- Yes
- No
When people normally think of armament of a universal carrier they think of Bren guns or some sort of machine gun and even sometimes you will think of a Boy’s rifle or a motor but Canada had other ideas
in mind when they started testing with mounting a 2 Pdr. to a Canadian manufactured universal carrier.
In late 1940 Ford Motor Company of Canada created a small assembly line for the manufacturing of Canadian made Universal Carrier Mk. I’s. The first batch of pilot models was a set of 10 Universal carriers and of which were hand-built. Ford was able to accomplish this task with the assistance of Dominion Bridge Company in Sandwich Ontario. Following the run of successful pilot run Ford spent $700,000 to build a brand new production line for the universal carriers as Canada and the alias saw them as a useful tool and the universal carriers would end up being used throughout the war.On February 8th 1941 the first completed production model was completed.
Canada at the end of the war produced: 28992 Universal carriers across all the different models.
Some of the models that were also produced were the “Wasp” which was mounted with a flamethrower, some were mounted with Boys Anti tank rifles however this was infrequently used as it required modifications to be done to the vehicle to be able to mount the rifle.
During WWII Canada experimented with many different projects and one of such projects resulted in the C21UCG with a 2 Pdr. gun being mounted to it. Also called the Carrier Universal Tank Hunting (Might be a typo in the reference book and possibly meant “Hunter” but the author of the book has passed away so we will never know). Canada developed these vehicles with the fear of a Japanese or possibly Russian attack and the majority of these ended up serving as airfield defence but one of them was shipped to England. (Probably for testing) In 1941-42 Canada created 24 Universal Carriers that mounted a 2 Pdr. AT Gun at the front with rounds for the gun being mounted around the sides of the vehicle. The Model for this Universal carrier was also called C21UCG Tank Hunter or just C21UCG 2 Pdr. (I only realized now but the name on my Canadian tech tree I used for this vehicle is incorrect).
Specs:
Some of these specs are taken from the other models of Canadian manufactured universal carriers, this is due to the lack of exact information I can find on this vehicle as well the specs are the same except for the difference of stowage)
Crew: ~3 (crew isn’t exactly known and I haven’t been able to find testing information in the microfilm on these vehicles yet.)
Engine: Ford V8
Power/Weight Ratio: 17 hp/short ton
Maximum speed: 51.5 km/h
Gear speeds:
2000 rpm | 3200 rpm
Top gear (Assume 4th): 32.19 km/h | 48.28 km/h
3rd gear: 18.99 km/h | 30.58 km/h
2nd gear: 10.46 km/h | 16.9 km/h
1st gear: 5 km/h | 8.05 km/h
Reverse: 4.18 km.h | 6.6 km/h
Brake efficiency
Speed
16.09 km/h Hand brake 7.62 meters
48 km/h Foot brake 21.64 meters
Armour:
Hull is made of Bulletproof steel (BP)
Hull bottom: 3 mm BP
Hull side: 7 mm BP
Hull front: 10 mm BP
Hull rear 7 mm BP
Armament: 2 Pdr. Mk.IX Anti-tank gun
Ammunition: ~54 (This number is just taken from photos of the visual stowage so this is highly assumed)
Photos:
Sources:
Canadian Military Vehicle Profiles (Canadian Military Vehicle Series, Vol. 2) By: Gregg, William/ Bill (ISBN 10: 0969094310 / ISBN 13: 9780969094319
Published by Canadian Military Historical Society, Inc., 1981)
Design Record Canadian Developed Military Vehicles World War II Volume II Armoured Vehicles (Other Than Tanks) Issued by: Army Engineering Design Branch Department of Munitions and Supply Ottawa, Canada Dec. 31st 1945
Secret Weapons of the Canadian Army By: Roger V. Lucy (ISBN: 1894581407, 9781894581400)
The 2-Pounder Anti-Tank Gun in Canadian Service by: Doug Knight (ISBN 1-894581-36-3)
(1903 Headquarters Central Registry, subject files, first series, 1866-1950 - C-8386 Image 3903)
Vehicle Data Book Canadian Army Overseas (Dec 1944) By: The Branch of the QMG Canadian Military Headquarters
