"My Stuart Honey Tank... as I remember it 65 years later"

Owen · Jan 9, 2013

Armoured Acorn website again showing 4 QOH in 9 Armd Bde with white horse & 52.
http://www.armouredacorn.com/Reference/BAM/9th%20Armd%20Bde%20-complete.pdf

Chris C · Dec 28, 2018

Hello Ron and everyone,

Hope you are well and had a good Christmas.

I was photographing some Mediterranean area "AFV Technical Reports" at the Canadian archives and came across these pictures of a Stuart recce with a hood, which I had never seen before. The discussion of the permabulator hood makes me think this is surely the right place to post them. I'll attach them in a following post.

Ron, did your Stuart have a gun shield or not? Do these pictures spur any recollections? Was yours simply painted green?

Regards,
Chris

P.S. Is there any way to tag this post so that Ron will be sure to see it?

This text about the vehicle reads as follows, from "Mediterranean Area AFV Technical Report 19", dated 2 Feb 1944.

Stuart Reconnaissance Vehicle
Mark II Vehicle

Users in North Africa and Middle East have all taken a great interest in the development of the Stuart reconnaissance vehicle and users' meetings have been held to decide upon detailed stowage arrangements for a Mk II vehicle based on the M3 A3 light tank.

A pilot model of the Mk II vehicle has now been completed and approved by M.E.F. users and it has been sent to the Base Workshops for preparation of drawings. The principle features of the vehicle are the fitting of a collapsible perambulator type hood, the provision of a 2 in. bomb thrower with alternative firing positions and the fitting of a new type of mounting for the .5 Browning gun.

The new Browning gun mounting is located nearer the centre of the vehicle and is slightly lower than on the Mk I machine. The cradle which carries the gun has been redesigned in order to bring the centre of gravity of the gun nearer the pintle and thus improve the balance of the gun. The spindle about which the gun elevates has been provided with a friction washer so that each gunner can adjust the freeness of the gun in elevation to his own requirements.

Since some users prefer to mount the .30 Browning in place of the .50 gun, the new cradle has been so designed that, with the addition of small adaptors, it will accommodate the smaller gun. By the use of other adaptors this new cradle can be used for the AA mounting on Sherman tanks.

The demand for a shield for the .50 Browning gun referred to in para 90 of T.R. 16 has been met and a design has been prepared in which a 12mm thick shield can be bolted to the mounting without spoiling the balance of the gun. Users in Middle East have examined the shield and those representing armoured regiments all approved of it. Those representing the reconnaissance regiments were divided in their views, the majority preferring to have the gun without the shield.

It was decided that production facilities and the supply situation of armour plate would be examined and that if the shields could be made they would be adopted but the few units which did not require them would not fit them.

Efforts have been made to arrange the layout of the Mk II machine so that it will meet both C.M.F. and M.E.F. requirements. The mounting and arrangement of the .50 gun have not yet been inspected by C.M.F. representatives and photographs are being sent to Algiers for information.

As far as the general internal arrangements of the vehicle are concerned, the only major point of difference between the C.M.F. and M.E.F. schemes lies in the provision of a seat at the rear of the left hand side of the vehicle. This seat is insisted upon by C.M.F. users whereas it is not required by Middle East users. Apart from this one point it is hoped that agreement between C.M.F. and M.E.F. can be reached on all other points of internal stowage.

Photographs of the pilot vehicle are attached. It will be seen that Matilda track plates have been attached to the nose of the machine. This modification has been agreed to in principle by M.E.F. users but it is possible that the tracks will interfere with the cross country performance of the vehicle. This point has yet to be investigated.
Click to expand...

Chris C · Dec 28, 2018

Possibly because I am on a train, I am having trouble uploading the pictures to an album on the forum, but I was able to upload them to imgur, so here those are:

There are also some photos of the interior arrangement in the turret, but I think this is enough photos to throw in the thread at one time.