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This
superb MkII* carrier was seen at a private museum in the United States.
Manufactured in October 1944, this is one of the last produced before the
line was cut over to Windsors. |
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Detail
of the Stacey Towing Attachment and rear stowage on a standard Mk.II*,
which was the standard issue carrier throughout the war in Northern Europe.
In British and Commonwealth armies, the Universal Carrier performed a similarly
wide range of functions to the jeep in American formations, with the addition
of towing anti-tank guns. Whatever its weaknesses, the carrier's armour
plate permitted it to operate in environments which would have been deadly
or intractable for thin-skinned vehicles. |
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This
MkII carrier was seen at a local MV show at Oshawa, Ontario, Canada on
June 6th, the anniversary of D-Day. It differs from the MkI series in only
minor ways. Note the difference in lighting configuration, and the addition
of a step bracket underneath the vehicle number. Also visible around the
crew compartment at the rear is the tubular steel railing welded on to
the top of the hull plates; on the MkI*, padding was afforded by wooden
strips bolted on to angle iron which was in turn bolted to the hull.
The vehicle
is missing its POL container and rack under the near-side headlight, and
the track skirts have been removed for ease of access to the track-adjusting
mechanism behind the front idler wheel, a common practice. |
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A
front quarter view showing detail of the spare bogie stowage, as well as
the POL container and blackout lamp. Note the lack of steel step on this
side, and the 'non-stock' mirror. Originals are hard to find. The MkII
has a folding armoured flap at the top of the commander's position, above
the slot for the Bren/Boys/PIAT. |
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Frontal
view from the right. Carrier track is the ultimate in simplicity. A new
track has 168 links, and wears in with the sprocket; when it's down to
158 links, one replaces both the track and sprocket. The trouble is, there's
no more new track! Current owners make do by limiting mileage and driving
carefully. Perhaps one day we can have some made... |
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View
from the left side shows some detail on the steel tubular hand rail which
differentiates the MkII from the MkI. Two old ammunition containers have
been employed for general stowage on the rear deck. If this were properly
restored, there would be several stores containers located here; in combat,
the chances are good those would have been dicarded or relocated and replaced
with 'jerry' cans of fuel. Not visible here is the pintle hook arrangement;
the Mk.I* had none, but the II*, T-16 and Windsors carried a hook used
primarily for towing the 6 pdr AT gun. |
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A
Mk.II* of unknown ownership photographed some years ago at an airshow in
southern Ontario. Of particular interest here are the homemade track skirts;
if they survived any length of time in combat, most crews discarded them
altogether to permit quicker access to the tracks. |
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As
above, showing some detail of external stowage. It's hard to tell what
colour this example may have been, due to the age of the print. Those items
on the grass bottom right are a pair of Bren ammunition cans. |
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| Updated
24 Jan 00 |
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| Copyright ©
Geoff
Winnington-Ball , 1998-2000 All Rights Reserved |
