resistance Museum, Overloon has a restored Mk III. * Military College of EME, Trimulgherry has an LRC as a

gate guardian A gate guardian or gate guard is a withdrawn piece of equipment, often an aircraft, armoured vehicle, artillery piece, or locomotive, mounted on a plinth and used as a static display near to and forming a symbolic display of "guarding" the main ...

*43rd Reconnaissance Regiment Living History Group (UK) operate a replica vehicle based on an LRC MK IIIa chassis. A reproduction also exists in private ownership in the Czech Republic A replica built on a postal jeep chassis and with wooden armour exists in Florida, where it is primarily used for re-enacting.

Notes

References

*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). *Doherty, R Morshead, H (illustrator) ''Humber Light Reconnaissance Car 1941–45 New Vanguard 177'' (2011) Osprey Publishing 9781849083102

External links

Warwheels.netwwiivehicles.com
{{Authority control World War II armoured cars World War II armoured fighting vehicles of the United Kingdom Reconnaissance vehicles of the United Kingdom Light Reconnaissance Car Armoured cars of the United Kingdom Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944