Morris Light Reconnaissance Car

Morris Light Reconnaissance Car (LRC)

Morris LRC of the RAF Regiment, Tunisia, 30 March 1943.
Production history
Manufacturer Morris
Number built 2,200
Specifications
Weight 3.7 t
Length 13 ft 4 inch (4.06 m)
Width 6 ft 8 inch (2.03 m)
Height 6 ft 2 inch (1.88 m)
Crew 3

Armour 8-14 mm
Main
armament
0.55 in Boys anti-tank rifle
Secondary
armament
0.303 in Bren light machine gun
Engine Morris 4-cylinder petrol engine
72 hp (54 kW)
Power/weight 24 hp/tonne
Suspension Mk I: 4 x 2 wheel
Mk II: 4 x 4 wheel
Operational
range
240 miles (385 km)
Speed 50 mph (80 km/h)

Morris Light Reconnaissance Car (LRC) was a British light armoured car for reconnaissance use produced by Morris Motors Limited and used by the British during the Second World War.

The Nuffield Group had been brought in to supplement production of light reconnaissance cars by Standard Motor Company (Beaverette) and Humber (Humber LAC, also known as "Humberette").

The vehicle had an unusual internal arrangement, with three-man crew sitting side by side by side with the driver in the middle, a crewman manning a small multi-sided turret mounting Bren light machine gun at the right side, and another with Boys .55 inch anti-tank rifle (mounted in brackets in the hatches on the hull roof) and access to radio set at the left. From 1940 to 1944 over 2,200 were built.

The vehicle was used in North African, Italian and in North-West Europe campaigns. Some served with the RAF Regiment. Some were given to Polish units.

One of the surviving vehicles is on display at the Imperial War Museum Duxford, another at The Tank Museum, Bovington.

RAF Morris LRC on an airfield in the Azores, January 1944.

There is also a surviving example at the Military Museum at Port Dickson, Malaysia

Variants

Notes

  1. Fletcher, The Great Tank Scandal 1989 HMSO
  2. 1 2 missing-lynx.com Morris Light Recce Car Mk I

References

External links

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