Crossley-Chevrolet Armoured Car
In 1915 the British Army started to use armoured cars in India, particularly on the North West Frontier, to relieve troops needed elsewhere. They proved so successful that this soon became standard policy.
Shortly after the war the Indian Government purchased 16 Rolls-Royce cars to a new design but these proved so expensive that subsequent orders were placed with Crossley Motors in Manchester who made a tough but cheap 50hp chassis. 451 of these 5-tonne cars were built between 1923 and 1925, mainly for India, although some were exported to Japan.
The body design, very similar to the Rolls-Royce version and built by Vickers at Crayford, had a number of interesting features. These included a dome-shaped turret, with four machine-gun mounts, which was designed to deflect rifle shots from snipers in ambush positions in the high passes.
A clamshell cupola surmounted the turret for the commander, while side doors opened opposite ways on either side so that a crew member could dismount safely under fire. The crew area was lined with asbestos to keep the temperature down and the entire body could be electrified to keep large crowds at bay. Since pneumatic tyres did not survive for long in the Indian climate these cars were originally fitted with narrow, solid tyres which made them rather unstable.
By 1939, when the Royal Tank Corps in India had handed most of its equipment over to the Indian Army, the Crossleys were worn out. The bodies were then transferred to imported Chevrolet truck chassis, with pneumatic tyres, and in this form served with Indian forces in the Middle East (Iraq, Syria and Persia) in the early years of the war. The Japanese used theirs in Manchuria and some were still operational in the early years of WWII.
This particular example, seen in the new hall at The Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset, England, was presented by the Government of Pakistan in 1951.
Crossley-Chevrolet Armoured Car
In 1915 the British Army started to use armoured cars in India, particularly on the North West Frontier, to relieve troops needed elsewhere. They proved so successful that this soon became standard policy.
Shortly after the war the Indian Government purchased 16 Rolls-Royce cars to a new design but these proved so expensive that subsequent orders were placed with Crossley Motors in Manchester who made a tough but cheap 50hp chassis. 451 of these 5-tonne cars were built between 1923 and 1925, mainly for India, although some were exported to Japan.
The body design, very similar to the Rolls-Royce version and built by Vickers at Crayford, had a number of interesting features. These included a dome-shaped turret, with four machine-gun mounts, which was designed to deflect rifle shots from snipers in ambush positions in the high passes.
A clamshell cupola surmounted the turret for the commander, while side doors opened opposite ways on either side so that a crew member could dismount safely under fire. The crew area was lined with asbestos to keep the temperature down and the entire body could be electrified to keep large crowds at bay. Since pneumatic tyres did not survive for long in the Indian climate these cars were originally fitted with narrow, solid tyres which made them rather unstable.
By 1939, when the Royal Tank Corps in India had handed most of its equipment over to the Indian Army, the Crossleys were worn out. The bodies were then transferred to imported Chevrolet truck chassis, with pneumatic tyres, and in this form served with Indian forces in the Middle East (Iraq, Syria and Persia) in the early years of the war. The Japanese used theirs in Manchuria and some were still operational in the early years of WWII.
This particular example, seen in the new hall at The Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset, England, was presented by the Government of Pakistan in 1951.