Weird armoured Bedford

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Can anyone identify this weird semi-amphibious armoured Bedford of 1941? Built by LMS Railway in Derby, 1941.

[Keith Webb]

...but I wouldn't want to drive it into the water with all that armour!

[gordon]

You'd be slightly dead if you tried to float that...... 8-)

There was a fad for taking ordinary trucks and just covering them with bolier plater to make improvised armoured cars - not there is very little fabricating on that thing, it's just flat sheets of metal tacked together.

Gordon

[Pete Ashby]

David

This might be way off beam and I've read the script under the photo, but I think the truck may be a 6x4 Leyland Retriever chassis built for air field defence classed as a WLW/5.
I have two poor photos of them in a parts manual and they are identical.
If you look at the rear hinged skirts you can see two one for each wheel on the bogie. I'll see if I can post a picture for you, if not I'll e-mail it to you. By the way it definitely is not amphibious.

Pete

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

One thought is that this was not a Bedford but a Leyland Retriever as a Beaver-Eel (partly after Lord Beaverbrook) or 'Tender, Armoured Leyland Type C to the Royal Air Force', intended to protect factories from paratroop attacks. Well, they may have been originally but were collared for airfield defence and according to the official caption used in UK and North Africa. That said, a Leyland would not have Bedford running gear and details appear in Vauxhalls' archives! My guess was that this is a 3-ton OY Chassis built with the same body as the Leyland version. That front end rerminds of the Leyland and AEC Armoured Command vehicles. That made me do some research onn the web...I keep thinking that this is indeed a 6 x 4 chassis not 4 x 2.

Compare the photo with Leyland Armoured Tender, and also note the AEC Cockatrice Heavy by the way!
http://www.warlinks.com/equipment/ve.../armoured.html

[Pete Ashby]

David

If it works you should see two pictures out of the parts list. Sorry for the poor quality, on the copy I have you can see the attachments for the skirts

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

The official caption suggests that the same design was used on Leyland, AEC and Bedford chassis. The AEC I think was the Cockatrice Heavy [but the body whilst similar was NOT identical], but I am beginning to really think that the wartime censor has just grabbed a representative shot showing 'airfield defence' vehicles, and that the Bedford truck was the QL Cockatrice. That said I have found evidence of a Bedford OY SP gun in a turret on top of an armoured [pea-shingle?] box body. These were used by the Home Guard, apparently and had a 3-pounder gun. Has anyone got an official shot of a Bedford OY armoured truck?

[Pete Ashby]

David

is this any use ?

Pete

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Pete, can you read the census number on the back? I am pondering whether this was an Armadillo Mk3 with the concrete/pea shingle pillbox and the [3-pounder? 20 mm Cannon? 1/2 pounder COW?] mounted on an OY and built by the LMS. In due course the Armadillo Bedfords were converted to G/S trucks and then disposed of if necessary. That loks like an armoured cab to me..is it?? Any more details please Pete? I am indebted.

[Pete Ashby]

David

Census number as follows: WD 214890

Caption reads as follows: "Armadillo Mk111 mounted a 1.5 pounder COW (don't know what this is) in a blockhouse, with up to three Lewis guns (one on an AA mount) plus a rear mounted heavy machine gun" (it looks like a Hisparno to me).

Photo is credited to TM (don't know what or who this is) the book it comes from is as follows:
WW11 AFVs & self propelled artillery,
George Forty,
1996 Osprey
ISBN 1 85532 582 9

hope this is of use

Pete

[Pete Ashby]

David
Sorry forgot to add this in the last post
the cab is standard except for the addition of a stell sheet over the door and fuel tank

Pete

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

That would be to Contract V.3795 for LORRY, 3-TON 4 X 2 GS...probably requisitioned OYs. These would have been rebuilt in 1943 and then disposed of as G/S trucks.