The first British carriers, developed from Vickers-Armstrongs' VA D50 of 1934: the Carrier, Machine-Gun No. 1 and No. 2, the Bren, Scout and Cavalry carriers and the armoured observation post, each laid out for one job. About 2,400 were built before the Universal Carrier replaced them in 1940.
MODEL LINEBren and Scout carriersBUILT BYVickers-Armstrongs, Thornycroft, Basingstoke, Sentinel Waggon Works, Shrewsbury, Aveling-Barford, Grantham, Ford of Britain, Dagenham, Morris Motors, CowleyPRODUCED1936–40OPERATED INUnited Kingdom, New Zealand, AustraliaPRODUCTIONAbout 2,400 early carriersLAYOUT4 wheels
The record
The War Office bought two VA D50s for evaluation in 1935 and one became the Carrier, Machine-Gun Experimental (Armoured). Fourteen were built in mild steel as the Carrier, Machine-Gun No. 1 Mark I and entered service in 1936; the No. 2 followed in 1937, and the Bren, Scout and Cavalry carriers entered service before the war. Builders included Aveling and Porter, Bedford Vehicles, Ford of Britain, Morris Motors, Sentinel Waggon Works and Thornycroft.
In France in 1939–40 each infantry battalion of the British Expeditionary Force had ten Bren carriers, and each of the seven mechanised divisional cavalry regiments had 44 Scout Carriers alongside 28 light tanks. When the losses in France cut off supply from Britain, New Zealand and Australia built their own from British patterns in 1940–41.
design; built by Aveling-Barford, Ford of Britain, Morris Motors, Sentinel Waggon Works and Thornycroft
MANUFACTURED1936–40
ENGINEFord flathead V8 petrol, 239 cu in (3.9 L), 85 hp at 3,500 rpmFord flathead V8
PRODUCTION RUNAbout 2,400 early carriers
COUNTRY OF ORIGINUnited Kingdom
OPERATED INUnited Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia
STATUSout of production
RECORD KINDBase model
MODEL LINEBren and Scout carriers
FAMILYBren and Scout carriers
WHEELS4
BODY STYLEOpen-topped
VARIANTS1
Catalogue fields describe the vehicle's structure and body as this registry records it. They are not certified factory measurements, and no performance figures are published here.
Body styles & colours
Factory colours
Khaki Green No. 3
Service Colour Standard brown
Light Stone
Portland Stone
Codes on hover. Hex values are representative approximations of period paint unless a source states a measured value.
Imagery
Bren gun carriers of the British Expeditionary Force pass Belgian refugees on the Brussels–Louvain road, 12 May 1940.Puttnam L A · Public domain ↗
