VICKERS MK6B's resto

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by David Herbert

Just thought, the cable cover could be to protect the bowden cable that operates the 4" bomb thrower though I think that spot light is more likely.

The slotted head screws holding the triangular cover is something I had not spotted (on a rather small screen at the time). A very odd detail.

David

Hi David,
I did the electrical installation on the Vickers that went to the Littlefield Collection and can say that the cable cover in question was not for the spotlight cable. It has to be for the bomb thrower as there was one on the other side as well.

Regarding the question of the plate on the left of the turret, maybe the photo attached will throw more light on the subject. With acknowledgment to Mike Cecil, it is a photo from his archive which he sent to me when I published an article of his on the Australian MkVIa tanks. It is a RYPA training rig and was found in the 1980's on the training area at Puckapunyal. You can see the bulbous plate is not present, but the cut out is and below it is possibly a clue. I think it possible an ammo box was stowed and the cover was to give extra space for it. I do not have any interiors of the one I worked on unfortunately. We had a lot of unanswered questions on that one, for instance we never found a picture of the retractable signalling lamp.


In case anyone is wondering, RYPA stands for Rolling-Yawing-Pitching Assembly

[colin jones]

I think David Herbert is spot on with it's use as a closer look at the many photos I have, I can now pick something in the photo attached. The shape of the pyramid had me puzzled but the photo puts it in total perspective. In the first photo you can see a tray on the left that would hold a Vickers ammo box and it is shown on an angle that would fit perfectly into the recess and that part is on the curved section of the turret on the same side as the Vickers. In the second photo on the right, you can just see the beginning of the open recess I will get confirmation on this but I am confident that is the answer.
Half the fun is solving problems and questions and learning.

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by colin jones

I think David Herbert is spot on with it's use as a closer look at the many photos I have, I can now pick something in the photo attached. The shape of the pyramid had me puzzled but the photo puts it in total perspective. In the first photo you can see a tray on the left that would hold a Vickers ammo box and it is shown on an angle that would fit perfectly into the recess and that part is on the curved section of the turret on the same side as the Vickers. In the second photo on the right, you can just see the beginning of the open recess I will get confirmation on this but I am confident that is the answer.
Half the fun is solving problems and questions and learning.

Hi Colin,
Glad to be of help, I suddenly remembered the photos of the RYPA and it became obvious then.

regards, Richard

[colin jones]

Richard, that photo of the training aid certainly confirms the need for the tray access and in the photo here it shows the tray for the Besa gun and the need to "NOT" have an access on the other side. Perhaps this is why they used those two particular guns as they feed from opposite sides. I did wonder why they used two totally different guns. Perhaps some one can confirm that the Besa does feed from the right. Actually I think the Vickers feeds from the right or is the feed block reversible.

[Mike Cecil]

Vickers .303 MMG ordinarily feeds from the right side,and nothing in the manuals I have mentions anything about the feedblock being reversible. Thinking back about working on a Vickers, the direction of feed is not reversible - it would require a different feed block (at least) to feed in the opposite direction. For a live demo, ...

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPv_f_aSyP4

However, the used cloth belt needs to drop into something akin to an ammo box in a tank turret - cannot have them 'dribbling' onto the floor and jambing things up. This leaves the question: where was the .303 inch belt box with the live ammunition, assuming the Vickers used was fed from the right as per normal? Maybe under the .50 cal Vickers gun adjacent?

If you look at the AWM image of the RYPA being used, it shows an angled ammunition box support on the right side of the 'turret', which I assume is the same as in the tank. This would seem to be the support for the .50 inch Vickers Short ammunition box.

See https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C11056

Mike

[colin jones]

Thanks for the info Mike. In the photo here, it clearly shows a ammo tray both sides for each gun and one in the centre which I assume is for the right fed Vickers and perhaps the spent ones drop into the other side. More questions?? Just an edit after looking again at the photo. I would have to say the live rounds come from the centre as it is connected to the gun mount so as the gun moves up and down so too does the ammo box to keep is flowing at the same angle as the gun. It is making more sense now.

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Colin,

Yes, makes much more sense now. The belt feeds from the ammo box in the centre tray attached to the mount which, as you have said, moved with the gun's elevation, thereby retaining the correct belt feed-belt port angle as the cloth belt feeds through the gun, and into the catch tray/box on the left side which fits into the bump-out in the turret wall.

Vickers MMG spent cases were ejected downwards from the centre line of the weapon, and would normally be collected in a canvas catch bag attached to the underside of the gun or down a short chute into a box. They would not be allowed to free-fall into the lower reaches of the turret for obvious reasons.

As I understand it, the Vickers .50 HMG was essentialy an MMG on steroids - ie fed the same way, so both weapons in the MkVIA fed from the right, ejected spent cases from the underside, and fed the empty cloth belt out the left side. NOPE - see edit.....

EDIT: I've just had a look at some images of Royal Naval use of the .50 inch Vickers (common in the early stages of WW2 as a close-in AA weapon on ships), and it shows drum magazines feeding from either left or right, so maybe the .50 in the tank fed from the left side (from the ammo box in the tray fixed to the mount) and the empty belt fed out the right side into the box mounted in the holder mounted on the turret wall, as visible in the AWM RYPA image. That would make the most sense given the configuration of the ammo box holders in the various images.


Mike