MACHINE-GUNNERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 123, 27 May 1938, Page 9

MACHINE-GUNNERS

HIGH-SPEED CARRIERS A NEW ZEALAND ORDER A number ol armoured machinegun carriers have been ordered as part of the Government's programme lor modernising the Territorial Force. Delivery has been promised before the end of 1938, and although the final date must depend on production m England, there is every reason to anticipate that they will arrive in lime for the next training year. These vehicles are fully described by their name. They include an armoured "box,” without a cover, in which the driver and two machinegunners have good protection from small arms fire. They can be fitted to carry either a Vickers or a Bren machine-gun. They are fully tracked fighting vehicles, with an excellent cross-coun-try performance comparable to that of the light tank; actually the chassis is almost identical. On the roads they can travel at a speed up to 45 miles an hour, and on good going, 30 miles an hour cross-country is easily kept up. Armoured carriers will be used in New Zealand for demonstration purposes to show troops what light tanks an do, and what measures they should take to counter this form of attack. They will also increase enormously the mobility and general fighting power of machine-gunners. Like all the army pool vehicles, the armoured carriers will be available for all appropriate units for training. They will, however, be particularly interesting to the motorised Mounted Rifles (the Manavvatu Mounted Rifles in the Central District), who have first claim on them irom a fighting point of view. These units form a highly mobile reserve with a large number ot machine-guns in proportion to their numbers, and are, therefore, the obvious home for the first quota of armoured carriers. The arrival of these modern vehicles, which are only now being issued to the British Army, will be eagerly looked forward to by all members of the Territorial Force, and their presence at the annual camps next year will be most valuable from a training point of view and from the point of vie'/ of general .interest. (Photograph on page 12).