Ford of Canada hybrid hull UCW Carrier

[David Dunlop]

I wanted to move this topic off the Loophole Thread to avoid any hijacking issues.

A mystery has popped up from the wartime UC production lines at Ford of Canada, and hopefully the combined analysis we can all provide, may help solve it.

As we all know, Ford of Canada UC production mirrored that of British wartime production of the carrier in that the upper hull assembly was a riveted item, front to back (as opposed to being a welded assembly). It has now come to light that a UCW vehicle existed at the Ford of Canada plant, at some time during the war, which had a hybrid hull. The rear compartment was the standard riveted assembly, but the forward compartment, with it's heavier armour, was a welded assembly riveted to the rear hull unit.

I went through the Ford of Canada factory photos I have available and pulled any on which a welded front armour assembly appeared. A surprising number showed up. These first four are numbered by Ford as UCW 5, UCW 15, UCW 18, and UCW 22. The last two clearly show the extent of the welded asemby on the front armour.