M3A1 Scout Car Ambulance

[Peter Hommes]

Pickup from the web today



Peter Hommes

[Andrew]

The problem with that, no access to the rear for strechers. They would have to be lifted over the side, i assume that was in emergency's and not used regurlarly

[motto]

Note that the skate rail has been removed. From my experience this makes the hull sides very floppy and I doubt the vehicle could be operated for very long in this configuration without serious problems, particularly with door closure.The armour plate on these vehicles was a very precise fit. The Australian armoured observation post conversion retained the skate rail probably for this reason as the additional sloped armour made the rail useless as a gun mounting for most of its length.

David

[Lynn Eades]

Army council instructions demanded the immediate refit of the skate rail to any vehicle that had had it removed. The skate rail is part of the structual integrity of the vehicle. This instruction dated 13th July 1942.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Here is one in use by the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps (RNMC) at Soerabaja, Java, Netherlands East-Indies/Indonesia. December 1946. The mobile hospital of their medical company (MED CIE) had two of these armoured abulances.

The RNMC was trained in the USA and they used US equipment throughout. As the Netherlands East-indies Army KNIL had received a batch of these Scout Cars before WW2 broke out in the Pacific, these ambulances may have been converted from re-captured vehicles.

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Source, Source 2

[Jesse Browning]

Ambulance with a machine gun?

[Mike Cecil]

No Red Cross therefore not seeking the protection of the GC?

In any event, more modern AFVs don't seem to worry about combining the two - the Aust M113A1 armoured ambulance had a T50(Aust) turret with a 30/50, plus a red cross symbol on the sides.

The M3A1 seems to still have its skate rail except across the back, which would overcome the problem of the armour flapping.

Mike

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by Jesse Browning

Ambulance with a machine gun?

I asked that question of a Canadian Afghanistan combat medic. The principle of self-defence has never been removed from the agreements. The medic said he carried a C7 and the Bison Ambulance had a C6 MG in order to protect himself, his crew and his patients.

[Jakko Westerbeke]

Originally Posted by Jesse Browning

Ambulance with a machine gun?

Under the 1929 Geneva Convention (which would have applied at the time), medics may use armed force to protect themselves and the wounded under their care from enemy aggression, without forfeiting the protection afforded to them by the convention. They may not use weapons offensively, however. (It seems that a lot of military personnel don’t know this, though, and would consider any armed medic to be in violation and thus, liable to get shot.)

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

No Red Cross therefore not seeking the protection of the GC?

That would hardly have mattered, given that this is a Korps Mariniers vehicle in the Netherlands Indies, probably during one of the “police actions” that were to suppress Indonesian independence fighters. The Geneva Convention does not apply to internal struggles, only to wars between signatory nations.