1.
Bedford Vehicles
–
Bedford Vehicles, usually shortened to just Bedford, was a brand of vehicle produced by Vauxhall Motors, which was ultimately owned by General Motors. It was GM Europes most profitable venture for several years, the brand was retired in 1991, subsequent GM Europe light commercials would be branded as either Vauxhall or Opel depending on market. Until 1925, General Motors assembled trucks in Britain from parts manufactured at their Canadian works and this enabled them to import vehicles into Britain under Imperial Preference, which favoured products from the British Empire as far as import duties were concerned. Such trucks were marketed as British Chevrolet, in 1925, GM took ownership of Vauxhall Motors, production was transferred from Hendon to Luton, Vauxhalls headquarters, production commencing there in 1929. The AC and LQ models were produced at Luton from 1929 to 1931, the AC was bodied as a light van, and the LQ in a wide variety of roles, including a lorry, ambulance, van and bus versions. The name Chevrolet was dropped, and the first Bedford was produced in April 1931, however, the Chevrolet LQ and AC continued in production alongside the new product for a further year. In August 1931, a bus chassis was added to the range, in April 1932, a 30 cwt lorry was introduced, together with a 12 cwt light delivery van, designated as the WS and VYC models respectively. Bedford continued to develop its share of the transport market, with the introduction of the 8 cwt ASYC and ASXC vans. The AS series of vans continued in production until 1939, Bedford introduced the 3 ton WT series in November 1933. Again, a short wheelbase WHT, or long wheelbase WLG version was offered, a change in design of the WLG produced the WTL, with its cab, internal combustion engine and radiator moved forward to allow a 14 feet bodylength. The 5–6 cwt HC light van was introduced in 1938, based on the Vauxhall Ten car, mid 1939 saw a complete revamp of Bedfords, with only the HC van continuing in production. The new range consisted of the K, MS and ML, OS and OL, OS/40 and OL/40 series, also on offer was a new 10–12 cwt van, the JC, derived from the new J Model Vauxhall car. Production of the new range ceased, apart from a few examples made for essential civilian duties, in 1935, Bedford began the development of a 15 cwt truck for the British War Office. This entered service as the MW in 1939, and 65,995 examples had been built by the end of World War II in 1945. The MW appeared in a range of roles, as a water tanker, general duties truck, personnel carrier, petrol tanker, wireless truck. The War Office designated 15 cwt vehicles, such as the MW, as trucks, the 1939 K-, M-, and O-series lorries were quickly redesigned for military use. This was largely a matter of styling, involving a sloping bonnet with a front with headlights incorporated. This variant was known as the Queen Mary
2.
Vehicle armour
–
Military vehicles are commonly armoured to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, missiles or shells, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fighting vehicles like tanks, aircraft and ships, civilian vehicles may also be armoured. These vehicles include cars used by reporters, officials and others in conflict zones or where violent crime is common, armoured cars are also routinely used by security firms to carry money or valuables to reduce the risk of highway robbery or the hijacking of the cargo. Armour may also be used in vehicles to protect from other than a deliberate attack. Some spacecraft are equipped with specialised armour to protect them against impacts from micrometeoroids or fragments of space junk, the design and purpose of the vehicle determines the amount of armour plating carried, as the plating is often very heavy and excessive amounts of armour restrict mobility. In order to decrease this problem, some new materials and material compositions are being researched which include buckypaper, rolled homogeneous armour is strong, hard, and tough. Steel with these characteristics is produced by processing cast steel billets of appropriate size, rolling and forging irons out the grain structure in the steel, removing imperfections which would reduce the strength of the steel. Aluminium is used when weight is a necessity. It is most commonly used on APCs and armoured cars, wrought iron was used on ironclad warships. Early European iron armour consisted of 10 to 13 cm of wrought iron backed by up to one meter of solid wood, titanium is roughly the weight of aluminium, but as strong as iron. So despite being rather expensive, it finds an application in areas where weight is a concern, such as personal armour, because of its high density, depleted uranium can also be used in tank armour, sandwiched between sheets of steel armour plate. Plastic metal was a type of vehicle armour originally developed for merchant ships by the British Admiralty in 1940, the original composition was described as 50% clean granite of half-inch size, 43% of limestone mineral, and 7% of bitumen. It was typically applied in a two inches thick and backed by half an inch of steel. Plastic armour could be applied by pouring it into a cavity formed by the backing plate. Bulletproof glass is a term for glass that is particularly resistant to being penetrated when struck by bullets. The industry generally refers to it as bullet-resistant glass or transparent armour, bullet-resistant glass is usually constructed using a strong but transparent material such as polycarbonate thermoplastic or by using layers of laminated glass. The desired result is a material with the appearance and light-transmitting behaviour of standard glass, the polycarbonate layer, usually consisting of products such as Armormax, Makroclear, Cyrolon, Lexan or Tuffak, is often sandwiched between layers of regular glass. The use of plastic in the laminate provides impact-resistance, such as physical assault with a hammer, the plastic provides little in the way of bullet-resistance
3.
COW 37 mm gun
–
The COW37 mm gun was a British automatic cannon that was developed as a heavy-calibre aircraft weapon. It was trialled in several installations and specified for the Westland C. O. W, however they did not yield results and the weapon did not enter general service except on a few flying boats. Coventry Ordnance Works had been set up in 1905 by a consortium of British shipbuilding firms in order to compete with the duopoly of Vickers, besides the larger naval gun, COW worked at the smaller end on anti-aircraft guns. There was a demand for a gun that could be mounted on an aircraft and their first attempt at an automatic gun was a 1-pounder from a rimless 37x94 cartridge. This developed into a 1½-pounder using a longer 37x190 cartridge in a five-round clip, the gun was ready to produce only as the First World War came to an end and was only in service briefly fitted to a pair of Airco DH4s. It was tried postwar in a number of different aircraft, mostly flying boats such as the Blackburn Perth, the Air Ministry specifically requested designs that could use the weapon, such as the Westland C. O. W. Gun Fighter, the Vickers Type 161 and the unsuccessful Bristol Bagshot heavy fighter, after Vickers acquired the Coventry Ordnance Works, the COW37 mm was used for the development of the 40 mm Vickers S gun which was used by Hawker Hurricanes as an anti-tank weapon. In the Second World War, COW guns were used as the armament for the Mk III version of the Armadillo armoured fighting vehicle, the vehicle was used by the RAF Regiment and later by the Home Guard. Specification 4/24 Westland Westbury - One in trainable mount, one fixed mounting Bristol Bagshot - Two in trainable mountings Specification F9/27 Westland C. O. W. V, hogg & L. F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914-1918. O. W. 37mm cannon fitted to Blackburn Perth flying boat YouTube, shown being fired while moored on water
4.
Lewis gun
–
The Lewis gun is a First World War-era light machine gun of US design that was perfected and mass-produced in the United Kingdom, and widely used by British and British Empire troops during the war. With its distinctive barrel cooling shroud and top-mounted pan magazine, the Lewis served to the end of the Korean War and it was also widely used as an aircraft machine gun, almost always with the cooling shroud removed, during both world wars. The Lewis gun was invented by U. S. Army colonel Isaac Newton Lewis in 1911, Lewis became frustrated with trying to persuade the U. S. Army to adopt his design, so, retired from the army. He left the United States in 1913 and went to Belgium, Lewis had been working closely with British arms manufacturer the Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited in an effort to overcome some of the production difficulties of the weapon. Lewis and his moved to England before 1914, away from possible seizure in the event of a German invasion. The Belgian army acquired only a handful of his guns and they were not on general issue in the Belgian Army, and were used only in a few forays by motor vehicles, south of Antwerp, against the flank of the invading German Army. The onset of the First World War increased demand for the Lewis gun, the design was officially approved for service on 15 October 1915 under the designation Gun, Lewis. 303-cal. No Lewis guns were produced in Belgium during the war, all manufacture was carried out by BSA in England, Savage did make Lewis guns in.303 British calibre, though. The Model 1916 and Model 1917 were exported to Canada and the United Kingdom, the Savage Model 1917 was generally produced in. 30-06 caliber. A number of guns were supplied to the UK under lend-lease during the Second World War. The Lewis gun was gas operated, a portion of the expanding propellant gas was tapped off from the barrel, driving a piston to the rear against a spring. The piston was fitted with a vertical post at its rear which rode in a helical cam track in the bolt and this allowed the three locking lugs at the rear of the bolt to engage in recesses in the guns body to lock it into place. The post also carried a fixed firing pin, which protruded through an aperture in the front of the bolt, only the Royal Navy retained the tube on their deck-mounted AA-configuration Lewis guns. The Lewis gun used a pan magazine holding 47 or 97 rounds, pan magazines hold the rounds, bullet-noses inwards toward the center, in a radial fan. Unlike the more common drum magazines, which hold the rounds parallel to the axis and are fed by spring tension, the Lewis magazine was driven by a cam on top of the bolt which operated a pawl mechanism via a lever. The operating rod had a toothed underside, which engaged with a cog which wound the spring, when the gun fired, the bolt recoiled and the cog was turned, tightening the spring until the resistance of the spring had reached the recoil force of the bolt assembly. At that moment, as the gas pressure in the fell, the spring unwound, turning the cog. As with a spring, the Lewis gun recoil spring had an adjustment device to alter the recoil resistance for variations in temperature
5.
Leaf spring
–
A leaf spring is a simple form of spring commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles. Originally called a laminated or carriage spring, and sometimes referred to as a spring or cart spring. A leaf spring takes the form of a slender arc-shaped length of spring steel of rectangular cross-section, in the most common configuration, the center of the arc provides location for the axle, while tie holes are provided at either end for attaching to the vehicle body. For very heavy vehicles, a spring can be made from several leaves stacked on top of each other in several layers. Leaf springs can serve locating and to some extent damping as well as springing functions, while the interleaf friction provides a damping action, it is not well controlled and results in stiction in the motion of the suspension. For this reason some manufacturers have used mono-leaf springs, a leaf spring can either be attached directly to the frame at both ends or attached directly at one end, usually the front, with the other end attached through a shackle, a short swinging arm. The shackle takes up the tendency of the spring to elongate when compressed. Some springs terminated in an end, called a spoon end. There were a variety of springs, usually employing the word elliptical. Elliptical or full elliptical leaf springs referred to two circular arcs linked at their tips and this was joined to the frame at the top center of the upper arc, the bottom center was joined to the live suspension components, such as a solid front axle. Additional suspension components, such as trailing arms, would usually be needed for this design and that employed the lower arc, hence its name. As an example of leaf springs, the Ford Model T had multiple leaf springs over its differential that were curved in the shape of a yoke. As a substitute for dampers, some manufacturers laid non-metallic sheets in between the leaves, such as wood. Today leaf springs are used in heavy commercial vehicles such as vans and trucks, SUVs. For heavy vehicles, they have the advantage of spreading the load more widely over the vehicles chassis, whereas coil springs transfer it to a single point. Unlike coil springs, leaf springs also locate the axle, eliminating the need for trailing arms. A further advantage of a leaf spring over a spring is that the end of the leaf spring may be guided along a definite path. A more modern implementation is the leaf spring
6.
Armoured fighting vehicle
–
An armoured fighting vehicle is a combat vehicle, protected by strong armour and generally armed with weapons, which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked and it is not uncommon for AFVs to be simply referred to as armour. Armoured fighting vehicles are classified according to their role on the battlefield. This classification is not absolute, at different times different countries will classify the vehicle in different roles. For example, armoured carriers were generally replaced by infantry fighting vehicles in a similar role. Modern armoured fighting vehicles are the realization of an ancient concept, War machines with rudimentary armour have been used in battle for millennia. These designs historically struggled between the paradox of exposed-mobility, effective-firepower and cumbersome-protection, Siege engines, such as battering rams and trebuchets, would often be armoured in order to protect the crews from the defenders. Very large movable siege towers, helepolis were developed by Polyidus of Thessaly, the idea of a vehicle with a tortoise like cover has been known since antiquity. Frequently cited is Leonardo da Vincis 15th century sketch of a mobile, protected gun platform, the machine was to be mounted on four wheels which would be turned by the crew through a system of hand cranks and cage gears. Leonardo quoted I will build armored wagons which will be safe, there will be no obstacle which it cannot overcome. Modern replicas have demonstrated that the crew would have been able to move it over only short distances. The war wagon were medieval weapon-platforms developmed during the Hussite Wars around 1420 by Hussite forces rebelling in Bohemia. These heavy wagon were given protective sides with firing slits and heavy firepower from either a cannon or a force of hand-gunners and crossbowmen, supported by infantry using pikes, heavy arquebuses mounted on wagons were called arquebus à croc. These carried a ball of about 3.5 ounces, the first modern AFVs were armed cars, dating back virtually to the invention of the motor car. The Motor Scout was designed and built by British inventor F. R. Simms in 1898 and it was the first armed petrol engine powered vehicle ever built. The vehicle was a De Dion-Bouton quadricycle with a mounted Maxim machine gun on the front bar, an iron shield offered some protection for the driver from the front, but it lacked all-around protective armour. The armoured car was the first modern fully armoured fighting vehicle, the first of these was the Simms Motor War Car, designed by Simms and built by Vickers, Sons & Maxim in 1899. The vehicle had Vickers armour 6 mm thick and was powered by a four-cylinder 3. 3-litre 16 hp Cannstatt Daimler engine giving it a speed of around 9 miles per hour
7.
Royal Air Force
–
The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdoms aerial warfare force. Formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, following victory over the Central Powers in 1918 the RAF emerged as, at the time, the largest air force in the world. The RAF describe its mission statement as, an agile, adaptable and capable Air Force that, person for person, is second to none, and that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission. The mission statement is supported by the RAFs definition of air power, Air power is defined as the ability to project power from the air and space to influence the behaviour of people or the course of events. Today the Royal Air Force maintains a fleet of various types of aircraft. The majority of the RAFs rotary-wing aircraft form part of the tri-service Joint Helicopter Command in support of ground forces, most of the RAFs aircraft and personnel are based in the UK, with many others serving on operations or at long-established overseas bases. It was founded on 1 April 1918, with headquarters located in the former Hotel Cecil, during the First World War, by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps, at that time it was the largest air force in the world. The RAFs naval aviation branch, the Fleet Air Arm, was founded in 1924, the RAF developed the doctrine of strategic bombing which led to the construction of long-range bombers and became its main bombing strategy in the Second World War. The RAF underwent rapid expansion prior to and during the Second World War, under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of December 1939, the air forces of British Commonwealth countries trained and formed Article XV squadrons for service with RAF formations. Many individual personnel from countries, and exiles from occupied Europe. By the end of the war the Royal Canadian Air Force had contributed more than 30 squadrons to serve in RAF formations, additionally, the Royal Australian Air Force represented around nine percent of all RAF personnel who served in the European and Mediterranean theatres. In the Battle of Britain in 1940, the RAF defended the skies over Britain against the numerically superior German Luftwaffe, the largest RAF effort during the war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. Following victory in the Second World War, the RAF underwent significant re-organisation, during the early stages of the Cold War, one of the first major operations undertaken by the Royal Air Force was in 1948 and the Berlin Airlift, codenamed Operation Plainfire. Before Britain developed its own nuclear weapons the RAF was provided with American nuclear weapons under Project E and these were initially armed with nuclear gravity bombs, later being equipped with the Blue Steel missile. Following the development of the Royal Navys Polaris submarines, the nuclear deterrent passed to the navys submarines on 30 June 1969. With the introduction of Polaris, the RAFs strategic nuclear role was reduced to a tactical one and this tactical role was continued by the V bombers into the 1980s and until 1998 by Tornado GR1s. For much of the Cold War the primary role of the RAF was the defence of Western Europe against potential attack by the Soviet Union, with many squadrons based in West Germany. With the decline of the British Empire, global operations were scaled back, despite this, the RAF fought in many battles in the Cold War period
8.
Home Guard (United Kingdom)
–
The Home Guard was a defence organisation of the British Army during the Second World War. Their role was to act as a defence force, in case of invasion by the forces of Nazi Germany. They were to try to slow down the advance of the enemy, there was a Home Guard during the First World War although this was not on the same scale as its Second World War successor. The origins of the Second World War Home Guard can be traced to Captain Tom Wintringham, despite great interest by the War Office in the books assertion that security is possible, Wintringhams call to train 100,000 men immediately was not implemented. Calls for some form of defence force soon began to be heard from the press. This apparent lack of focus led to many LDV members becoming impatient, in the absence of proper weapons, many LDV units broke into museums and appropriated whatever weapons could be found, or equipped themselves with private weapons such as shotguns. Another problem that was encountered as the LDV was organised was the definition of the role the organisation was to play, the War Office believed that the LDV would act best in such a passive role because of its lack of training, weapons and proper equipment. However such a role clashed with the expectations of LDV commanders and members, the Home Guard had a number of secret roles. This included sabotage units who would disable factories and petrol installations following invasion and these bases, upwards of 600 in number, were able to support units ranging in size from squads to companies. The Home Guard did not, initially, admit women to its ranks, some women formed their own groups like the Amazon Defence Corps. In December 1941, an organised but still unofficial Womens Home Defence was formed under the direction of Dr Edith Summerskill. WHD members were taught weapons training and basic military training, limited female involvement was permitted later on the understanding that these would be in traditional female support roles and not in any way seen as combatants. Auxiliary Units however may have had members in both support and combat roles, although records are scarce. Even once the threat of invasion had passed, the Home Guard remained in existence manning guard posts, in 1942 the National Service Act allowed for compulsory enrolment where units were below strength. At this time, the lowest rank within the Home Guard and it is a common fallacy that the Home Guard never fired a shot in anger during the whole of the Second World War. In fact individual Home Guardsmen helped man anti-aircraft guns as far back as the Battle of Britain during the summer of 1940. By 1943 the Home Guard operated its own dedicated batteries of anti-aircraft guns and they are credited with shooting down numerous Luftwaffe aircraft and the V-1 flying bombs which followed them in the summer of 1944. The Home Guards first official kill was shot down on Tyneside in 1943, the Home Guard in Northern Ireland also took part in gun battles with the IRA
9.
Battle of France
–
The Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries in 1940 during the Second World War. Italy entered the war on 10 June 1940 and attempted an invasion of France, the German plan for the invasion of France consisted of two main operations. After the withdrawal of the BEF, the German forces began Fall Rot on 5 June, the sixty remaining French divisions made a determined resistance but were unable to overcome the German air superiority and armoured mobility. German tanks outflanked the Maginot Line and pushed deep into France, German forces occupied Paris unopposed on 14 June after a chaotic period of flight of the French government that led to a collapse of the French army. German commanders met with French officials on 18 June with the goal of forcing the new French government to accept an armistice that amounted to surrender and this led to the end of the French Third Republic. France was not liberated until the summer of 1944, in 1939, Britain and France offered military support to Poland in the likely case of a German invasion. In the dawn of 1 September 1939, the German Invasion of Poland began, France and the United Kingdom declared war on 3 September, after an ultimatum for German forces to immediately withdraw their forces from Poland was met without reply. Following this, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada, on 7 September, in accordance with their alliance with Poland, France began the Saar Offensive with an advance from the Maginot Line 5 km into the Saar. France had mobilised 98 divisions and 2,500 tanks against a German force consisting of 43 divisions, the French advanced until they met the then thin and undermanned Siegfried Line. On 17 September, the French supreme commander, Maurice Gamelin gave the order to withdraw French troops to their starting positions, following the Saar Offensive, a period of inaction called the Phoney War set in between the belligerents. Adolf Hitler had hoped that France and Britain would acquiesce in the conquest of Poland, on 6 October, he made a peace offer to both Western powers. On 9 October, Hitler issued a new Führer-Directive Number 6, the plan was based on the seemingly more realistic assumption that German military strength would have to be built up for several years. For the moment only limited objectives could be envisaged and were aimed at improving Germanys ability to survive a long war in the west. Hitler ordered a conquest of the Low Countries to be executed at the shortest possible notice to forestall the French and it would also provide the basis for a long-term air and sea campaign against Britain. On 10 October 1939, Britain refused Hitlers offer of peace and on 12 October, colonel-General Franz Halder, presented the first plan for Fall Gelb on 19 October. This was the codename of plans for a campaign in the Low Countries. Halders plan has been compared to the Schlieffen Plan, the given to the German strategy of 1914 in the First World War. It was similar in both plans entailed an advance through the middle of Belgium
