Irish Army Morris-Commercial CDSW gun tractor

[Hanno Spoelstra]

I took these pictures on 8 May of this year at the Bussum Bridgehead 2006 event. The English owner told me this is an Irish Army gun tractor version of the Morris-Commercial CDSW. It was in use well beyond the end of WW2, towing an 18/25 pdr gun.

If anyone can add some more information about this rare variant of a rare vehicle, please do so!





To see all the pictures, go to my G503 album.

[Les Freathy]

Hi Hanno

Nice set of photos on the MK1 CDSW, the Irish army obtained 19 in all in bonnet/chassis form in 1938/9 and built there own bodies to the British design. A supurb book on Irish army vehicles is available from Karl Martin the author, his e mail as per the book is irisharmyvehicles@CleanTree.com the book is in hardback form and contains a wealth of good photos and information.

I have posted these photos of the vehicle in pre war British service they did indeed serve untill around the mid war period but many were lost in France and around Dunkirk

cheers
Les

[Les Freathy]

This is a experimental part armoured version, what i would like to know is the purpose of the open tube on the body bins, as this vehicle was built in the main to tow 18pdr guns would it have been for range finding equipment

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Thanks for the pics, Les!

See http://www.geocities.com/vk3cz/peacock.html for backgound info on JMX 842.

H.

[alleramilitaria]

ahhh yes another great looking Morris, onday they will rule the world

[mudeng]

The round tray has been seen on a Dragon MkII, this towed the 2 pounder, far too big for any sighting mechanism.

There is a school of thought that it may be a cable laying device, most artillery and mortar batteries had phone connections, and on the Windsor mortar carriers there are cable reels.

The tube appears to have an attachment for a drum to play out the line, and the other end has a strip to keep the line from jumping out.

If any one has a copy of Moving The Guns, some-thing similar is shown on page 71.

Any one interested can contact me off line at george.dfs@virgin.net.

Thanks,
George.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally posted by Les Freathy
I have posted these photos of the vehicle in pre war British service they did indeed serve untill around the mid war period but many were lost in France and around Dunkirk

Pictures of Quad and CDSW gun tractors, abandoned at Dunkirk. I think I got these off Ebay.

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

I wonder of the Morris CDSW lorries were supplied in some form of CKD? I have a photo from 1943 of a crated WD CDSW shipped back from....North Africa??? being assembled by Pearsons of Liverpool that may have never been assembled on arrival. There were Austin, Morris, Ford (Cork), and Vauxhall (McCairns Motors, Dublin) assembly operations in Eire.

As to the semi-armoured version, this is what David Fletcher commented:

I had a look at the IWM site and the Kidbrooke photos. Those CDSWs with armoured bonnets seem to have been tested during the early development stage; the design has a bit in common with some of the early armoured car experiments but subsequently a new armoured front end was designed by a chap called Captain Payne who is described as an expert in the subject. This was used on the production armoured cars and a prototype armoured command vehicle. However some time ago I got two photos via Norman Painting that look like a fully armoured CDSW, possibly a larger command vehicle, or even a personnel carrier. I assume this was produced for export, or potential export; I had never come across it before nor learned anything since.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Here's one of two 18 Pdr. QF Mk.IV Field Guns preserved in Ireland today. In service from 1935 until 1974, towed by Morris-Commercial CDSWs! Source: tanxheaven.com.

H.

[Mike Kelly]

Just before WW2 the N.Z. army received a handfull of these MCC CDSW 6X4 trucks . The kiwis used them to tow guns around , I have a blurry pic of one in use in N.Z . At least one has survived as part of a collection in the Nth island .

None have turned up here in Australia , except for a few civilian 1920 ish models with the skinny tyres . An outback expedition used one to drive across the desert in the 20's .

Mike Kelly