Why Gun Tractor Shape

[Mike Cecil]

Phil,

You didn't add: the designer just wanted to keep generations of vehicle enthusiasts puzzling over/debating the matter!!

Mike

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

Phil,

You didn't add: the designer just wanted to keep generations of vehicle enthusiasts puzzling over/debating the matter!!

Mike

You're all missing the obvious answer. "Shortest on the left, tallest on the right...size". After that the tallest gun crew members sit up front and shortest sit in the back.

It's funny how you read things. The description for Chev HUW's is that they had steel panels in the rear windows. For years I thought this meant steel panels in the rear door windows which puzzled me as I'd only ever seen glass. Then I figured out what they were talking about. It refers to having steel panels replace the upper rear body plastic windows on HUPs which is 100% correct.

[Tom Millward]

Hello guys,

Just a thought from a tank designer’s perspective, the sloping back would have given the gun No1 (the commander who stands out of the top hatch) a good view over the back of the gun tractor and allowed him to see the top of the limber, which may have helped the driver in maneuvering the awkward combination, particularly reversing. In the later Morris gun tractors the roof is squared off. Much better for stowing kit, but the rear view is obscured.

[Niels V]

I stumbled across this statement today will discussing Morris FAT designs:” while early Quads had the distinctive "beetle-back" shape, from 1944, the final model, the Mark 5, moved away from this characteristic shape as it was realised that it was too readily recognisable from the air, and therefore instantly indicated the position of an artillery unit. The Mark 5 was therefore given a more square body with a canvas-covered cargo space at the rear which made the vehicle resemble an ordinary cargo truck.”
From https://m.ww2db.com/vehicle_spec.php?q=O515 ,
Has anyone heard of this before

[m606paz]

Hi Niels
I have not heard that before, but it can be an answer as simple as it is effective. Sometimes we tend to complicate the answers.