AKA Cambridge carrier

[Michael R.]

I imagine your research quiry at The Tank Museum, Bovington, and to some extent other information sources as necessary, such as IWM, CWM and LAC may indicated your carrier is one of the Pilot models.

Are there a total of three (3) FV402 pilot models, or more? The Tank Museum, Bovington appears to hold FVPE 3818.

Two other known AOP No.4 FV402 series are:
FVPE 3816, Pilot model 1, UK Registration JXW 32
FVPE 3903, Pilot model 2, UK Registration KYW 36




IWM: Imperial War Museum, London
CWM: Canadian War Museum, Ottawa
LAC: Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa

[Jon Bradshaw]

The researcher said that they have Mark 1- FV402 Armoured Observation Post No. 4 Mark 1 and the registration number for it is 60 BA 09. I am still waiting on more info from them but it raised a question in my mind about numbers. It is the one in the pics FVPE 3818.
Since the earlier pictures I had seen of this vehicle (attached) had the UXM 65 number on it and that was the same as the number on a target hull pic I also have seen (but can't find right now). I wonder if it was taken off the range and given a new number/ brought onto charge in the military just for the museum?

Quote from- Michael R- Two other known AOP No.4 FV402 series are:
FVPE 3816, Pilot model 1, UK Registration JXW 32
FVPE 3903, Pilot model 2, UK Registration KYW 36
Are you saying there are two other carriers out there in museum/private collections?

The pic is from the old thread on this site about this carrier from 2005. A few more pics as good as these and I would have enough to start getting a fabrication plan together. I still have no idea what the inside would look like. Other than the drivers seat, it was completely stripped out.

Interesting the amount of dust collected on it over the years. I assume the new vehicle preservation building is much more "dust free" then the old one.
Picture is courtesy of Dennis Trowbridge, see http://community.webshots.com/user/jtrowbridge5

[David Herbert]

Pilot vehicles would normally have had civilian style registration numbers like UXM65. They also usually had a large P1, P2 etc in white painted on in obvious places for easy recognition. These were used for basic development of the design.
Pre production vehicles usually had army registrations like 60BA09 and a large W1, W2 etc. These were built for troop trials but often had major modifications as the trials went along.
Series production vehicles would have army numbers.
FVRDE / FVPE numbers were allocated to all individual vehicles being developed or tested by those organisations. They were painted on any obvious flatish surface, often on the front and were often refered to as 'wing numbers' as they would be painted on a front wing (fender) of a wheeled vehicle.

David

[Jon Bradshaw]

The researcher has replied to me that she has found quite a bunch of info on the carrier FV 401/ armoured OP FV 402 and wants to know what I would like her to send me....
The list of stuff is long but it is excerpts from different books and some manuals she found. Without seeing what she has I am stuck, I guess I will just order it all and sort out whats good when it arrives.

The list of the items she found are-

Outline and Transport Diagrams, Plate Thickness, Suspension and Engine and Transmission (6 pages)

Carrier, Armoured, O.P., No. 4, FV 402 (photograph and basic description)(1 page)

Provisional User Handbook (for troop trials) for Carrier, Universal No.4 (FV401) and Carrier, A.O.P, No. 4 (FV402), WO Code 17767
(basic description of contents: General Description, User Servicing and Adjustments, Fault Finding Charts, Appendix and List of Illustrations: 34 figures) (88 pages)

Ministry of Supply, Fighting Vehicles Proving Establishment, Report No. F.T.2007, Cambridge Carrier Development Trials (20 pages of text, 2 pages of graphs, 6 pages of photographs)

Ministry of Supply, Fighting Vehicles Proving Establishment, Report No. F.T.1908, Development Trials: F.V.402 Prototype No. 1. (First 1000 Miles), 10th Nov 1950 (20 pages of text, 3 pages of graphs, 2 pages of photographs

Universal Carriers, Volume 2’ by Nigel Watson (Choir Press, 2006)
(This chapter covers the FV402 and FV401. There is a brief description, stowage sketches, interiors, wading device information, dimensions. Photos throughout. (19 pages- pp.234-252)


I have been looking for the book Universal Carriers, Volume 2’ by Nigel Watson. Amazon and Ebay and a bunch of other sites are all out of stock. Does anyone have this book and are you willing to part with it? If not then I will buy the pages particular to this carrier from the museum.....

[Robin Craig]

I looked on Abe books and only Volumes one and three came up. Sounds like it is worth buying at whatever price you can find it, maybe.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Jon Bradshaw

Universal Carriers, Volume 2’ by Nigel Watson (Choir Press, 2006)
(This chapter covers the FV402 and FV401. There is a brief description, stowage sketches, interiors, wading device information, dimensions. Photos throughout. (19 pages- pp.234-252)

I have been looking for the book Universal Carriers, Volume 2’ by Nigel Watson. Amazon and Ebay and a bunch of other sites are all out of stock. Does anyone have this book and are you willing to part with it? If not then I will buy the pages particular to this carrier from the museum.....

Jon,

It seems the museum has pretty comprehensive source material. If I were you I would send an email to Nigel Watson and ask him if he included more information in his book, than covered by the source material listed above.

HTH,
Hanno

[Jon Bradshaw]

Robin, I am not surprised you couldn't find the book either. I would buy it if someone had a copy.

Hanno, I will contact Nigel and see if he still has any info that he can send me. He may even have a copy of the book to send me.

[Jon Bradshaw]

So the package arrived and as promised it has about 150 pages of assorted copies from a few obscure manuals and the engineer reports for the vehicle trials.
I am slowly reading through them and there are also some useful scaled drawings. Not blueprints but still useful to show the angle and thickness of various parts of the outer steel.
The layout of the inside is the real picture I was hoping for, haven't found it yet...
If I find any really god pics or have questions I will post them for the rest of you to help me with.
Still no response from Nigel about his book.