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This vehicle is not currently on display at the Museum
In the 1930s various attempts were made to improve the cross country mobility of military vehicles. One solution was the half track with steered wheels at the front like a normal truck and short tank type tracks at the rear in place of wheels. Most industrialised countries tried versions of these vehicles but Britain abandoned them in favour of six wheeled trucks with all four rear wheels powered by the engine. Some countries had, by the late 1930s, produced trucks with the front steerable wheels also driven, and these gave as good an off road performance as most half tracks.
American half tracks used a development of the French designed Kegresse tracks which were like large rubber bands. The vehicles also had driven front axles. Most of these produced, initially by the White Company and later by others, were armoured. During World War 2 many were supplied to Britain. At that time they were used as infantry APCs, armoured ambulances, self propelled guns, command and signals vehicles and occasionally by front line vehicle repair teams.
In the early 1950s REME began to refine its doctrine of forward repair. This held that, in suitable battlefield circumstances, it was simpler to carry out major maintenance or repairs where a vehicle stood, rather than to laboriously tow or carry it back to a workshop site. This concept was particularly appropriate for engine and gearbox changes. Also gun barrel changes to tanks, where a new or repaired assembly could be taken to and swapped ‘in situ'.
Some workshops were already using half tracks in similar roles but most depended on other vehicles to lift out the major tank assemblies. In the British Army of the Rhine a standard crane was designed to fit the front of the half track, using its front mounted winch to carry out the lift. An earlier type of crane for this vehicle used tubular steel poles hinged at the base. These cranes could be stowed at an angle, leaning back to the hull of the half track. But they got in the way of the canopy and in some instances snagged power lines and tramway overhead cables. The better and later universal version of this crane used a folding ‘A' frame, the top of which stowed flat and level with the top of the half track's cab.
The body of the vehicle was originally intended to carry the replacement tank engine, but this left no room for the repair crew and their equipment and stores. The solution was a one ton trailer, which could just carry a crated engine, leaving the interior of the vehicle for crew, tools, minor stores, etc. Soon half tracks were being fitted with sheet metal bodies extending well above the armoured sides and fitted out as workshop-cum-caravans. Few REME tradesmen would forego personal comfort when personal ingenuity could provide it. Some half tracks for a time retained the canvas top but most eventually were converted to metal tops all to a similar design. The vehicles were superseded in the early 1970s by the FV 434 fully tracked fitters vehicle.
The Museum's half tracks are of the common pattern. The second half track has no engine and is mounted on a plinth outside the Headquarters of the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering.
Length |
8.28 m (27 ft) |
Width |
2.43 m (8 ft) |
Height |
3.04 m (10 ft) with crane folded |
Weight |
7 tons |
Winch |
5 US tons capacity |
Engine |
International 6 cylinder petrol |
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Page produced by Peter Eldred - Last updated 24 July 2004