Figure 1.--Britain's principal mnufcturer of trucks during the War was Bedford. They manufactured several differnt trucks. The larger ones were designatd lorries. This one which seems to have ben acquired by the Americans is a 3 ton lorry, comparable to the American duce and half M-25 2 ½ ton trick. This photograph was taken after the War somewhere in Germany.

Britain before the War had Europe's largest automotive industry. This is one reason that Britain at the onset of the war had the only fully mechanized army in the world. Several different companies were involved. The companies prodyced both cara and trucks. The automobile plabts were quickly shifted over to the construction of military vehicles. It thus had a substantial capability of producing trucks. Unlike America and Canada, however, there was no effort to create a standard design that all the diffeent manufactuers produced. Thus there were several different types of Briish military trucks produced during the War, all in relatively small numbers. Britain's most important trucks were made by Bedford. They made different size trucks. This included ac3-ton model with was close in size to thhe American duce and a half. AEC also manufactured wheeled vehicles, including an artillery tractor (carrier) band tanker trucks. Albion Motors in Scotland builr artillery tractors and tank transporters. Austin Motors made heavy military trucks. Austin also made military ambulances. They were not only provided Commonwealth forces, but some went to the Americans in a kind of reverse Lend Lease. Leyland Motors produced trucks during the War. The most important was the Leyland Retriever It had a 6 litre, 4 cylinder overhead camshaft petrol engine. General Montgomery used one as his mobile headquaters during the War. Morris made artillery tractors. Royal Ebfield built motorcycles. Scammell Lorries Limited produced artillery tractors and recovery vehicles. The Excelsior Motor Company built a light-weight motorcycle, the Welbike, used by the airborn.

Created: 5:05 PM 4/23/2015
Last updated: 5:05 PM 4/23/2015