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Standard Beaverette

1940 WORLD WAR 2

History

With the fall of France in May/June 1940, a German invasion of the British mainland became a very real threat across the English Channel. In response, Britain instituted a number of local measures to ensure the survival of the royal family - special forces were called up, and cheap, easy-to-operate small arms and vehicles were all part of the movement.

The product of this period became the standard "Beaverette", a primitive four-wheeled armored vehicle intended as a contingency for home defense and training purposes - it was not entirely successful, but luckily it did not need to prevent a direct German invasion by Britain or the coast until 1941 (Hitler's "Operation Sea Lion" was indefinitely postponed as a result of the "Battle of Britain" air raids).

The car came out in 1940 under the patronage of the influential businessman Lord Beaverbrook (1879-1964), so the car was named "The Beaverett" (then Beaverbrook served as a plane Production Secretary) Four-Wheeled Utility Vehicle - Standard Motor's "sedan" chassis was used as the frame for the new car, with the addition of a riveted armored shell that accommodates a crew of three and a 7.7mm BREN light machine gun (LMG). Up to 11mm of steel protection is provided for the crew, reinforced by 3" layers of oak for good measure. The engine bay remains forward, the driver's position is on the right, and the basic four-wheel configuration remains the same, with leaf spring suspension.

The BREN machine gun was designed to fire through a vertical slot in the front wall of the hull superstructure (to the rider's left), so there was a limited run from left to right.

Some Beaverettes ditched their single 7.7mm BREN cannon in favor of 2 x Vickers machine guns, which were great for low-level AA roles. Others use a single-shot .55" boy anti-tank rifle to provide mobile anti-tank capability.

Power comes from a Standard Motors 4-cylinder 46 hp petrol engine. This enables a driving speed of 24 miles per hour on modified surfaces. Armored hulls will undoubtedly degrade performance on these roads and make heavy off-road touring impractical. The airframe didn't do the pilot any favors either, who were forced to use a restricted field of view to understand the situation and rely on other crew members for various checks.

The vehicle also has an excessive turning radius that requires some planning from the driver before taking action. As with many cars and trucks of that era, the long nose above the engine bay restricted the driver's view.

The original form was the "Mk 1" open-air hull models, which weighed 2.2 tons (short) by 13.5 feet long, 5 feet wide and 5 feet high. The "Mk II" combines more practical all-around armor protection with improved horizontally arranged radiator units (rather than vertical). The 2.9 ton "Mk III" (dubbed "Beaverbug") came with a shortened overall length and an improved (open air) fuselage design.

The placement of the machine gun turret provides more tactical flexibility, while the armor thickness reaches 9 mm. Dimensions include a length of 10.1 feet, a width of 5.7 feet, and a height of 7 feet.

The "Mk IV" had a modified forward sloping plate section to improve visibility from the driver's position, had armor up to 12mm thick, and housed its armament in a cylindrical machine gun on top of the hull.

As an emergency war measure, Beaverette managed to build from nothing when it was most needed, relying on local expertise and industry. The cars did not fight for their role in the Great War, but were featured in British newspaper propaganda at the time. It was during these performances that it was named "Mosquito" and "Iron Man."

By 1942, a total of about 2,800 Beaverettes were produced. The New Zealand rail industry produced a vehicle similar to a defensive type, such as the "Beaverette (NZ)" from the Hutt Valley. Instead, use a commercial Ford 3/4 or 1 ton truck chassis with a crew of 4 and added armor as usual.

The total output reached 208 units.

November 2018 - The Bovington Tank Museum, UK, is proud to receive the Standard Beaverett Award as part of its extensive Land Warfare collection. The example purchased was the Mk IV model with a cylindrical turret on a fully enclosed pyramid hull layout.