- Yes.
- No.
- In a future Dutch/BeNeLux techtree.
- In the French BeNeLux sub-tree
- Other (Please explain in the comments).
- I said “No” in the first question.
Hello everyone, today I’ve got a dumb little vehicle to suggest, because why not!
This is the Dutch Universal Carrier Medium Machine Gun, armed with a 7.7 mm Vickers Water-Cooled machine gun Mark I!
A Dutch Universal Carrier Medium Machine Gun"
Source: Foto's
History
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Following the end of World War Two, the Netherlands was in dire need of Militairy Equipment. Luckily there were lots of Militairy dumps in the Netherlands, containing surplus Cars, Halftracks and Tanks.
Inside these dumps were tons of tracked, and half-tracked, carriers. As for the fully tracked types, five different models were present.
These were as follows:
- Ford Universal Carrier (No. 3 Mark II)
- Ford Universal Windsor
Spoiler
A Ford Universal Windsor in Dutch service. Note the longer chassis and extra road wheel
Source: Foto's
- Ford Universal T16 (Mark I)
- Ford Loyd Carrier (No. 1 and No. 2)
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A Ford Loyd Carrier in Dutch service
Source: Een militaire oefening. Een rivier moet worden overgestoken. Een Loyd carrier met artilleriegeschut passeert de aangelegde pontonbrug | Nationaal Archief
- Studebaker Weasel M29C
These militairy dumps were still owned by Britain at the time, so an order would be made where hundreds of different vehicles and tanks would be purchased by the Dutch. Anything from small cars to Sherman tanks would end up comming into Dutch service during this time, anything to strengthen the Dutch Army again.
In total the Royal Netherlands Army operated more then 1.500 Ford Universal Carrier carriers specifically. The Army created four variants of the Carrier, that being:
- Algemene Dienst (General Service), standard carrier type.
- Mortier (Mortar), 3-inch mortar carried in the back.
- Medium Machine Gun (M.M.G.), Vickers Water-Cooled machine gun Mark I.
- Waarneming (Spotter)
In Dutch service these Carriers ended up with the training schools. There are many photos of these towing small field guns over fields and floating bridges during exercises. Of specifically the Medium Machine Gun variant the Dutch had 32 in 1948, and this would increase to 64 by 1951.
These Medium Machine Gun variants had a 7.7 mm Vickers Gun Mark I mounted on a, what seems to be, a tripod that was located in the middle of the carrier. This gave the machine gun excellent firing angles, but lacked any kind of protection for the crew.
By 1954 almost all Universal Carriers were taken out of service. Only a few of the “Algemene Dienst” variants remained.
Specifications
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Mass: 4.01 tons
Crew: 4Powerplant: Ford England GAU370 Petrol engine
Engine horsepower: 85 hp
Max speed: 50 km/hArmament:
- 1 x 1 7.7 mm Vickers Gun Mark I machine gun
Ingame
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Yeah I know, this vehicle ingame would be the worst possible thing to play. But it would be funny!
I think it would be funny if each nation got something like this ingame. Tankettes with machine guns added to them would just be funny to play and zoom around the battlefield with.
The BeNeLux has been added to France, so this is now the only option where Dutch vehicles will go to. At the moment (7-1-2026) there is no proper BeNeLux ground vehicle line, so this little Universal Carrier could be the beginning of one. But maybe it’s best that this vehicle is reserved as a premium or event thing. Considering it would function so poorly ingame it might be best kept as a seperate thing from the main researchable techtree.
That would be all for today, see you next time!
Sources
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Main source:
- “Wiel en Rups, Voertuigen van de landmacht 1945-2015” book by Sander Ruys
- Pantser.net.
Extra sources: