.50 cal armed Universal Carriers

[maple_leaf_eh]

I learned that machine gunnery is about suppressive fire, not necessarily point of aim. Putting MGs on a carrier might seem exciting to contribute to the fight, but their effect would have been mostly salutary.

The carrier platoons in an Infantry Battalion were for carrying things and not for fighting. There are accounts of carrier charges in the early days after DDay, but most of them seemed to have fizzled with heavy losses. That said, getting a ride into battle is much less tiring than trudging ahead on foot.