The FV603 Saracen is a six-wheeled armoured personnel carrier designed and produced by

Alvis Alvis may refer to: *Alvis Car and Engineering Company, British luxury car and military vehicle manufacturer which later became Alvis plc * Alvis plc (formerly United Scientific Holdings plc), a defence contractor which acquired Alvis Cars and bec ...

since 1952. It has been used by a variety of operators around the world, and is still in use in secondary roles in some countries. The Saracen became a recognisable vehicle as a result of its part in the policing of

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

as well as for its role in the

South African government The Republic of South Africa is a parliamentary republic with three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary system. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa. Executive authori ...

's enforcement of

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

History

The FV603

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

was the armoured personnel carrier of Alvis's FV600 series. Besides the driver and commander, a squad of eight soldiers plus a troop commander could be carried. Most models carried a small turret on the roof, carrying a Browning .30 machine gun. A .303 Bren gun could be mounted on an anti-aircraft ring-mount accessed through a roof hatch and there were ports on the sides through which troops could fire. Although removed from active service, it saw extensive use into the 1980s in

and was a familiar sight, nicknamed 'sixers', during "

The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...

". At times, they appeared on the streets of Hull, a less-hostile atmosphere for driver training in a city of similar appearance to

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, and only a few miles from the Army School of Mechanical Transport. As a member of the FV 600 series, it shared a similar chassis to the FV601 Saladin armoured car, the

Salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...

airfield crash truck and the Stalwart high mobility load carrier. The punt chassis, suspension and

H-drive An H-drive drivetrain is a system used for heavy off-road vehicles with 6×6 or 8×8 drive to supply power to each wheel station. H-drives do not use axles but rather individual wheel stations, usually carried on a punt chassis. A single differ ...

drivetrain A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...

remained similar, but the engine, transmission and braking systems varied significantly. The Saracen was in turn used as an armoured personnel carrier, armoured command vehicle and ambulance. The FV 603 model saw many variants in detail, including radio or command fitments and specialist equipment for artillery or signals use. The Saracen series also includes: * FV 604 armoured command vehicle (ACV): with extra radio equipment and distinctive "penthouse" roof extensions to support. * FV 610 armoured command post Royal Artillery (ACP): no turret and higher roof to the armoured compartment allowed headroom for the battery command post officer and technical assistants of the Royal Artillery to sit at a fitted table and use their plotting instruments and ALS 21 in front of the command post officer. There were also fittings for a canvas penthouse to the rear and sides. A small generator was sometimes carried on a front wing. * FV 606 / FV 611 armoured ambulance. Saracen was produced before Saladin because of the urgent need for a personnel carrier to serve in the Malayan Emergency, entering production in 1952. The Saracen was produced both with and without turrets fitted. They are popular with collectors due to their prices being as low as $20,000 in Australia and $11,000 in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Combat history

Aden Emergency The Aden Emergency, also known as the Radfan Uprising (), was an armed rebellion by NLF and FLOSY during the Cold War against the Federation of South Arabia, a protectorate of the United Kingdom, which now forms part of Yemen. Partly inspire ...

* Malayan Emergency *

Nigerian civil war The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence ...

* Sri Lankan civil war *

Yom Kippur war The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...

* Soweto uprising *

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

Operators

Military operators

* Amal Movement: Inherited from the

Lebanese Armed Forces ) , founded = 1 August 1945 , current_form = 1991 , disbanded = , branches = Lebanese Ground ForcesLebanese Air ForceLebanese Navy , headquarters = Yarze, Lebanon , flying_hours = , website ...

(LAF). * –

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

: 30 vehicles, registered consecutively as 115361 through 115390. * – Biafran Army: 1 * -

Royal Brunei Land Forces The Royal Brunei Land Forces (Malay: Tentera Darat Diraja Brunei, abbreviated TDDB) is the land component of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces. The RBLF has responsibility for maintaining the territorial defence of Brunei Brunei ( , ), form ...

: 15 * –

Indonesian Army The Indonesian Army ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Darat (TNI-AD), ) is the land branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It has an estimated strength of 300,000 active personnel. The history of the Indonesian Army has its ...

: 55; some modernised by request in 1994. * –

Royal Jordanian Army The Royal Jordanian Army (Arabic: القوّات البرية الاردنيّة; ) is the ground force branch of the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF). It draws its origins from units such as the Arab Legion, formed in the British Mandate of Transj ...

: 120; 60 operational. * -

Kenyan Army The Kenya Army is the land arm of the Kenya Defence Forces. History The origin of the present day Kenya Army lie with the British Army's King's African Rifles. In the last quarter of the 19th Century the British began actively enforcing the aboli ...

: 15 * -

Kuwaiti Army The Kuwait Army, established in 1949, is the oldest armed branch among the military of Kuwait. Its cavalry and infantry predecessors operated in desert and metropolitan areas in 1919, 1920 and 1928 to 1938, tracing their roots directly to the c ...

: 135 * - Lebanese Ground Forces: 100 * -

Libyan Army The Libyan Army ( ar, الجيش الليبي) is the brand for a number of separate military forces in Libya, which are under the command of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA). Since December 2015 the groups of t ...

: 15 * – Mauritanian Army: 5 ordered in 1990. * –

Nigerian Army The Nigerian Army (NA) is the land force of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is governed by the Nigerian Army Council (NAC). The Chief of Army Staff is the highest ranking military officer of the Nigerian Army. History Formation The Nigerian ...

: 20; 10 operational. * – Qatar Emiri Land Force: 30 * – South African Army: 280 ordered between 1953 and 1956. All working Saracens refurbished in 1979 and some sold to local security contractors; at least one modified with a

Comet tank The Comet tank or Tank, Cruiser, Comet I (A34) was a British cruiser tank that first saw use near the end of the Second World War, during the Western Allied invasion of Germany. The Comet was developed from the earlier Cromwell tank and mounted ...

turret for Rooikat trials. Retired from the

South African Armoured Corps The South African Army Armour Formation provides an Armour capability to the South African Army. The Formation came into being as part of a restructure. South African Armour Corps units previously under the command of various different brigades a ...

in 1991. * –

Sri Lanka Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

: 67, All were removed out of service in the mid 1990s. * –

Sudanese Army The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF; ar, القوات المسلحة السودانية, Al-Quwwat al-Musallaha as-Sudaniyah) are the military forces of the Republic of the Sudan. In 2011, IISS estimated the regular forces' numbers at personnel, whil ...

: 50 * –

Royal Thai Army The Royal Thai Army or RTA ( th, กองทัพบกไทย; ) is the army of Thailand and the oldest and largest branch of the Royal Thai Armed Forces. History Origin The Royal Thai Army is responsible for protecting the kingdom's ...

: 20 * –

United Arab Emirates Army The United Arab Emirates Army is the land force branch of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces. History From January 1993 to April 1994, UAE Armed Forces participated in humanitarian operations in Somalia under the United Task Force (UNITAF ...

: 20 * –

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

Civil operators

British Hong Kong Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the Briti ...

–

Royal Hong Kong Police Force The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong. The Royal Hong Kong Police Force (RHKPF) reverted to its former name after the t ...

: Retired in 1988 when replaced by the '' Saxon'' with all working Saracens shipped back to England. Most were used by the PTU with the 1st Saracen on static display at PTU HQ. * –

South African Police The South African Police (SAP) was the national police force and law enforcement agency in South Africa from 1913 to 1994; it was the ''de facto'' police force in the territory of South West Africa (Namibia) from 1939 to 1981. After South Af ...

: 8 * – Royal Ulster Constabulary * Space Hijackers – 2007–present – Mark 1 Saracen used for

publicity stunts In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utilize ...

* ** Tulsa Police Department, 1; Saracen hull re-mounted on a commercial truck chassis ** Sierra Vista Police Department, 1; SWAT ** San Francisco Police Department, 1; SWAT ** Snohomish County Sheriff, 1; SWAT

Variants

Saracens were initially equipped with an L3A4 ( 0.30-inch Browning) machine gun in the turret, 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 used ...

for the gun-ring at the rear of the vehicle. Later Marks carried the LMG, and L37 GPMG. Saracen Marks

:Mk 1: Early version with a small 3-door turret and turret weapon ports. :Mk 2: Modified Mark 1 with later two-door turret. The rear turret door folds down and can act as a seat for the commander. :Mk 3: Reverse-flow cooling for use in hot climates. :Mk 4: Prototype only. :Mk 5: Mark 1 or Mark 2 vehicles modified with extra armour specifically for use in Northern Ireland. :Mk 6: Mark 3 modified with extra armour as for the Mk 5 for use in Northern Ireland. :''Concept 3 New Generation Armoured Car'': Mk 3 suspension and drive train with chassis redesigned by the

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...

to accept a 77mm HV tank gun. Prototype only.

In popular culture

A Saracen masquerades as a German armoured car in the 1964 film ''

633 Squadron ''633 Squadron'' is a 1964 British / American war film directed by Walter Grauman and starring Cliff Robertson, George Chakiris, and Maria Perschy. The plot, which involves the exploits of a fictional World War II British bomber squadron, wa ...

'', which was set during

World War II 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 ...

, a decade before the Saracen was first built. In the 1967 episode "Mission... Highly Improbable" of the TV series ''The Avengers'' (the penultimate episode with Diana Rigg in the female leading role), the villainous Dr Matthew Chivers (played by Francis Matthews) is trying to smuggle a Saracen FV 603 out of a British Army testing area by shrinking it to toy size with the help of a machine invented by his boss Professor Rushton (played by Noel Howlett). In the

Tom Sharpe Thomas Ridley Sharpe (30 March 1928 – 6 June 2013) was an English satirical novelist, best known for his '' Wilt'' series, as well as ''Porterhouse Blue'' and ''Blott on the Landscape,'' all three of which were adapted for television. Life ...

novel ''

Riotous Assembly ''Riotous Assembly'' is the debut novel of British comic writer Tom Sharpe, written and originally published in 1971. Set in the fictitious South African town of Piemburg, ''Riotous Assembly'' lampoons South African apartheid, and the police who ...

'', a Saracen is destroyed by an elephant gun fired by Constable Els of the South African Police. In the 1983 debut album ''

Script for a Jester's Tear ''Script for a Jester's Tear'' is the debut studio album by British neo-progressive rock band Marillion, released in the United Kingdom on 14 March 1983 by EMI Records. The album reached number seven and spent 31 weeks in the UK Albums Chart ...

'', by British progressive rock group Marillion, the Saracen was referred to in the final song: "...crawling behind a Saracen's hull from the safety of his living room chair..." The lyrics of ''Forgotten Sons'' describe the conflict in

and the discrepancy between what was really happening and the perception of the conflict by the British public. In the

Irish rebel music Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

song Kinky Boots (a parody of The Combine Harvester) reference is made to the Saracen in the opening line of the song. In the 1984 Indonesian film '' Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI'', Saracens were used by the

and the

Kostrad The Army Strategic Reserves Command ( id, Komando Cadangan Strategis Angkatan Darat; abbreviated ) is a combined-arms formation of the Indonesian Army. Kostrad is a Corps level command which has up to 35,000 troops. It also supervises operati ...

as patrol vehicles during the infamous 30 September Movement coup d'etat. Saracens are also used as transport during state funerals of the six Army generals who became victims of the coup. Saracens were used almost unchanged in the 1995 film of

Judge Dredd Judge Joseph Dredd is a fictional character created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. He first appeared in the second issue of ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' (1977), which is a British weekly anthology Comic book, comic. He is the ...

as carriers for prisoners and personnel carriers for

Judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

s. 101 FCs were used as the basis for taxis, fitted with a prop bodyshell. The Saracen is mentioned in the Irish Republican song " Little Armalite". In the 1992 film The Crying Game, on the main characters is killed, "he were run over by a Saracen" when he attempts to escape his IRA captors. Alvis Saracen at Fort Largs

During the 2009

G-20 The G20 or Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, ...

demonstrations in London, members of the Space Hijackers protest group drove their Saracen into the City of London and parked it outside the Royal Bank of Scotland in Bishopsgate.BBC News video of Saracen outside RBS
(no commentary) (1 April 2009) The Saracen, which had been painted bright blue with black and white chequered stripes, was equipped with CCTV and marked "RIOT" (but ''not'' "police"). The group were reportedly there to protect the RBS building from "bad" demonstrators, although the police declined their assistance. Instead, the vehicle was searched and police questioned the protestors, who were dressed in plain blue overalls and helmets. The vehicle's eleven occupants were arrested for impersonating police officers and for traffic offences, and were later charged with impersonating police officers, although the case was dropped before coming to court.Times Online: "Black bra, red stockings: is that a fair cop?"
/ref>
/ref> A community protest against the sale of heritage-listed

Fort Largs Fort Largs is a historic defence site in the coastal suburb of Taperoo near Port Adelaide, South Australia, approximately north west of Adelaide's city centre. Fort Largs was built as a coastal battery installment in 1885, responsible for ...

by the state government of South Australia took place on 25 October 2014. The protest, organised by the National Trust of SA, featured an Alvis Saracen and other vintage military vehicles.

References

External links

Globalsecurity.org

Clash-of-steel.co.uk

Saracen of the San Francisco Police Department SWAT team in action

SFPD Saracen
{{Authority control Armoured personnel carriers of the United Kingdom Armoured personnel carriers of the Cold War

Military vehicles introduced in the 1950s Cold War armoured fighting vehicles of the United Kingdom Six-wheeled vehicles