The First World War, which ended in the late autumn of 1918, led not only to the repartition of Europe and the formation of new states, but also to a rethinking of the entire previous military doctrine, in which fundamentally new vehicles and combat vehicles began to play an increasingly important role. On June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed, according to which defeated Germany It was forbidden not only to have their own large military formations, but also to produce heavy military equipment, which then included army trucks and armored vehicles. In practice, all these agreements were soon crossed out and grossly violated.
In the peaceful 1920s, when war-scorched European countries were just rebuilding their economies and establishing a peaceful life, no one even wanted to think about new global battles, but already in those days some visionary Western European designers were hatching plans to create fundamentally new military vehicles and military equipment , which stood at a higher technical level. World economic crisis 1929 added problems to European countries, leading to the decline of their economies, a decline in industrial production and mass unemployment. And then, at the next difficult and dangerous historical stage in the development of Germany, at the end of January 1933, Adolf Hitler, the leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, appeared on the scene. He became the Reich Chancellor of Germany and renamed it the Third Reich, which personified a single prosperous state, “a common home for all Germans.” Hitler immediately set a course for drastic political transformations, the introduction of a planned economy and the accelerated revival of the country, expressed mainly in its rapid militarization and the nurturing of aggressive plans to seize foreign territories. In Italy, from the beginning of the 1920s, the militant fascist regime of Benito Mussolini gradually rose to its feet, unleashing local wars in East Africa in the 1930s. At the same time on Far East The no less reactionary regime of Imperial Japan was maturing, which occupied the northeastern regions of China back in 1931, which is considered the informal beginning of the still distant Second World War. The Spanish Civil War, which began in 1936, served as a testing ground for new German weapons, and the Japanese were the first to test the combat readiness of the Red Army in military conflicts in the Far East in 1938-1939.
It is quite natural that the leaders of all three regimes, who agreed in their aggressive intentions, concluded the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1936-1937, which was then joined by Hungary, Romania and Spain. At the same time, to implement its ambitious plans, Germany pursued an active policy of attracting the most industrialized countries of Europe to its side in any way, which would make it possible to take advantage of their production, raw materials and human resources. As a result, in order to expand its industrial potential for the production of weapons and automotive equipment, the Third Reich in 1938-1939 bloodlessly annexed developed and peace-loving countries - Austria and Czechoslovakia, from which another Nazi satellite - Slovakia - separated. A series of lightning-fast German military aggressions in the spring and summer of 1940 led to control of the main industrial northern part of France and the complete occupation of a number of smaller Western European states, whose economies were completely resubordinated to the interests of the Third Reich. On September 27, 1940, the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo axis was formed. Small and warlike satellites immediately joined her fascist Germany, who had certain of their own production resources for the production of military equipment and at the same time actively participated in hostilities. The so-called industrial satellites Austria and the Czech Republic, as well as very large military-industrial and automotive enterprises in the occupied part of France, Belgium, the Netherlands and even Poland, which on September 1, 1939 became the first victim of World War II, actively worked on the production of weapons. Thus, on the territory of almost the entire enslaved Europe, a powerful military-industrial complex was quietly formed, which allowed the Third Reich to realize its most daring aggressive plans. First they were directed against Great Britain, and then fascist Germany poured out all its accumulated energy and military power over the years on the hated Soviet Union. On June 22, 1941, with the help of 121 divisions with the support of troops from Italy, Hungary, Romania, Finland and Slovakia, it invaded the USSR. At the end of that year, Japan and the United States of America entered the war.
The main initiator and inspirer of all aggressive plans and the production of new types of military equipment in Europe was fascist Germany, which by the time the Second World War began, was better prepared than all other countries in the world to conduct large-scale military operations. Global ambitions and ardent hatred of communist Russia gave enormous impetus not only to the development of the entire German economy, but also contributed to gigantic progress in the military and automotive spheres of production. Germany was preparing for war literally from the first days after Hitler came to power and by the end of the 1930s it had achieved unprecedented high level in the creation of new military vehicles and fundamentally new types of wheeled armored vehicles, on which the new doctrine of future battles was built. During the preparation and during the Second World War, for the first time, German military leadership made its main bet on the deep and large-scale motorization of its armed forces, which made it possible to bring the German Wehrmacht to the level of the most powerful and mobile troops in the world, equipped with hundreds of thousands of vehicles and mobile combat vehicles. It was in Germany, in the process of preparing for war, that the most advanced, efficient and promising wheeled and half-tracked transport and combat vehicles appeared, which the future opponents of the Third Reich in Europe and even in distant America could not compare with. Only towards the middle of the war the USSR and allied forces, rearmed with their own types of new equipment, were able to reverse the military power of Nazi Germany, turning the Second world war into a real "war of engines".
Pre-war Germany, like no other country in the world, produced all its automotive equipment only using domestically manufactured components and parts, which less developed countries could not afford. By that time, the process of introducing large American concerns into the European market was gaining momentum, leading to the destruction of the rather weak local system of automobile production and the widespread use in military operations of vehicles that depended on imports for their main components. The Third Reich very quickly managed to break the Americanization of its automobile industry, which many other countries, including the Soviet Union, did not escape. In Germany, a strict system of state planning of military production and distribution of orders for military vehicles was introduced, and thanks to government programs for the standardization of army vehicles, orderly rows of relatively inexpensive and fairly advanced vehicles of the same type were formed, produced simultaneously by several companies selected by the military department. Italy and Japan also tried to introduce their own standardized vehicles, but in frivolous France they simply did not have time to introduce an effective government order before the occupation.
During the period of preparation for war in the Axis countries of Berlin-Rome-Tokyo and their allies, fundamentally new categories and types of military vehicles appeared for the first time, which by that time did not exist at all in the warring countries. These included, first of all, special types of light staff vehicles, floating vehicles and promising all-wheel drive jeeps, first created in Germany, Japan, France and several years ahead of the famous American Willys. Since the build-up to World War II, Germany has been renowned for its extensive and unique family of standardized half-tracks and artillery tractors featuring rugged and reliable tracked propulsion systems with staggered road wheels, individually lubricated track axles, and automated track braking to ensure tight turns. Light French half-track tractors were no less famous, although by the end of the 1930s they had completely become obsolete. Italy and France became famous for their all-wheel drive artillery tractors with an onboard transmission and all driven and steered wheels. For the first time, special purpose-purpose military vehicles with various add-ons, as well as Combat vehicles with different weapons from a simple machine gun to powerful ship guns of 90 mm caliber. Even before the war, in Austria and Germany, using automobile units, the production of fundamentally new four-axle armored vehicles with all drive wheels began for the first time, and the creation of the first wheeled all-wheel drive armored vehicles of a frameless design with load-bearing armored hulls, developed in Italy, France and Hungary, dates back to the initial period of the war. The championship in the invention of high-speed rapid response combat vehicles belongs to Italy, which built such vehicles at the height of the war for its units in North Africa.
The introduction of diesel engines in military trucks began in the 1930s simultaneously in Germany, Italy, France and other countries later drawn into the orbit of the Third Reich. During their formation, such power units had two different concepts - diesel engines with direct fuel injection into the combustion chamber, which required the presence of a special compensation air chamber, and pre-chamber engines, in which fuel was injected into the so-called pre-combustion chamber. On transport trucks, gas generator units running on ordinary wood lumps or low-quality coal found quite widespread use, especially at the final stage of the war. For the first time, new types of multi-stage transmissions, cardan shafts and special tires were introduced on military vehicles for movement over rough terrain, sand or snow, a combined wheel-railway for movement on ordinary roads or on rails, as well as bulletproof tires with special disc inserts or with special compounds that tightened the holes.
In the pre-war and war periods in the Axis countries, the principles of creating military vehicles with increased and high cross-country ability, capable of effectively performing their combat missions on literally any terrain and in any conditions, were rethought. climatic conditions. Having started with the development of three-axle cars with two rear drive axles, European designers quickly lost faith in this scheme and switched to all-wheel drive two- and three-axle cars, which received all single wheels with the same track and even a tire pressure regulation system. To improve the traction of wheels with the ground in Czechoslovakia and Austria, a neutral spinal frame in the form of a longitudinal pipe and independent suspension of all wheels were used, and the possibility of reliable operation of power units in the hot season or in severe frosts was provided by simple and unpretentious air-cooled engines.
In Germany, all-wheel drive vehicles made up the first standardized range of army passenger cars and cargo all-terrain vehicles of different classes with simplified joints of equal angular velocities. In Italy and France, they were represented by military vehicles and artillery tractors with all driving and steered wheels, which provided them with increased survivability in the event of failure of several driving wheels at once. At first, this scheme was considered the highest achievement of automotive technology, but in reality it turned out to be a forced and temporary measure, determined only by the low level of industrial technology and the impossibility of manufacturing precise joints of equal angular velocities. They were replaced by gearboxes for each wheel with an individual cardan drive, which ensured that the steered wheels were deflected to a minimum angle, so to increase maneuverability, it was a natural solution to introduce front and rear steered wheels that turned in different directions. French military all-terrain vehicles also used an onboard transmission to drive the wheels of the right and left sides of the vehicle, and some German light vehicles were equipped with two engines and two drive systems for the front and rear wheels. Italy also produced no less amazing lightweight two-section all-wheel drive vehicles with an articulated frame, which also turned out to be unable to provide sufficient cross-country ability and maneuverability. The specificity of Austria was a small family of light universal wheeled and tracked vehicles with two types of propulsion systems, powered when working on terrain or on a smooth highway. As a result, cars of similar experimental and exploratory concepts, which were a jumble of heavy mechanical units, turned out to be too complex, unmaneuverable, slow-moving and expensive. In the second half of the 1930s, all of them quickly began to give way to simpler and more reliable army vehicles of a classical design with all drive wheels, conventional solid axles and front steered wheels with constant velocity joints, the production of which by that time had already been established in a number of countries . The introduction of new, simpler and more reliable wheeled all-wheel drive vehicles led to the rapid fading of interest in equally complex, expensive and short-lived half-track vehicles, as well as in various vehicles with combined types of propulsion.
After the most important victories Soviet Union above Nazi troops in 1941-1943, the economic situation in Nazi Germany and its satellites began to rapidly deteriorate and at the final stage of the war was in a state of deep crisis. It was aggravated by the withdrawal of Italy and Finland from the Hitlerite coalition, the defeat of the military groups of European satellites on the Eastern Front, as well as Japan’s failures in the Pacific theater of operations and the lack of its military support from the East. At that time, it was not possible to organize the production of new military vehicles in Germany. On the contrary, at the end of 1943 it was necessary to significantly reduce the range of German army vehicles and simplify their design. By the end of 1944, the production of most wheeled military vehicles in Germany was curtailed, and the Third Reich met the day of Victory of the Soviet Union in World War II in complete chaos of its own economy, on the ruins of its factories and residential buildings, on piles of scrap metal from the once formidable military vehicles and combat vehicles. technology.
These colorized photographs show World War II fighting vehicles as never before seen. Tanks that fought in the desert of North Africa, among European cities and in the jungles of Asia seemed to come to life in the photographs. British design engineer Paul Reynolds gave the frames color, and now it even seems that they were made quite recently...
British Army M4 Sherman during the Normandy operation, 1944
M4 "Sherman" - the main American medium tank of the Second World War, in large quantities supplied to the allies (primarily Great Britain and the USSR) under the Lend-Lease program.
Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in front of his command vehicle, the M3 "Lee" tank, nicknamed "Monty", January 27, 1943, near Tripoli
M3 "Lee" - American medium tank of the Second World War. Was named after a military leader of the period Civil War in the USA - General R. E. Lee. A modified model with a new turret and an improved radio communication system received the verbal name M3 "Grant", in honor of another general - W. S. Grant.
Anglo-Indian Army on a Sherman tank, 255 Indian Tank Brigade, Burma, March 29, 1945
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Practicing the landing of a battalion of M10 anti-tank self-propelled guns and several infantry companies on sandy beaches at Slapton Sands, UK
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M36 during the Bulge
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"Sherman" with crew in the Biferno River, Italy, October 1943
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Units of the Staffordshire Yeomanry Armored Regiment on Shermans, 18 July 1944, Normandy
British Sherman near Catania, Sicily, August 4, 1943
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M3 35th Armored Personnel Carrier rifle division and Panzer IV (left) during the Bulge, 1945
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M10 at the Battle of Saint-Lo, June 1944
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Tank "Matilda II" of the 7th Royal Tank Regiment, December 19, 1940.
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"Tiger" of the 101st SS heavy tank battalion, France, spring 1944
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M4 Sherman stuck in a body of water in Okinawa
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British Sherman in Fries, Italy
Allied M10 in destroyed Rohrvillers, France, February 1945
Soldiers cleaning the Tiger
Heavy Soviet IS-2 tank captured by the Panzerwaffe
Self-propelled artillery unit M7 (nicknamed "Priest" - "Priest") of the 14th field self-propelled artillery battalion of the 2nd armored division near Paris
American medium tank M26 "Pershing"
Since February 1945, Pershing tanks took part in World War II, and in 1950-1951 they took part in the Korean War.
Before the start of the Second World War and already during its years, a large number of different wheeled armored vehicles were created in Great Britain. Moreover, they were produced in very large batches. So only the Humber company presented three variants of wheeled armored vehicles, all of them were mass-produced. These were the Humber Light Reconnaissance Car (about 3,600 vehicles produced), the Humber Scout Car (about 4,300 vehicles produced) and the Humber Armored Car, which according to the British classification was a light wheeled tank (more than 3,600 vehicles were produced) .
Humber is a fairly old British car brand. The company was founded by Thomas Humber, who gave it his name, back in 1868 and initially specialized in the production of bicycles. In 1898, it began producing cars, and in 1931 it was purchased by the Rootes group of companies of the Roots brothers. During World War II, the company specialized in the production of armored vehicles and vehicles for transporting military personnel and cargo.
Humber Light Reconnaissance Car
During the war years, two reconnaissance armored vehicles found a place in the range of armored vehicles under the Humber brand. In 1940, the company's engineers implemented a project to convert the Humber Super Snipe serial passenger car into an armored car with the installation of appropriate weapons and armor. The created combat vehicle received a fairly technologically advanced and easy-to-manufacture body, the sheets of which were located at small angles of inclination. The thickness of the armor did not exceed 12 mm, but small angles still increased the security of the vehicle and its resistance to small-caliber bullets. Initially, the armored vehicle did not even have a roof, for this reason the weapons, represented by the Bren machine gun and the Boys anti-tank rifle, were placed directly in the frontal plate of the hull. In addition, a smoke grenade launcher was also installed on the vehicle. According to the British classification, the armored car was called a light reconnaissance vehicle - Humber Light Reconnaissance Car.
The first production modification of the armored car, designated Humber Light Reconnaissance Car Mk.I, differed slightly from prototype, but on the soon-to-be-released Mk.II version the roof has already appeared. In addition, a small turret was located directly above the fighting compartment, into which a 7.7 mm machine gun was moved. At the same time, the thickness of the armor was reduced to 10 mm, since the total combat weight of the vehicle was already almost three tons.
Already in 1941, the armored car was again modernized. In order to withstand the increased weight after previous modifications and at the same time improve the driving quality of the combat vehicle, the chassis of the armored car was significantly modified, becoming all-wheel drive (4x4 wheel arrangement). Otherwise, the armored vehicle, designated Humber Light Reconnaissance Car Mk.III, corresponded to the previous model of the combat vehicle.
The fourth modification of the combat vehicle, designated Humber Light Reconnaissance Car Mk.IIIA, appeared only in 1943. It was distinguished by a slightly modified body shape, the presence of a second radio station and additional viewing slots located in the front part of the body. A little later, the latest version of the Humber Light Reconnaissance Car Mk.IV armored car was released, differing from the previous version only in “cosmetic” improvements that did not affect the characteristics in any way.
A fairly simple armored car, built on the basis of a commercial model and equipped with a standard gasoline engine, was produced in Great Britain for four years from 1940 to 1943, during which time about 3,600 Humber Light Reconnaissance Car armored vehicles of all modifications were assembled in the country. These armored vehicles were widely used in battles in North Africa, where they, in particular, were used as part of the 56th Reconnaissance Regiment of the 78th infantry division. From September 1943, they could be seen as part of the British troops landing in Italy, and in the summer of the following year, these wheeled armored vehicles took part in battles in France. In addition to army units, these combat vehicles were widely used in ground reconnaissance units of the Royal Air Force (RAF).
After the end of World War II, the Humber Light Reconnaissance Car light reconnaissance armored vehicles remained in service only with British units in India and the Far East, where the liberation movement against the colonialists began in those years. The exact date of their complete decommissioning is unknown, but, apparently, this happened in the early 50s of the 20th century.
Performance characteristics of the Humber Light Reconnaissance Car:
Overall dimensions: length - 4370 mm, width - 1880 mm, height - 2160 mm, ground clearance - 230 mm.
Combat weight - about 3 tons (Mk III).
Reservation - up to 12 mm (front of the hull).
Cruising range - 180 km (on the highway).
Armament is a 7.7 mm Bren machine gun, a 13.97 mm Boys anti-tank rifle and a 50.8 mm smoke grenade launcher.
Wheel formula - 4x4.
Crew - 3 people.
Humber Scout Car
Another reconnaissance armored vehicle of the British army was the Humber Scout Car. Despite the fact that back in 1939, the Daimler Dingo armored car was adopted as the main reconnaissance vehicle, the need for new armored vehicles turned out to be so great that already in the fall of the same year the British military issued a new order for the creation of a similar combat vehicle . But in connection with the outbreak of World War II, the main efforts of British industry were concentrated on producing massive and already mastered products, especially since the British army suffered a major defeat in France, losing almost all its military equipment. As a result, the Rootes Group Humber company from Coventry began creating a new reconnaissance armored car only in 1942. When creating a prototype, the company's engineers took into account the combat experience of using Dingo armored vehicles, which proved themselves quite well in the battles of 1940-42, and they also took into account the experience of creating heavier armored vehicles Humber Armored Car.
In terms of its dimensions, the new Humber armored car was similar to the already produced Daimler, but differed in its front-engine layout. The body of the new armored vehicle, designated Humber Scout Car, was assembled from armor plates with a thickness of 9 to 14 mm. The small thickness of the armor was partly compensated by the rational angles of the armor plates in the front part and along the sides of the hull. This gave the armored car some similarity with the German armored car Sd.Kfz.222.
When creating the armored vehicle, the designers used the chassis from the Humber 4x4 all-wheel drive vehicle and used 9.25x16-inch tires. The front wheels had transverse suspension, the rear wheels had semi-elliptical leaf spring suspension. The armored car's transmission consisted of a two-speed transfer case, a switchable front axle, a single-disc clutch, a four-speed gearbox and hydraulic brakes.
The heart of the Humber Scout Car was a standard 6-cylinder liquid-cooled carburetor engine with a displacement of 4088 cubic centimeters, it developed a maximum power of 87 hp. at 3300 rpm. The same engine was installed on the Humber Light Reconnaissance Car armored vehicle. The engine power was enough to accelerate an armored vehicle weighing just over two tons to a speed of 100 km/h when driving on paved roads, which was a very respectable figure for those years.
The armament of the armored car was exclusively machine gun and consisted of one or two 7.7 mm Bren machine guns with disc magazines for 100 rounds. One of them was installed on the roof of the fighting compartment on a special pin. The driver monitored the surrounding area through two hatches located in the frontal plate of the hull. The hatches had armored shells; in addition, they could be covered with armored covers. The sides of the hull also had small inspection hatches, which were covered with armored covers. All cars had a Wireless Set No. radio station. 19. The full crew of the Humber Scout Car armored reconnaissance vehicle consisted of two people, but if necessary, it could be expanded to three people.
The first serial modification of the reconnaissance armored vehicle, designated Humber Scout Car Mk.I, was put into service in 1942, after which about 2,600 copies of this combat vehicle were assembled over the course of almost two years. The second modification of the Humber Scout Car Mk.II had virtually no external differences, modifications concerned only the transmission and engine; about 1,700 more armored vehicles were produced in this version. Since by the time these armored vehicles appeared fighting in North Africa almost ended, they were sent first to the south of Italy, and then to France and Belgium, where they took an active part in the battles with the Germans. They were part of the 11th British Tank Division, and were also in service with the 2nd Polish Corps, which fought in Italy, the Czechoslovak Tank Brigade and the Belgian armored squadron.
After the end of the Second World War, a significant number of Humber Scout Car armored vehicles continued to serve in the British army, while some armored vehicles were transferred to the armies of Holland, Denmark, France, Czechoslovakia, Italy and Norway. On new technology they were actively replaced by 1949-1950, as a result only armored vehicles assigned to the Belgian gendarmerie were in service until 1958.
Performance characteristics of the Humber Scout Car:
Overall dimensions: length - 3840 mm, width - 1890 mm, height - 2110 mm, ground clearance - 240 mm.
Combat weight - 2.3 tons.
Reservation - up to 14 mm (front of the hull).
Powerplant - 6-cylinder Humber carburetor engine with 87 hp.
Maximum speed - up to 100 km/h (on the highway).
Armament - one or two 7.7 mm Bren machine guns.
Wheel formula - 4x4.
Crew - 2 people.
Humber Armored Car
At the end of 1939, the Roots company designed a new wheeled armored car, which could be classified as a medium-class armored vehicle; the vehicle received the official designation Humber Armored Car. Taking as a basis the Karrier KT4 artillery tractor, which was quite successfully used in the colonial possessions of Great Britain (for example, India) and had excellent driving characteristics, it was possible to create a fairly good armored car. The chassis of the new combat vehicle was all-wheel drive and had a 4x4 wheel arrangement, 10.5x20-inch tires and a suspension on semi-elliptic leaf springs. The armored car's transmission consisted of a four-speed gearbox, a two-speed transfer case, a dry friction clutch and hydraulic brakes. The power plant was a Rootes 6-cylinder liquid-cooled carburetor engine, which developed a maximum power of 90 hp. at 3200 rpm.
The body of the new armored vehicle, with some modifications, was used from the Guy Armored Car model. The Guy Armored Car was a British World War II medium armored vehicle, nationally designated the Light Tank (Wheeled) Mark I. This combat vehicle was created by Guy Motors engineers back in 1938 on the basis of the Guy Quad-Ant artillery tractor, becoming the first British all-wheel drive armored vehicle. Considering the numerous contractual obligations for the production of artillery tractors and trucks to the British government, the Guy Motors company was not able to produce armored vehicles (in sufficient quantities), so their production was transferred to the Rootes industrial corporation, which produced up to 60% of all vehicles during the war. British wheeled armored vehicles under its Humber brand. At the same time, Guy Motors continued to produce welded bodies for armored vehicles.
Humber Armored Car Mk.I
The body of the Humber Armored Car armored vehicle had a riveted-welded structure and was assembled from armor plates with a thickness of 9 to 15 mm, while the upper armor plates were located at rational angles of inclination, which increased the security of the vehicle. Distinctive feature The armored car had a relatively high body, which could be considered a disadvantage. The thickness of the frontal armor of the hull reached 15 mm, the thickness of the frontal armor of the turret reached 20 mm. In the front part of the armored car there was a control compartment with a driver's seat, in the middle part there was a fighting compartment for two people, and in the rear part there was an engine compartment.
The armament of the armored car was housed in a welded turret, which was also partially borrowed from the Guy armored car. It included a coaxial installation with 15 mm and 7.92 mm Besa machine guns. A double-barreled smoke grenade launcher was also located on the front plate of the hull. As an auxiliary weapon, another 7.7-mm Bren machine gun could be installed on the armored car as an anti-aircraft one. At the same time, the most popular modification of the armored car, the Humber Armored Car Mk.IV, had more powerful weapons; its 15-mm machine gun was replaced by a 37-mm American M6 cannon.
Humber Armored Car Mk.II
In general, it should be recognized that British wheeled armored vehicles during the Second World War were quite successful and were technically superior to the vehicles of many countries. The Humber Armored Car was no exception. Quite well armed and well armored, this medium armored car had excellent cross-country ability, and on paved roads it could travel at speeds of up to 80 km/h. All later modifications of this Humber retained the 90-horsepower Gas engine and chassis, changes were mainly made to the hull, turret and armament. The combat vehicle was represented by the following modifications:
Humber Armored Car Mk.I - welded turret and hull, similar in shape to the hull and turret of the Guy Mk.IA armored car. The driver was located in the front part of the hull in an armored cabin with viewing slots. About 300 armored vehicles were produced.
Humber Armored Car Mk.I AA - an anti-aircraft version of a medium armored car with an installed turret from an experimental anti-aircraft self-propelled gun based on the Mk VIB tank, the armament of this vehicle consisted of 4x7.92 mm Besa machine guns.
Humber Armored Car Mk.II - the modification received an improved body shape and a 7.7-mm Bgen anti-aircraft machine gun. The combat weight increased to 7.1 tons. A total of 440 armored vehicles were produced.
Humber Armored Car Mk.II OR (Observation Post) - armored car for artillery observers. He was armed with two Besa machine guns of 7.92 mm caliber.
Humber Armored Car Mk.III - a modified Mk.II armored vehicle with a new three-man turret. The crew increased from three to four people.
Humber Armored Car Mk.IV - a modified Mk.III armored car, which received an American 37 mm M6 cannon, coaxial with a 7.92 mm Besa machine gun. The combat weight increased to 7.25 tons. In total, about 2,000 armored vehicles of this type were produced.
Humber Armored Car Mk.IV
The Humber Armored Cars were not ready for the battles in France in the spring and summer of 1940, so their combat debut came in the second half of 1941, when they were first used by the British in battles in North Africa. The first combat unit to receive these medium armored vehicles was the 11th Hussar Regiment, stationed in Egypt. These armored vehicles were actively used by the British from 1941 until the end of the war, being used in all theaters of combat. Under favorable circumstances (for example, when firing from ambushes), they could effectively fight enemy armored vehicles. True, when meeting with German tanks in an open field they had very little chance of surviving.
After the end of World War II, Humber armored vehicles were soon withdrawn from service with the British Army as obsolete fighting vehicles. However, their service continued in the armies of other states. Great Britain supplied these armored vehicles to Burma, Portugal, Mexico, Ceylon and Cyprus. They were used quite actively in the armies of some of these countries until the early 1960s.
Performance characteristics of the Humber Armored Car:
Overall dimensions: length - 4575 mm, width - 2190 mm, height - 2390 mm, ground clearance - 310 mm.
Combat weight - 6.85 tons.
Reservation - up to 15 mm (hull forehead)
Powerplant - 6-cylinder carburetor liquid-cooled Rootes engine producing 90 hp.
Maximum speed - 80 km/h (on the highway).
Cruising range - 320 km (on the highway).
Armament is a 15 mm and 7.92 mm Besa machine gun (modifications Mk I-III), on the Mk IV modification - a 37 mm M6 cannon and a 7.92 mm Besa machine gun.
Ammunition (for Mk IV) - 71 shells and 2475 machine gun rounds.
Wheel formula - 4x4.
Crew - 3-4 people.
Information sources:
http://www.aviarmor.net
http://arsenal-info.ru/b/book/3074485325/4
http://pro-tank.ru/bronetehnika-england/broneavtomobili/194-hamber-4
Open source materials
Knowing first-hand what a front and a military operation are, Hitler understood perfectly well that without proper support for the advanced units, a large-scale military operation could not be carried out. Therefore, army vehicles played a significant role in building up military power in Germany.
Source: wikimedia.org
In fact, ordinary cars were quite suitable for military operations in Europe, but the Fuhrer’s plans were much more ambitious. To implement them, all-wheel drive vehicles were needed that could cope with Russian off-road conditions and the sands of Africa.
In the mid-thirties, the first motorization program for the Wehrmacht army units was adopted. The German automotive industry has begun developing off-road trucks in three sizes: light (with a payload of 1.5 tons), medium (with a payload of 3 tons) and heavy (for transporting 5-10 tons of cargo).
The development and production of army trucks was carried out by Daimler-Benz, Bussing and Magirus. In addition, the terms of reference stipulated that all cars, both externally and structurally, must be similar and have interchangeable main units.
Source: wikimedia.org
In addition, German automobile factories received an application for the production of special army vehicles for command and reconnaissance. They were produced by eight factories: BMW, Daimler-Benz, Ford, Hanomag, Horch, Opel, Stoewer and Wanderer. At the same time, the chassis for these machines was unified, but the manufacturers installed mostly their own engines.
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German engineers have created excellent cars that combine all-wheel drive with independent coil spring suspension. Equipped with locking center and cross-axle differentials, as well as special “toothy” tires, these SUVs were able to overcome very serious off-road conditions, were durable and reliable.
While military operations were carried out in Europe and Africa, these cars completely satisfied the command ground forces. But when the Wehrmacht troops entered Eastern Europe, disgusting road conditions began to gradually but methodically destroy the high-tech design of German cars
The “Achilles heel” of these machines turned out to be the high technical complexity of the designs. Complex components required daily maintenance. And the biggest drawback was the low carrying capacity of army trucks.
Be that as it may, fierce resistance Soviet troops near Moscow and a very cold winter finally “finished off” almost the entire fleet of army vehicles available to the Wehrmacht.
Complex, expensive and energy-consuming trucks to produce were good during the almost bloodless European campaign, but in the conditions of real confrontation, Germany had to return to the production of simple and unpretentious civilian models.
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Now they started making lorries: Opel, Phanomen, Stayr. Three-ton cars were produced by: Opel, Ford, Borgward, Mercedes, Magirus, MAN. Cars with a carrying capacity of 4.5 tons - Mercedes, MAN, Bussing-NAG. Six-ton trucks - Mercedes, MAN, Krupp, Vomag.
In addition, the Wehrmacht operated a large number of vehicles from the occupied countries.
The most interesting German cars from the Second World War:
"Horch-901 Type 40"- a multi-purpose version, a basic medium command vehicle, which, along with the Horch 108 and Stoewer, became the main transport of the Wehrmacht. They were equipped with a V8 gasoline engine (3.5 l, 80 hp), various 4-speed gearboxes, independent suspension with double wishbones and springs, locking differentials, hydraulic all-wheel brakes and 18-inch tires. Gross weight 3.3-3.7 tons, payload 320-980 kg, speed 90-95 km/h.
Source: wikimedia.org
Stoewer R200- produced by Stoewer, BMW and Hanomag under the control of Stoewer from 1938 to 1943. Stoewer became the founder of a whole family of light, standardized 4x4 staff and reconnaissance vehicles.
The main technical features of these vehicles were permanent all-wheel drive with lockable center and cross-axle differentials and independent suspension of all drive and steered wheels on double wishbones and springs.
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They had a wheelbase of 2400 mm, ground clearance of 235 mm, total weight of 2.2 tons, and a maximum speed of 75-80 km/h. The cars were equipped with a 5-speed gearbox, mechanical brakes and 18-inch wheels.
One of the most original and interesting vehicles in Germany was a multi-purpose half-track tractor. NSU NK-101 Kleines Kettenkraftrad ultralight class. It was a kind of hybrid of a motorcycle and an artillery tractor.
A 1.5-liter engine producing 36 hp was placed in the center of the side member frame. from Opel Olympia, which transmitted torque through a 3-speed gearbox to the front sprockets of the propulsion unit with 4 disc road wheels and an automatic braking system for one of the tracks.
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The single front 19-inch wheel on a parallelogram suspension, the driver's saddle and motorcycle-style controls were borrowed from motorcycles. NSU tractors were widely used in all units of the Wehrmacht, had a payload of 325 kg, weighed 1280 kg and reached a speed of 70 km/h.
We cannot ignore the light staff vehicle, produced on the platform of the “people’s car” - Kubelwagen Type 82.
The idea of the possibility of military use of the new car appeared to Ferdinand Porsche back in 1934, and already on February 1, 1938, the Army Armaments Directorate issued an order for the construction of a prototype of a light army vehicle.
Tests of the experimental Kubelwagen showed that it was significantly superior to all other Wehrmacht passenger cars, despite the lack of front-wheel drive. In addition, the Kubelwagen was easy to maintain and operate.
The VW Kubelwagen Typ 82 was equipped with a four-cylinder opposed air-cooled carburetor engine, the low power of which (first 23.5 hp, then 25 hp) was enough to move a car with a total weight of 1175 kg at a speed of 80 km/h. Fuel consumption was 9 liters per 100 km when driving on the highway.
Source: wikimedia.org
The advantages of the car were also appreciated by the opponents of the Germans - captured Kübelwagens were used by both the Allied troops and the Red Army. Americans especially loved him. Their officers exchanged Kubelwagens from the French and British at a speculative rate. Three Willys MBs were offered for one captured Kubelwagen.
On a rear-wheel drive chassis type "82" in 1943-45. They also produced the VW Typ 82E staff car and the Typ 92SS SS troop car with a closed body from the pre-war KdF-38. In addition, an all-wheel drive VW Typ 87 staff vehicle was produced with a transmission from the mass-produced army amphibious vehicle VW Typ 166 (Schwimmwagen).
amphibious vehicle VW-166 Schwimmwagen, created as further development successful design of the KdF-38. The Armament Directorate gave Porsche the task of developing a floating passenger car designed to replace motorcycles with sidecars, which were in service with reconnaissance and motorcycle battalions and turned out to be of little use for the conditions of the Eastern Front.
The Type 166 floating passenger car was unified in many components and mechanisms with the KfZ 1 all-terrain vehicle and had the same layout with an engine installed in the rear of the hull. To ensure buoyancy, the all-metal body of the vehicle was sealed.
Automotive vehicles were the most widespread part of military equipment. A car was defined as a land-based, self-propelled, wheeled, trackless vehicle, propelled by its own power source, having at least four wheels, and designed to transport goods or tow vehicles on roads, transport people, deliver equipment mounted on a vehicle, or perform special operations. The use of a car for military purposes allows these vehicles to be classified as military. It should be noted that such vehicles could include both civilian vehicles and vehicles specially designed for military purposes. Often, civilian cars, when used for a long time by the military, were repainted in protective, camouflage matte colors that eliminate glare, camouflage lighting devices and other specific military devices, and sometimes weapons, were installed. At the same time, despite the same functions performed by civilian vehicles and specially designed ones, the latter differed significantly from civilian vehicles. Thus, specially designed vehicles for the military had more high degree reliability, ease of maintenance, ease of storage and transportation. In addition, they could be universal for use in temperate climates, or special for use in specific climatic conditions (tropics, desert, mountains, north). Military vehicles were designed for off-road movement over rough terrain or column tracks, along forest and country roads, which in turn required increasing the strength of vehicle parts and mechanisms. A feature of the operation of military vehicles was the need for special training of personnel and command personnel. Automobiles did not include agricultural tractors and motorcycles.
The classification of cars is quite diverse and was carried out according to many criteria.
So, by appointment vehicles were divided into general-purpose and special-purpose vehicles, among which were cars and trucks. Trucks were divided into: flatbed trucks, tractor units, truck tractors, dump trucks and vans. Among the special vehicles were: staff vehicles, ambulances, passenger and staff buses, wheeled transporters and vehicles with special equipment (refueling trucks, fire engines, tanks, aircraft launchers and others). These cars, as a rule, were modified models (modifications) of trucks.
By engine type cars were divided into: carburetor - running on gasoline; diesel - running on diesel fuel; gas generators - operating on gas produced by a gas generator.
By cross-country ability cars were divided into three groups; normal (road) cross-country ability, increased and high cross-country ability. The first of them were intended for movement, mainly on roads. All-terrain vehicles could move on roads and certain areas of terrain. Off-road vehicles are capable of driving on and off-road. The main evaluation parameter of a car's cross-country ability was its wheel formula (4×2, 4×4, 6×4, 6×6), in which the first number shows the total number of wheels (not counting the spare), and the second - how many of them are driving. The driving wheel is the wheel to which torque is supplied from the engine. Vehicles with all driving wheels are called all-wheel drive. These included off-road and cross-country vehicles.
By number of axes distinguished: 2-axial; 3-axle, 4-axle and 6-axle.
The design of the car, in fact, has not changed significantly since its invention. Despite the wide variety of cars produced, their design can always be divided into three main parts: engine, chassis and body. The engine is the source of mechanical energy that sets the car in motion. Chassis was a set of mechanisms designed to transmit torque from the engine to the drive wheels to move and control the vehicle. The chassis consists of the following components: transmission - transmits torque from the engine to the drive wheels; chassis - allows the vehicle to move, smoothing out vibrations and consists of a frame, axle beams, front and rear suspension, wheels and tires; control mechanisms - (steering and brake system). The body is used to accommodate people or cargo. The bodies of cars and buses consist of a passenger compartment, the bodies of trucks consist of a cargo platform and a cabin for people. The bodies of buses and cars serve as a frame in the supporting system of the vehicle.
If about 140 thousand cars took part in the First World War, and they did not have prevailing importance during the war. Then in the Second, millions of vehicles were already involved, which largely determined not only the success of individual military operations, but also the course of the war. The rapid development of military automotive technology began in the late 30s.
In Germany, a system of state planning of military production and distribution of orders for military vehicles was introduced, and thanks to government programs for the standardization of army vehicles, a number of relatively inexpensive and fairly sophisticated vehicles of the same type were formed, produced simultaneously by several companies selected by the military department.
Italy and Japan, following the example of Germany, also tried to introduce their own standardization of automotive equipment, but the weakness of production capacity did not allow this to be done for the full range of military orders. In France, only huge plans were devoted to standardization.
In the pre-war years, in the Axis countries (Berlin-Rome-Tokyo), mass production of fundamentally new categories and types of military vehicles, which did not yet exist in the warring countries, was established. These included special types of light staff vehicles, floating vehicles and all-wheel drive off-road vehicles, first created in Germany, Japan, France and several years ahead of the famous American “Willys”. On the chassis of army trucks, special-purpose military vehicles with various add-ons appeared, as well as military equipment with weapons ranging from a simple machine gun to gun systems.
In the 1930s, Germany, Italy, France and other countries later drawn into the orbit of the Third Reich began introducing diesel engines into military trucks. At the final stage of the war, as a rule, on transport trucks, gas generator units powered by wood lumps or coals found widespread use. On military vehicles, new types of multi-stage transmissions, cardan shafts and special tires began to be used for movement over rough terrain, sand or snow, a combined wheel-railway for movement on ordinary roads or on rails, as well as bulletproof tires with disc inserts or with a special composition , which closed the holes from bullets and shrapnel.
Particular attention was paid to the creation of military vehicles with increased and high cross-country ability in any terrain and in any climatic conditions. Having convinced themselves of the low efficiency of three-axle vehicles with two rear drive axles, the designers switched to creating all-wheel drive two- and three-axle vehicles with single wheels with the same track. Mechanical engineers in Czechoslovakia and Austria used a backbone frame in the form of a longitudinal pipe and independent suspension on all wheels. In Germany, all-wheel drive vehicles had simplified constant velocity joints. In Italy and France, military vehicles were equipped with all drive and steered wheels, which provided them with increased survivability in the event of failure of several drive wheels at once. French SUVs also used an onboard transmission to drive the wheels of the right and left sides of the car, and some German light cars were equipped with two engines and two drive systems for the front and rear wheels. At the same time, the high cost of manufacturing such vehicles and the urgent need for their high-quality maintenance, taking into account large combat losses, were inferior to the American concept of mass production of cheap, simple and powerful vehicles.
Great Britain, having a sufficient amount of production capacity, began mass production of military vehicles only after 1940, covering the missing quantity with supplies from Australia, Canada and the USA. The cars, in their design features, were close to the American school of automotive engineering, although some models differed in their original designs.
In the USSR, automotive engineering was based on the improvement of foreign models of the interwar period (Italian, American, French), which were produced at two or three large factories. Distinctive feature Soviet automotive technology was ease of manufacture and maintenance, bordering on primitivism, relative endurance and low cost of production. The lack of resources in the USSR did not allow even by the end of the war to produce the required number of vehicles for the army, not to mention the needs of the country.
The United States, having a developed automobile industry, began producing military vehicles only with the beginning of the war and by the middle of it had become the largest manufacturer, providing not only for its army, but also for all its allies. The numerous automobile companies in the United States made it possible to produce vehicles for various purposes of all types required by the military.
In total, about 8.5 million cars from all countries participating in the war took part in the war, incl. 5.5 million trucks and special vehicles and 3 million cars and SUVs. The largest number of cars were built in the USA (3.6 million), Germany (1.3 million, half of them pre-war), France (715 thousand), the USSR (690 thousand) and Great Britain (630 thousand ). In addition to their own production, the warring parties had supplies from other countries and captured cars. Thus, 477.8 thousand vehicles (including 300 thousand trucks) were delivered to the USSR under Lend-Lease agreements from Great Britain, Canada and the USA, not counting spare parts, from which another 52 thousand vehicles could be assembled. As of May 1, 1945, the Red Army had approximately 61 thousand captured vehicles. During the war, the United States supplied its allies with about 800 thousand vehicles of all types. After the occupation of Europe, Germany received both captured cars and those produced in the occupied territory, in a total quantity of about 505 thousand. The USA, Britain and Canada supplied tens of thousands of vehicles to their allies during the war.
Approximately 60% or 4.2 million vehicles produced were lost during the fighting during the war.
