Ole Drostrups Carrier
Carrier used as tank-dummy (ca. 1964)
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In 1940 therefore, design of a universal carrier was begun, a basic vehicle which could, by the incorporation of small modification kits during the manufacturing stage, be adapted to almost any required role.
This became the standrad carrier for the rest of the war, though in spite of its official title it remained the Bren carrier to almost everybody.
The new design incorporated improved armour plating to cover all round the vehicle and the tp of the engine compartment; mud defelctors over the tracks; steops for entry at the rear; and room for three men.
Numbers of existing Gren carriers were modified to bring them up to 'Universal' standard, while modification kits allowd the Universal to function as an Artillery OP, mortar carrier or flamethrower.
There were a number of marks and sub-marks, but the only essential differences were in the engines - some having British, some Canadian and some American engines - and in the arrangement of fittings to carry a mortar at the rear of the body.
Carrieres were built in Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and the US Army, considering the Universal to be overloaded and underpowered, set about improving it.
Tehy developed the 'Carrier T16', with a longer body and track and more powerful engine; over 2.600 were built, but somewhere the Americans ahd the got the sums wrong and the T16 could not carry as much payload as the standard Universal, nor was it as reliable, so that few were put to use.
- Length: 3.75 m (12ft 4in)
- Width: 2.10 m (6ft 22in)
- Height: 1.60 m (5ft 3in)
- Weight: 4,318 kg (9,520lb)
- Crew: 3
- Power: Ford, v-8
- Makers: As for Bren Carreier, plus: Ford Motor Co. of Canada, Windsor, Ontario; General Motors of New Zealand; New Zealand State Railways, Workshop
Source: The illustrated Encyclopedia of Military Vehicles.