Airborne vehicles

[Roger Lucy]

The fate of a Canadian proposal may shed some light on why Carriers do not seem to have been used inm airborne operations. In April 1943, staff at DND's Directorate of Artillery drew up plans for a light-weight, low profile, tracked SP mount to take either a 6-pounder or 75mm gun. The running gear was based on the Universal Carrier, less one road wheel per side. It would be powered by a 60-HP Jeep engine, and carry a crew of two, and 70 rounds of ammunition. Proposed dimensions were 185 inches (l) x 73 inches (w) x 53 inches (h) - 4.6m x 1.85 m x 1.3m. With no more than 20mm of armour, it would weigh some 6,000 lbs. (2,700 kg).

Aside from concerns about whether a two man crew was adaquate, and the gun's limited traverse, the War Office rejected the proposal because it was too wide to fit in a Horsa glider, while the heavier Hamilcars were short supply and ear-marked for delivering tanks. Presumably the same constraints would apply to glider-borne UCs. No prototype wqas built but drawings can be found on microfim C-5793 at the National Archives. The project is covered in more depth in Service Publications' forthcoming Secret Weapons of the Canadian Army.
Roger