AEC Armoured Command Vehicle

AEC Armoured Command Vehicle was a series of command vehicles built by the British Associated Equipment Company during World War II .

History

An ACV of 23rd Brigade HQ at Francolise, 14 March 1944.

During World War II the United Kingdom was the only country to develop and widely employ purpose-built armoured command vehicles. Those were essentially armoured buses based on truck chassis.

The most common ACV of the British Army was the AEC 4x4 ACV. The vehicle, based on AEC Matador chassis, entered production in 1941. A total of about 415 units were built. The vehicle was used for the first time in the North African Campaign and remained in service until the end of the war. Big and comfortable, it was nicknamed Dorchester by the troops, after the luxury hotel in London. Three ACVs of this type were captured by the German Afrika Korps. Two of them, named "Max" and "Moritz", were employed by Rommel and his staff throughout the campaign.

In 1944 a larger AEC 6x6 ACV was developed. The vehicle was based on AEC 0857 lorry chassis and was powered by the AEC 198 150 hp engine. The hull was welded from 9 mm thick rolled steel. The weight of the vehicle reached 17 tons. One hundred and fifty one units were built.

Both vehicles were built in two configurations, called LP (Low Power) and HP (High Power), with different radio equipment.

AEC Dorechester at IWM

See also

• Guy Lizard

Notes

References

• Forty, George - World War Two Armoured Fighting Vehicles and Self-Propelled Artillery, Osprey Publishing 1996, ISBN 1-85532-582-9.
• Moschanskiy, I - Armored vehicles of the Great Britain 1939–1945 part 2, Modelist-Konstruktor, Bronekollektsiya 1999-02 (И. Мощанский - Бронетанковая техника Великобритании 1939–1945 часть 2, Моделист-Конструктор, Бронеколлекция 1999-02).

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to AEC Armoured Command Vehicle.

• Aec.middx.net
• Nase noviny
• AFRIKAKORPS / AANA Research AEC Dorchester 4X4 or DAK "Mammoth"