Morris CS8 2 Pounder Portee

[chrisgrove]

One reason that no pictures of the 2pdr in action portee, is that 'portee' actually means 'carried' (French!). Neither the CS8 and C8 portees were intended to have the gun actually fire from the truck, merely to carry it, as apparently the 2 pdr carriage was not strong enough for the gun to be towed except for short distances. Therefore, like one of the pics above, in action the gun would be on the ground (or below it) and the truck would look much like any other Morris 15 cwt (OK, C8 excepted). The CS8 portee had a slightly higher tilt than the standard GS truck and had gauze panels in it to give more light, but in the desert would not be wearing the tilt. The bodies on the CMP portees were very similar to the Morris C8 bodies, but I know not which came first. They all had a manual winch to haul the gun on board

Has anyone actually seen a photo of the Austin K5 or Bedford QL 3 ton portees actually in action either? They were intended to carry the 6 pdr, but whether the gun was ever fired from the truck is another matter. It could be, as they carried a blast screen over the radiator, but, I guess, only in emergency.

The famous painting of the 2 pdr portee in action shows a CMP portee (30 cwt or 3 ton) which were intended to have the gun fire from the truck (gun facing backwards).

Chris