AEC command vehicle

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AEC command vehicle
The British Army during the North Africa Campaign - Vehicle, Commander and Staff (1941)

The British Army during the North Africa Campaign - Vehicle, Commander and Staff (1941)
General properties
crew 8 (seven commanders, drivers)
length 7,949 m
width 2,413 m
height 2,692 m
Dimensions 18,289 t
Armor and armament
Armor 9 mm
Main armament Bren carried along
agility
drive AEC Model A198 6 cylinder diesel engine
150 HP
Top speed 48.5 km / h
Power / weight
Range 450 km

The AEC command vehicle was an armored command vehicle put into service by the British Army in 1941 for the guidance and coordination of armored forces in the field and combat , of the British bus and commercial vehicle manufacturer Associated Equipment Company .

history

The tests of tanks as command vehicles for the armored forces produced rather unsatisfactory results because of the unsolved space problem. One of the first armored command vehicles used by the British Army was the Guy Lizard, manufactured by Guy Motors in 1940 . The AEC, based on the chassis of the AEC Matador , was much larger in terms of spatial dimensions than the Guy Lizard and was nicknamed Dorchester , after a well-known luxury hotel in London. The spacious four-wheel drive can be described as an armored bus based on a truck chassis . It was offered in the versions AEC HP ( High Power ) and AEC LP ( Low Power ). A total of 415 units of the vehicle were produced in the various versions.

Trivia

Erwin Rommel's command vehicle "Moritz" in North Africa, 1942

During the Africa campaign , two captured vehicles were used as command vehicles by Erwin Rommel and his staff. They were referred to as “Max” and “Moritz” .

literature

  • Kenneth Macksey & John Batchelor: The history of armored vehicles , Wilhelm Heyne Verlag Munich, ISBN 3-453-52081-5 .
  • The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World`s Tanks and Fighting Vehicles, Chief author and consultant: Christopher F. Foss , Salamander Books Limited, London, 1977.

Web links

Commons : AEC command vehicle  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World`s Tanks and Fighting Vehicles, Chief author and consultant: Christopher F. Foss, Salamander Books Limited, London, 1977 p. 38