The Otter Light Reconnaissance Car (known officially by the British as Car, Light Reconnaissance, Canadian GM (R.A.C.) was a light armoured car produced in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

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 ...

for British and Commonwealth forces.

History

The Otter Light Reconnaissance Car (LRC) was developed by

General Motors Canada General Motors of Canada Company (french: La Compagnie General Motors du Canada), commonly known as GM Canada, is the Canadian subsidiary of US-based company General Motors. It is headquartered in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. In the aftermath of the ...

to meet the demand for this type of armoured car. The design followed the layout of the British Humber Mark III LRC.

Design

The Otter was based on the

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

C15

Canadian Military Pattern truck Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) trucks were mutually coherent ranges of military trucks, made in large numbers, in several classes and numerous versions, by Canada's branches of the U.S. 'Big Three' auto-makers during World War II, compliant to ...

chassis and used many standard GM components. It took a crew of three - driver and commander seated in the vehicle front, while the gunner occupied the turret position at the rear. A

Wireless Set No. 19 The Wireless Set No. 19 was a Second World War mobile radio transceiver designed for use by Armoured warfare, armoured troops of the British Army. First introduced in 1940, the No. 19 began to replace the pre-war Wireless Set No. 11. Two modified ...

was mounted in the rear with A and B set aerials extending from the rear of the fighting compartment on mounting arms. The primary armament consisted of a hull-mounted

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 ...

in a small open-topped turret. A smoke discharger is mounted alongside the mounting for the Boys anti-tank rifle. Although it used a more powerful engine than the Humber, it was larger and heavier (by a ton); overall performance was less than that of the Humber, but still acceptable.

Production

Between 1942 and 1945, 1761 units were produced in

Oshawa, Ontario Oshawa ( , also ; 2021 population 175,383; CMA 415,311) is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the G ...

, though fewer than 1,000 were delivered overseas.

Usage

The Otter served with Canadian units in the Italian Campaign and Northwest European operations. It was also employed by the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Service. ...

and the British

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 ...

. Some RAF regiment vehicles used aircraft armament such as 20mm cannon and 0.303 Browning machine guns. After the war the Otter was used by the

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

ian Army and

Dutch Army The Royal Netherlands Army ( nl, Koninklijke Landmacht) is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised – making the Dutc ...

during the

Indonesian Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during postwar and postcoloni ...

Syrian Army " (''Guardians of the Homeland'') , colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive * Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki , anniversaries = August 1st , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War Six ...

also operated the type after the war, with turretless Otter armed with 7.5 mm

FM 24/29 light machine gun The Fusil-mitrailleur Modèle 1924 M29 (or MAC 24/29), designed in 1924 by the Manufacture d'Armes de Châtellerault, was the standard light machine gun of the French Army from 1925 until the 1960s and was in use until 2000-2006 with the National ...

in pintle mounts or with 37 mm

Puteaux SA 18 The Puteaux SA 18 was a French single-shot, breech-loading cannon, used in World War I through World War II, primarily mounted on combat vehicles. It is closely related to the Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP, also produced by Puteaux. ...

in a turret taken from other British-build armoured car.

Variants

* Car, Light Reconnaissance, Canadian, G.M. Mark 1(R.A.C.) with turret. * Car, Light Reconnaissance, Canadian, G.M. Mark 2 (R.A.C.) without turret.

Surviving vehicles

*The Karl Smith Collection in

Tooele Tooele ( ) is a city in Tooele County in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 35,742 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Tooele County. Located approximately 30 minutes southwest of Salt Lake City, Tooele is known for Tooele Army ...

, Utah. *The RAF Regiment Museum, Honington. *Hellenic Historical Vehicles Preservation Club, Greece, *Fort Nieuw Amsterdam Open Air Museum, Surinam.

Gallery

File:Kaukji-armored-car-1948.jpg, Otter armoured car captured by the

Haganah Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the ...

from the

Arab Liberation Army The Arab Liberation Army (ALA; ar, جيش الإنقاذ العربي ''Jaysh al-Inqadh al-Arabi''), also translated as Arab Salvation Army, was an army of volunteers from Arab countries led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji. It fought on the Arab side in th ...

in 1948. File:GMC Otter Light Reconnaissance Car (LRC), Bridgehead 2011 pic3.JPG, GMC Otter Light Reconnaissance Car, Bridgehead 2011 File:GMC Otter Cavaleriemuseum Amersfoort 025.JPG, Otter at the

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, about 20 km from the city of Utrecht and 40 km south east of Amsterdam. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the second- ...

Cavalry Museum File:RAF Regiment Otter at Prkos Airfield IWM CL 3485.jpg,

Otter at Prkos Airfield File: Otter mk1 Katakolo.jpg, Otter MK1 at Katakolo beach, Greece. This image was taken at the place that Otters landed at on 24 September 1944. The vehicle itself is part of the Hellenic Historical Vehicles Preservation Club collection in Greece. (www.sdio.gr)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *White, BT AFV Profile No. 30 ''Armoured Cars - Marmon-Herrington, Alvis-Straussler, Light Reconnaissance (1971) Profile Publishing *Roger V.Lucy, ""The Otter Light Reconnaissance Car in Canadian Service", Service Publications,Ottawa, 2012

External links

Battlefront.co.nzHaugh, D ''Otter'' datasheet
{{WWIIBritishAFVs World War II armoured cars World War II armoured fighting vehicles of Canada Reconnaissance vehicles of World War II Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944