Good Afternoon Guys, Would anybody know the various Field or Staff Cars used by the BEF in 1940? Was any Ford Y7 saloon 1937, Standard Flying 8 saloon 1939, and Vauxhall 10 saloon 1939, used by them? Does anyone have any evidence of this too? Hope you can help? Colonel Durnford.
The very first post on the BEF vehicles thread above suggests Austin 7 (I have my doubts about this one), Austin 10hp and Humber snipe as typical staff cars. I have certainly seen pics of a Morris 8 Series E 2 door saloon. Chris
this is the 2nd Bn Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1937 doing a deployment exercise. The only change in 1940 was the addition of the carrier platoon.
Of course the army had 80 of the stylish Morris CD 6x4 Command (Battery cars) and some at least went to France. They would have been found in the artillery and possibly higher formation HQs
I'm not aware of any contracts to Vauxhall Motors but their products certainly appeared amongst the civilian impressed vehicles taken with the BEF. Generally allocated to RASC or 2nd line units. THE BRITISH ARMY IN FRANCE 1940 (F 4304)
Cars built under contract for the Military in the early war years as follows: Austin 8hp, 10hp, Hillman 10hp, 14 hp Humber Super Snipe, Snipe mk2 saloon, Snipe Heavy Utility, Pullman Standard 10 hp Vauxhall 14 hp series J1, 25 hp series G In addition there may well have been some civilian impressed cars from various manufactures added to the mix there are 616 ''Cars Various impressed'' listed in the Chilwell lists with early army registrations and there could have been many more, Ford is not listed as a supplier of cars at this early stage of the war but that is not to say that some did not find their way to France. Pete
Unscientific but in the hundreds of pics of abandoned BEF vehicles I have seen the 8HP Austin Tourer and the Humber Snipe Estate Car outnumber everything else car wise by a long way with the 8hp being the BEF 'Jeep' for junior officers . I have a feeling that like the Bedford OY by early 1940 they were rolling off production lines in big numbers and being issued to front line units, replacing pre-war and impressed cars. I have seen a few pics of Austin 7's on the beach and read officers accounts of using them but would not now say they were a typical BEF car. Craig
Craig Interesting photo Craig it's the first time I have seen an Austin Severn on the beaches and Skimmod's posted photo is the first time I've noticed them at all so thanks for posting, I'd agree with your conclusions above Austin and Humber seem to hold the balance in terms of field transport for the BEF. Pete
Here's one on the beach. - HMY 372, I think. The 'HMY' series is listed as having been allocated around February 1938.
'15' is just a standard infantry division AoS so not much use without the formation sign. I do see a hint though of a horizontal colour change...or maybe it's just a crease in the tinware...If it is red over blue then it could only be 77 Field Regt. of 4 Div.
Perhaps we should start an BEF Austin 7 thread but he's another one , some French/Belgian guy obviously has a good stock of 7 parts ! Diverting a bit this is the second Morris -Commercial civilian type 30 cwt (Wolfrace wheels always very distinctive ! ) I have seen with a Motley AA bren mount , maybe a batch converted ? was there some advantage of a high flat platform body ? always seem very exposed to me and surprised they were not on a military chassis. Craig
Here is a British Army staff car BEF 1940 france .Shot up Mercury 99A AOS 20 taken from an original negative i have and a Humber and Austin 7 on the beach. 2nd to last photo shows a split screen humber [ i owned one of these ] Keith
Thank you guys for all your replies, information, and very interesting photos. They are very helpful indeed!! Colonel Durnford.
The Mercury must have been an unusual British staff car in 1940 ? impressed ? Have vague memories of colour pictures of a very shot up USA car in British colours in Dunkirk environs on here , same one maybe ? Question questions
