Morris CS8 2 Pounder Portee

[Tony Smith]

Originally posted by Mike Kelly
The NZ one pictured looks to be a good restoration item . We got no MCC artillery quads though , seems the kiwis got em instead .

Morris Quad project on Trade Me. The seller says it is sitting on a Ford 3 ton truck chassis that is for sale in another auction. Is this rear body the same as a CMP gunTractor?

[Gunner]

There is a famous painting of the action described below but I couldn't find the image. Shows the 2 pounder firing while portee.

2nd Lt. George Gunn, VC, MC, RHA (1912-1941)

2nd Lieutenant George Ward Gunn MC of the 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, VC citation reads:

"On November 21st 1941, at Sidi Rezegh, 2nd Lt Gunn was in command of a troop of four anti-tank guns which was part of a battery of 12 guns attached to the Rifle Brigade Column. At ten o'clock a covering force of enemy tanks was engaged and driven off, but an hour later the main attack by about 60 enemy tanks developed, 2nd Lt Gunn drove from gun to gun during this period in an unarmoured vehicle encouraging his men and reorganising his dispositions as first one gun and then another were knocked out. Finally, only two guns remained in action and were subjected to very heavy fire. Immediately afterwards one of these guns was destroyed and the portee of the other was set on fire and all the crew killed or wounded except the sergeant, though the gun remained undamaged. The battery commander then arrived and began to fight the flames. When he saw this, 2nd Lt Gunn ran to his aid through intense fire and immediately got the one remaining anti-tank gun into action on the burning portee, himself sighting it whilst the sergeant acted as loader. He continued to fight the gun, firing between 40 and 50 rounds regardless alike of the enemy fire which was by then concentrated on this one vehicle and on the flames which might at any moment have reached the ammunition with which the portee was loaded. In spite of this, 2nd Lt Gunn's shooting was so accurate at a range of about 800 yards that at least two enemy tanks were hit and set on fire and others were damaged before he fell dead, having been shot through the forehead."

http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/WH...H2Art031a.html

UBIQUE!

Mike

[chrisgrove]

One reason that no pictures of the 2pdr in action portee, is that 'portee' actually means 'carried' (French!). Neither the CS8 and C8 portees were intended to have the gun actually fire from the truck, merely to carry it, as apparently the 2 pdr carriage was not strong enough for the gun to be towed except for short distances. Therefore, like one of the pics above, in action the gun would be on the ground (or below it) and the truck would look much like any other Morris 15 cwt (OK, C8 excepted). The CS8 portee had a slightly higher tilt than the standard GS truck and had gauze panels in it to give more light, but in the desert would not be wearing the tilt. The bodies on the CMP portees were very similar to the Morris C8 bodies, but I know not which came first. They all had a manual winch to haul the gun on board

Has anyone actually seen a photo of the Austin K5 or Bedford QL 3 ton portees actually in action either? They were intended to carry the 6 pdr, but whether the gun was ever fired from the truck is another matter. It could be, as they carried a blast screen over the radiator, but, I guess, only in emergency.

The famous painting of the 2 pdr portee in action shows a CMP portee (30 cwt or 3 ton) which were intended to have the gun fire from the truck (gun facing backwards).

Chris

[Rick W]

David, with regard to the record cards for WD MCC, are you sure Bov. keeps these? I got the record card for my C8 from Deepcut. Or do Bov. keep a more detailed history of the vehicles? Admittedly my record card didnt show much .