The Marmon-Herrington MkII Armoured Car model is here
In August 1938, South Africa decided to equip itself with a nationally built armored car for its self-defense force. Unfortunately, the country did not have the industrial tools necessary for the complete realization of such a project. It was therefore necessary to import many elements:
The assembly of the chassis was done at Ford motor company of South Africa from elements imported from Canada and borrowed from a pre-war Ford 3 t truck with a 4X4 conversion kit from the American firm Marmon-Herrington (from MkII version on).
The armament was bought from England with the exception of the 7.62 mm Browning machine gun.
The armor plates were produced by the South African firm Iron & Steel Industrial Corporation
Final assembly was done in the South African factories of Dorman Long Structural Steel Company.
At first, the project (two prototypes ordered) progressed slowly but the declaration of war in September 1939 brutally accelerated this one and 22 models were therefore ordered, in October this order was raised to 266 vehicles. On September 18, 1939, the first prototype was presented to the army. Then it underwent three months trials in the easter part of the Transvaal province. After that some improvements were made to the engine cooling system and suspensions. The next serie of tests took place in January 1940 and the vehicle was officially accepted. In May the first order was then raised to 1000 copies. This project gave birth to the South African Reconnaissance Armored Car which the British called Marmon Herrington MkI
The MkII produced from November 1940 to May 1941 was a 4X4 version of the MkI with a different wheelbase. Used by South African forces from November 1940 and British forces from March 1941. The mk II was produced in two versions :
– The Mk II M.E : M.E for Middle East, this marmon was intended for the Commonwealth armies that operated in the Middle East. On this version, a new turret received a Boys AT rifle and a Bren machine gun, the hull’s machine gun was suppressed and a Vickers was often added on the rear of the turret.
– Mk II MFF : MFF for Mobile field Force, this marmon was supplied to the South African Army’s reconnaissance units, the hull machine gun was abandonned and the only armament was the turret Vickers machine gun, although in operations addditional armaments were carried.
The MkII version operated mainly in North Africa during 1941-42 with the 4th SAACR later 4/6 th SAACR, the King’s Dragoon Guards Rgt and the 3rd and 7th SAARbtl.
The hull was riveted then welded on late models. The 12 mm armor was insufficient and often sandbags were hung on the sides as additional armor. The cars were also overweighted and therefore driving off roads was difficult even if four wheeled drive. The first models were armed like the MK I, but it turned out to be quite insuffficient so they received a Boys anti-tank rifle and a Bren machine gun in the turret. Later many capture armaments (25 mm French Hotchkiss, 20 mm Italian breda or 28 mm Panzerbüchse or 20 mm Flak or 37 mm German Pak) were mounted in an attempt to improve the punch. 887 copies were produced 338 British middle east version and 549 mobile field force version).
Both models (MkI and MkII) were engaged intensively in North Africa against the Italo-German troops because they were the only models of armored cars available in number at that time and had a good reputation for endurance. Some vehicles were also engaged in Greece in april 1941 against the Germans.
Marmon Herrington Mk.I and Mk.II specifications:
Dimensions (L-W-H) : 5.18 x 2 x 2.67 m
Total weight, battle ready : 6 tons
Armament : 1×14 mm Boys AT rifle, 2×7.7 mm Vickers machine guns, 2×7.62 mm Bren machine guns
Maximum armor : 12 mm
Crew : 4 (driver, co-driver/radio, gunner, co-gunner/mechanic)
Propulsion : Ford V8 gasoline, 85 bhp
Maximum speed : 80 km/h
Range : 322 km
Total production : 113 Mk.I -887 Mk.II
