BIG MIKE Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Hello lads, i'm looking for any bren carrier owners in the UK . My name is Mike and I own a UC (universal carrier mk1) and live in the USA. I can post sum pics if you like:) Cheers BIG MIKE, here is a few pics http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u279/grenidier/Picture070.jpg?t=1184122582 http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u279/grenidier/Piicture077.jpg?t=1184122680 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG MIKE Posted July 11, 2007 Author Share Posted July 11, 2007 [/img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u279/grenidier/Picture068-1.jpg?t=1184120188 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 I'm glad to see you have the right div markings on her. :-D 50 Div landed on Gold Beach at Ver sur Mer. The road up from the beach is called 50 div way. We are planning a trip in 2009, following our much acclaimed 60th event, to start at Goldbeach and run up as far as we can along the divisions original route. http://goldbeach.org.uk/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Damn you're a big guy!! You hardly fit in the carrier? Very nice vehicle indeed!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG MIKE Posted July 11, 2007 Author Share Posted July 11, 2007 here is another cool pic, alot of parts i had to fabricate util i can get an origanel part these will have to do. cheers Mike http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u279/grenidier/Piicture063-1.jpg?t=1184167170 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Pearson Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 ihave got the rusty remains of a 1940 scout carrier which was probably built as a single sider but later had the second side added and made up to Mk II standard. Very poor condition but I have hopes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG MIKE Posted July 12, 2007 Author Share Posted July 12, 2007 Thats cool mate! Good luck in the restoration, any pic's? Cheers Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rlangham Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 ihave got the rusty remains of a 1940 scout carrier which was probably built as a single sider but later had the second side added and made up to Mk II standard. Very poor condition but I have hopes! Wow, are you hoping to restore it to original status? As far as I know (i'm probably wrong though), that would make it unique, the earliest 'bren' carrier I know of is the single Mk I Universal Carrier i've seen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Pearson Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 I do have pictures but I have no idea how to post them! Really, it is almost not there any more. It was used by the Forrestry Commission until the mid 1950's when it shed a track and was abandoned. A friend found it in the mid 1980's and recovered it (he had to buy several trees to fell so he could get it out). He stripped it down then slipped a disc in his back and gave up and it took me nearly 15 years to persuade him to part with it. He finally swapped it for a poor but running and complete Ferret. Due to being outside for 40 years, the horizontal surfaces were not there except for the belly plate that was protected by oil deposits. There are even some holes in vertical surfaces where leaves got lodged! Rust has got into and behind the framing distorting it so I am having to completely de-rivet it and reframe it with new angle iron. Most of the controls will need to be replaced although I do have them as patterns. I know it is equipped as a Scout Carrier because it has the 4 inch smoke discharger brackets and the mounting for the Boyes anti tank rifle these were fitted with. I think it was built as a single sider initially because one side has holes for the wooden capping fitted to the single siders (like T16's) and no holes in the other side. Both sides have the remains of the tube capping that was welded onto later models and it now has Mk 11 stowage but holes in the backplate for battery etc so was certainly a Mk1 originally and I am guessing the second side was added when it became the later Mark. It is from a batch ordered as single siders but which at least the later ones were completed as double sided Universal carriers so who knows? I do have a new engine and gearbox for it which is the only good bit! Not sure if this is unique as I am not 100% sure it was built as a single sider as it could have been built as a Universal but using up a precut/predilled single side plate ordered for the earlier batch. I believe there to be two single sided, sloping back genuine bren gun carriers in Australia and possibly one in the Falkland Islands but not certain of either. There was a rumour that one of the Aussie ones was destroyed in a fire.........? The bren of course has its single side on the opposite side to the scout. Hoping to have it restored before I drop dead from old age but it will be touch and go! Cheers John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG MIKE Posted July 13, 2007 Author Share Posted July 13, 2007 John sending you sum pics of my carrier via your email plus sum vids too. Have someone post the pics for you. i'm in dire straights to see what you carrier looks like, it sound's so interesting. I'm trying to understand your term as a "single sider"? do you mean the old version of the mk1 carrier without side armour walls , like the Vickers carrier? or a loyd carrier? the aussi and NZ carriers lp1's and 2's I believe were welded hull versions. Mine ass you can see was a mk1. my conversion in restoration was in the "conversion mode" of a carrier so basiclly it was a mk1/a. if ytou can see the front is basiclly a mk2 and the middle and rear is a mk1. My friend is converting his mk1 into a panzerfuast carrier "CAPTURED Canadian" as his is a rusted hulkat the moment with 3 years of work down the road. anywho great discription on your vehicle John, love to hear more on her! Cheers BIG MIKE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Pearson Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 Nothing has come through yet but don't send too much by email: I am still on dial up and water gets into the telephone wires sometimes so I am down to 20 b/s on occasion! Enigma has offered to post pictures for me and I will try to do it before both he and I set off for Beltring. By 'single sider' I mean the original, pre Universal models. There was the Bren gun carrier which had a right hand side plate only and a sloping back. The Scout which was armed with the Boyes and had a left hand side plate only and a vertical back and the cavalry carrier which had no sides at all but had bench seats and were meant to carry personell. There was also a medium machine gun carrier which was armed with a Vickers machine gun coming out of a larger gun port than fitted to the others. In early 1940 they decided it was uneconomic to produce different hull variants so they introduced the Universal (that is it was suitable for all purposes) carrier and the different roles were covered by slightly different brackets, fittings and stowage etc. In the period 1941 to 42, just about every one of the remaining single sided versions were upgraded to universal standard and had the second side (whichever they were missing) fitted so it is very difficult now to tell them apart. In any event, there were very few single siders left by then as just about every one had been left behind in France in May 1940. My only authority for all of this and the only photo of a single sided scout I know of is in 'Making tracks'(British Carrier story 1914 to 1972 by Chamberlain and Ellis, published 1973. Still available second hand I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG MIKE Posted July 14, 2007 Author Share Posted July 14, 2007 I see you been studying your carriers John , a lot more than I have been doing:) you must have received my emails, their large so i am affraid it'll take sum time to download them , Like 5 hrs with a dial up , LOL sorry mate. anywho yes i'll be waiting for sum pics. I have the ofspray bren carrier book and was reading about the diff carriers , I do like the top wrap around rail for the boyes. 1 question john what type of motor did the Brits use in the 1st carriers were thier always flatheads in them ? thanks again Cheers Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Pearson Posted July 14, 2007 Share Posted July 14, 2007 So far as I know, all carriers had a Ford V8 sidevalve but Ford UK built a smaller model 3.6 litre ? (not sure what that is in c.u.!) which had I think 21 head studs and 18mm sparkplugs. This produced 65 hp and this was fitted to some early British built carriers. Later ones had the 4.2 lt, 24 stud, 14mm sparkplug engine which came in 85 and 95 hp versions. These are identical to US engines and in fact some were built in the US and came here in a crate and some were built in the UK. The engine I have is the 65 hp version which it would have been originally fitted with but that is not why I got it. I got it because it was brand new (new old stock, unrun) and cheap! As a whole unit, each of the engines could be exchanged but not all of the internal bits were interchangeable. One other thing, British engines had a Lucas electrical system, made about 15 miles away from where I sit now. Again, interchangeable as a complete assembly but no individual bits are the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG MIKE Posted July 14, 2007 Author Share Posted July 14, 2007 John believe it or not I took my 42 flatty out because it had a crack in the block and put in a 1936 flatty 85hp witch was rebuilt 5 years ago by someone else. she runs great either way , i'm not into the musum show piece carrier, but more for reenacting with boot hobnail scratches all over her LOL. What you have is great, an orig motor thats really going to be something when all is back in the carrier.still waiting for those pics did you get my emails yet? cheers Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG MIKE Posted July 16, 2007 Author Share Posted July 16, 2007 http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u279/grenidier/064.jpg?t=1184547486 Now what you see here is 5 brass bren gun mounts and the Bren pogo stick ,all repros. I have the required 4 bren mounts and triggers what i need is the pogo stick mount. is thier any over thier in the UK. Thanks Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodger Baz Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 heres some pictures of the one i am currently working on. sat in a field for nearly 40 years but has survived quite well, still has remains of original numbers and markings. it was removed from the packing case by the current owner and it has completed a huge 276 miles!!! :-o the engine was cracked but a replcement english engine has been sourced and will hopefully be fitted soon (touch wood!) its a 1944 canadian ford, mk2 i guess? we even have several panels from other brens that the guy bought, un boxed, removed the engine and box to scrap the remainder :-o :-o :-o cant wait to get it up and running :-D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG MIKE Posted July 17, 2007 Author Share Posted July 17, 2007 WOW Bodger Baz you have one sweet jem thier , she's going to look great all cleaned up. Whats really cool is thats a canadian carrier mk2 witch most carrier in the UK are english that i've seen. What type of motor was in it? you putting a 1942 Ford Flathead 95hp motor back in it?. Best thing to do break the tracks put her up on wooden beams then see if everything turns cam plate warping tube etc, thats what i diid saved me from taking her all apart. Cheers Great pics mate , BIG MIKE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REME 245 Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 Mike 80% of the carriers in the UK are actually Canadian produced Mk11*. Quite why this is no one has ever been able to give me an answer. I would suggest a batch of crated examples survived some where. British Carriers, particularly Mk11 are rare in the UK. Bodger, if you have microsoft editor or equivalent you can lighten your picture and re-post so we can see it better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodger Baz Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 suprisingly the tracks are as free as a bird, we towed the bren into the barn with a forklift, then removed the tracks to get all the steering gear freed up and the checked track movement and they were fine. it had the canadian mercury v8 in originally but we are replcing with an english 80hp v8 due to the fact its the only engine we've been able to find. i will try and get some better pictures this weekend. This one was bought from morgans on Hayling island in the 50's, they had dozens of them that were bought from blackbushe auctions in the late 40's early 50's for the sum of £50, still in packing cases!!! most wer cut up for the engine, box and diff, then scrapped! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG MIKE Posted July 18, 2007 Author Share Posted July 18, 2007 Would I suggest that the English carrier's were left in Dunkirk? Seems you guys in the UK are having to much fun like I am having in the USA:) Cheers BIG MIKE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodger Baz Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 found a more recent picture thats a bit better, will get some more this weekend. Baz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 :drool: very nice!! It's one of the vehicles I'd really like to own someday. What do they do on fuel consumption? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick W Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 I'll second Joris' comment. A nice small tracked vehicle, thats easily manageable and fits in your garage. Ive always had a soft spot for them, but they do seem a rarity in the UK, but seem to pop up on a regular basis in Australia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeEnfield Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 I'll third those sentiments;...............my choice of tracked vehicle, one of these, or a weasel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ford 369 Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Dont know if it is of any help to you but when I was at Beltring on thursday I saw an excellent new book on carriers for sale by the author ,it was the first of 3 volumes and included loads of original factory drawings etc.It was £30 for a signed copy and was for sale in the re-enactors field at the arena end on a display that included 4 carriers Nigel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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