6 pdr Anti-Tank Gun SP Deacon
 

I need a quality, hi-res photo of the 6 pdr Anti-Tank Gun SP Deacon. If you can help please contact me off-line at clive@servicepub.com
The photo will be used in an upcoming publication.
http://www.ra39-45.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/guns/page7.html

Re: 6 pdr Anti-Tank Gun SP Deacon
 

Clive, see http://www.p-r-v.fsnet.co.uk/prv_site/deacon.htm

H.

Deacon
 

Crew =4, am I going senile or what? I was in the A/T platoon for a couple of years and it seems to me that we had 5 men in the gun crew not includiding the tow vhicle operator.

The gun commander
No, 1- the layer
No. 2-the loader
No. 3-the man who handed the rounds to the loader
No. 4-the man who brought the rounds from the carrier

More info would certainly be interesting.

Art, you are not going senile, yet. The Deacon is an SP gun, therefore its space is limited. Most SP guns only have a four man crew; the Commander, layer, loader and driver. The rounds are stored in racks near at hand, so the loader just needs to pull the round from the rack and ram it home.

Deacon/Matador
 

Thanks John I'm glad you added the yet, there are some days that I have some doubts.
I don't know anything about the Matador. Who manufactured them? The only Matador that I have come across was a monster with at least six wheels. A chap from Tyneside was towing a 3.5 AA gun with it. He told me that it was the largest truck the British Army had. I tried Googling but with no sucess.

Cheers

Art J

Re: Deacon/Matador
 

Try AEC Matador Art, here's one site:
http://www.aecmilitant.co.uk/
I don't think the Army used the 6x4 Matador or its prototype with a low profile body.

The most likely monster 6 wheeler would be a Leyland Hippo or an Albion CX22S:
http://www.planefacts.co.uk/military...hippo2_jpg.htm
http://www.mvt-essex.org.uk/tc2.htm

R.

Re: Deacon/Matador
 

Art,

I assume you are talking about Tyneside, England? The only guys I can think of, up there who would fit are Denny Thompson with an AEC Matador (definitely only 4 wheels on it ) and I am sure he tows a 3.7 AA gun sometimes. Another one in the same area is Geoff Maskell, who had a Mack NO2 gun tractor ( I am pretty sure that is the correct model) which the British Army did use. I have a feeling he towed an artillery piece with it. That is definitly a 6 wheeler. The only other possibility is that the vehicle was the 1950's Leyland Martian 6x6 artillery tractor witch is a large truck!

Richard

Matador
 

Thanks all you MLU'ers for your input.

Richard the chap who owned the vehicle and gun that I spoke of was wearing a kilt. He said that his father had been in the Tyneside Scottish who I believe were allied with the Black Watch. They were converted to a AA unit and he maintained the Matador and AA Gun as a tribute to his father. I met him in Holland in 1991 during the Welcome Back celebrations he was taking part in the Keep Them Rolling group.

Cheers

Art J.

Re: Deacon/Matador
 

AEC (Associated Engineering Co.) of Southall, London normally made London buses but in 1939 started building the Matador 4X4 Tractor. It was built to a War Office specification requiring a four wheel tractor with seating for the crew and room for ammunition stowage to tow the 4.5-in,5.5-in, and 6-in howitzers. It was powered by an AEC 6 cylinder diesel with a disp. of 7.58 litres producing 95 bhp which allowed a top speed of 58 km/h. The Matador was 6.32m long and weighed (unladen) 7189 kg. Total production was 8,612 of all variants and was used in most theatres of the war. It was much loved by it's gun crews for it's reliability and the fact that the last Matadors weren't auctioned off until the mid '70s attest to their durability.
Hope this info helps.

:cheers: CHIMO!