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The Thornycroft J Type was a British truck built by the
In order to provide mobile
Thornycroft
Thornycroft was an English vehicle manufacturer which built coaches, buses, and trucks from 1896 until 1977.
History
In 1896, naval engineer John Isaac Thornycroft formed the Thornycroft Steam Carriage and Van Company which built its firs ...
company, it saw widespread service with the British military and Imperial forces during the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Design
The J Type was a 3-ton 4x2 truck, it was powered by a Thornycroft M4 four-cylinder inline 6,256 cc side-valve petrol engine that developed at 1,800 rpm, it drove the rear wheels through a four-speed gearbox.History
The J Type was designed by Thornycroft to meet a 1911War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...
specification for a 3-ton " subsidy scheme" cargo truck, the scheme provided a grant of £110 to civilian companies towards the purchase price of trucks suitable for military service, but included a provision that the military could requisition the vehicles if they required them. Initially the War Office purchased H, J and K Type chassis from Thornycroft, the first 24 being delivered August 1912 and May 1913 with further deliveries of all three type to follow, but in August 1914 the War Office settled on the J Type chassis. Over 5,000 were delivered to the British military during the war, some were supplied to Imperial forces, and it remained in British Army service until 1930. In the 1920s Thornycroft developed the X Type 3-ton chassis from the J Type.
13-pounder self-propelled AA gun
In order to provide mobile anti-aircraft defence
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes Surface-to-air m ...
, the British Army removed the QF 13-pounder gun from its field carriage and placed it on a high-angle pedestal creating the QF 13-pounder 6 cwt AA gun, it was usually mounted it on the rear of a lorry, 183 such self-propelled anti-aircraft (AA) guns were produced by Thornycroft on J Type chassis. The 6 cwt guns were later replaced by the improved QF 13-pounder 9 cwt
The 13 pounder 9 cwt anti-aircraft gunIn the name, 13 pounder referred to the approximate weight of the standard shell, and 9 cwt referred to the weight of the barrel and breech (9 × 112 lb = 1008 lb), to differenti ...
on the same chassis and despite being introduced as a stopgap solution it saw service on the Western Front until the end of the war, it remained in Canadian Army
The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...
service until 1930. The Y Type 13-pounder self-propelled AA gun combination was very popular with its crews, being renowned for their reliability, although its very poor cross country performance was considered a failing.
Surviving vehicle
A J type lorry No.14201 in running condition is in the collection of theHampshire Cultural Trust
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire is ...
having entered the collection of its predecessor (the Hampshire County Council museum service) around 1990.
See also
*List of combat vehicles of World War I
This is a list of combat vehicles of World War I, including conceptual, experimental, prototype, training and production vehicles. The vehicles in this list were either used in combat, produced or designed during the First World War.
World War On ...
References
{{WWI British Soft Vehicles, state=collapsed Military trucks of the United Kingdom World War I vehicles of the United Kingdom J Type