Derk’s new Universal carrier Mk 1*

[derk derin]

Todays project was the inserts for the flare pistol rounds bin. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be but I think what I built will work.
I will have to finish the top wood insert for the second bin on a warmer day. Too cold to work in the garage right now.

[derk derin]

As I was working on the flare rounds bin, Dave came over with a box of stuff that went with the carrier. Another exciting day for me! He had the FUC-01 manual with the waterproof cover and both inserts still there, the FUC-02 Illustrated parts manual, a spare carrier carburetor, a carrier trouble light, brass 1 inch flare pistol with 4 empty flare rounds that were fired off and a pile of American 1 inch flare rounds that were March,April & May 1945 dated.
The brass flare pistol was an exciting gift as in all my years of collecting I never owned the brass flare pistol.
The most exciting was the proper Mark 1* carrier manual with the waterproof cover. That was on my want list but wasn’t hopeful of ever finding one as I’ve never seen one before. Just a few images online.

[derk derin]

These foldout charts are almost always missing so it was nice they were still in the manual.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Excellent work on the seats, Derk! Lovely that you manged to find fabric so close to the look and texture of the orginal.

Am I the only one that thought.....is that a WS19 antenna mount used to fix the thread holder to the Singer table?

[derk derin]

Today I was back at the sewing machine. Another seemingly simple job took me hours to do! First attempt at sewing the pouch together left the side strip an inch short so I had to cut all my stitching and do it a second time.
The second attempt went way better when I extended the piece by an inch. Then when I was done I realized I sewed the panels on backwards so had to cut all the stitching again. Go upstairs for a coffee break and then try again for the 3rd time. I finally got it right so I had the confidence to make my second one! Now that they’re both done (with the wooden inserts) I have to go find some strips of leather tomorrow so I can finish off the leather edging.
I used old duffle bags for material and didn’t want to waste the Cbroadarrow stamp so I cut out the pattern so it would show inside the flap.
There’s no doubt that 2 Boyes magazines fit well into this pouch. I knew I would never find spare Boyes magazines so I cut apart an old metal shelf and fabricated a couple dummy mags to store in the pouch.

[David Dunlop]

Nice sewing, Derk.

What was the normal issue of Boyes Magazines on the Universal Carriers and did they carry extra bulk rounds?


David

[rob love]

In the manual the carrier platoon in the infantry battalion it specifies that only one anti tank rifle was issued per 3 carriers of each section. There was a total of 4 sections per platoon along with a platoon commanders carrier and a recce carrier. As well, there was an assortment of motorcycles.

I have war establishment manuals somewhere which will better detail the issues and entitlement for weapons and possibly ammunition.

Notable also is that each section got one 2 inch mortar.