WesWorld

A preview of new equipment either to be brought or enter development during 1944.

Light Tank Mk VIII (A33/ FV301): Designed by Vickers from 1943 and then taken further by the Armoured Vehicle Research and Development Establishment during 1944 as a light tank with a weight of 21 tons and armed with a 77mm 17pdr gun with a co-axial MG. A crew of three is carried and the A33 is powered by an Orenda 400hp Ursa Minor engine and torsion-bar suspension was fitted. Armour is 50-10mm thick (sloped glacis) and eighty rounds of ammunition are carried. A family of vehicles will be built around this chassis.


Cruiser Tank Mk IX Comet (A28): Longer and wider Cromwell-type with 101-14mm armour, sloped glacis and new suspension designed by Leyland in 1943. Entering initial production during late 1944.


Heavy Tank Mark I Chariot (A25): Heavy Cromwell project with 114-20mm armour, 17pdr gun, new suspension and generally bigger. Designed 1942 by Leyland and English Electric. Built in small numbers during 1944, by NEE, 50 built. Armour is 114-20mm; dimensions 22ft 8ins long, 11ft 1.5ins wide, 8ft 6ins high; battle weight 100,800lbs; maximum speed 24mph and 12mph cross-country and a road radius 130 miles. Fording depth is 3ft; vertical obstacle 3ft and trench crossing 7ft 6ins.

A30/ FV201: A new tank beginning its design development at the new Armoured Vehicle Research and Development Establishment during 1944 to replace all the current Cruiser Tanks as a standard 'Universal Tank' for the British Army in the late 1940s.

Carrier 17pdr Anti-Tank Mk I Avenger (A31): Comet chassis with a new open-roof turret with a 77mm 17pdr gun and no hull MG to serve with RA SP Battalions. Entering low-level production in mid-1944.

A27 Cruiser Tank: 1943 design for a longer Cromwell with new cast turret designed by Vauxhall, rejected in favour of A28 Comet and development abandoned.

In May 1944, Royal Ordnance began work on a new anti-tank gun development and another competing design later that year. Firing trials pencilled in for 1945-46.

Coventry Armoured Car: Development began in late 1943 by the Rootes concern. Humber designed the hull, Commer the transmission and Daimler the suspension (independent swinging axles with drive taken from two shafts from a central transmission unit) and steering. A 160hp Rolls-Royce B60 petrol engine is fitted and the armament comprises a 6pdr gun and co-axial MG. Armour is 14-8mm thick and a crew of four is carried. In 1944, 800 were ordered .Maximum speed is 40mph; range 250 miles and weight is 11.5 tons.


Carrier Tracked No.2 Mk I Oxford: Designed in 1943 by the Armoured Vehicle Research and Development Establishment using the suspension of the Carrier Tracked No.1 series but with a new hull a with double-plate floor for increased mine protection, new front hull with periscopes for the driver and commander, automatic transmission with controlled differential steering and armoured plates protecting the upper track section. Armour is 20-8mm thick and an 110hp Bedford petrol offers a maximum speed of 31mph and a range of 125 miles. Four to six infantry can be carried and it can tow anti-tank guns and light field artillery. Radio equipment is carried as is one Vickers ‘K’ LMG. Production began in 1944 at Morris. The Command Carrier No.2 Mk I with long-range radio equipment and cable drums will enter service in 1945. The Carrier Mortar No.2 Mk I with a 3in mortar will enter service in 1944.


Armoured Command Vehicle 6x6 AEC Mk II: Uses a modified AEC Matador chassis with an extra wheel on longer chassis and is powered by a 150hp diesel engine. Built in LP and HP variants with differing radio equipment, the first of 240 vehicles entered service in 1944.

Ordnance RP 60pdr Mk II: The rocket is the 3in RP-3 “60lb” rocket as used by the RAF as an air-ground weapon with a 5in warhead. A 25lb concrete-piercing warhead can also be fitted. The launcher is a 16 or 30-tube wheeled carriage and the range of the rocket is 8,000 yards and the rockets are fired at 4 per second. Trials began in early 1944 for planned service use from mid-1945.

.280 Enfield Lock Light Machine Gun Mk I: Enfield Lock continues development of a new light machine gun based around the new .280 7mm cartridge. Details have not yet been released.