Bren Gun pintle for Brass Mount

[rob love]

I would definitely concur on the pogo mount not being used for ground fighting. it would have put the gunner in a very vulnerable position.

Perhaps the confusion comes in with the term Bren carrier vice Universal carrier. The information below is the jist of whats in the manual on the carrier platoon in the infantry battalion.

On the Canadian Universal carrier, mk1, the AA mount (pogo stick) was the only mount provided. There was only one Bren issued per carrier, with a second one provided if available. The Boys anti tank rifle was only provided as only one per carrier platoon (and not one per carrier).

The bren was not a tank, but rather a lightly armoured vehicle whose purpose was to get the Bren or anti tank rifle into it's ground position, with necessary ammunition, and then the bren would retreat to nearby cover.

It was not designed to be an offensive vehicle driving towards the enemy with guns a-blazing.

The above info is by the book. Of course, the troops in war adapted the carrier to what they needed, and the stowage of kit along with variations in the weapons would have occurred.

Even the AA stick would have likely been rendered obsolete. Stories of attracting a stuka with it's 20mm guns against a .303 LMG rarely worked out in the bren gunners favour. The aircraft's gun range was well beyond what the Bren could achieve.