Humber Armoured Cars from the left, North Africa |
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The Humber armoured car was the most numerous type of armoured car produced in Britain during the Second World War, and which saw service in North Africa from 1941 and throughout the later campaigns in Europe.
The Humber was developed from a pre-war vehicle known as the Tank, Light, Wheeled Mk I (the contemporary British designation for armoured cars) or the Guy Armoured Car. This had been developed by Guy Motors of Wolverhampton, using their own chassis with a welded armoured hull and turret. Guy had to promise to fund the welded construction themselves if it hadn’t worked, but it proved to be entirely satisfactory. By October 1940 Guy had built 101 vehicles, but they were also involved in the construction of more conventional light tanks, and in the aftermath of Dunkirk this had a higher priority. As a result production of their armoured car was transferred to the Rootes Group, a much larger industrial concern.
Rootes owned the Humber and Karrier firms. They redesigned the Guy design to use a Karrier KT 4 artillery tractor chassis, while Guy continued to build the armoured hulls and turrets, having invested in special machines to speed up the welding process. The modified vehicle became the Armoured Car, Humber Mk I.
The Humber was a four wheeled armoured car. It had a fairly narrow but tall hull. The most numerous version had a sloped front that rose in one flat plane from the nose to the top of the hull. The wheels were outside the hull, with angular mud guards, and a low step between them. This gap was often filled with extra storage.
Production of the 15mm armed version began in 1941 when 657 were accepted. This was followed by another 873 in 1942.
Work then moved onto the 37mm armed Mk IV, with the first 150 accepted in 1942, 1,686 in 1943 and the last 282 in 1944. The Humber factory then moved onto production of the Coventry Armoured Car.
Combat Record
The Humber Mk I entered service in North Africa late in 1941. The Mk II and Mk III also arrived in time to see service in North Africa, while the Mk IV arrived in time for the early part of the Italian campaign. After that all four versions took part in just about every British campaign in Europe.
After the war many were sold on to other countries, and some were still in service in the Far East into the 1960s.
Armoured Car, Humber, Mk I
The Mk I was visually almost identical to the original Guy design. The front mud guards had a level top, while the rear mud guards had a sloping top, and the line of this slope was continued up along the side of the hull, with the armour flat above it and sloped slightly inwards below it. The nose had sloped front and side armour for most of its height, but with a boxy rectangular structure on top carrying the driver’s view ports. It was armed with two Besa machine guns, one 15mm and one 7.92mm, both in the turret. It carried a crew of three. 500 Mk Is were built.
Armoured Car, Humber, Mk II
The Mk II saw a number of changes to the shape of the armoured hull. Both front and rear wheels now had flat tops to the mud guards, with the front mud guard lowered to the same level as the rear guards. The fuselage was widest about half way between the top of the mud guards and the roof, with a horizontal line marking the junction between the armour sloping in towards the turret above and in towards the floor below. The nose was made wider, with flat sides instead of the original sloped sides, but the sloped front continued all the way to the roof and now fully covered the top of the driver’s position. This became the basic shape of most later versions of the Humber.
Armoured Car, Humber, Mk III
The Mk III had a larger turret with space for a crew of four
Armoured Car, Humber, Mk IV
The Mk IV carried an American 37mm gun, which meant that there was now only space for three men in the turret. This version was produced in the most numbers, with 1,686 accepted in the peak year of 1943.
Rear Link Vehicle
This was a modified version of the Mk III which was given a fixed turret with a dummy gun to make space for powerful radio equipment.
Armoured Car, Humber, AA, Mk I
This anti-aircraft version of the Humber was armed with four 7.92mm Besa machine guns carried in a special turret. Enough were produced to give each armoured car regiment a troop of four cars. They were withdrawn during 1944 as the lack of Luftwaffe opposition made them unnecessary.
Stats (Mk I to IV)
Production:
Hull Length: 15ft 0in
Hull Width: 7ft 2in
Height: 7ft 10in
Crew: 3 (4 in Mk III)
Weight: 6.85 tonnes (Mk I), 7.1 tonnes (Mk II to IV)
Engine: 90bhp Rootes 6-cylinder water cooled petrol engine
Max Speed: 45mph
Max Range: 250 miles
Armament:
Armour: Two Besa machine guns, one 15mm and one 7.92mm (I to III), 37mm gun and 7.92mm machine gun (IV)
Humber Armoured Car Patrol (Mk II or III), Libya 