"Bedford QLT 4x4 troop carrier" Topic

Quick question, how many men can be transported in the above?

john

if i remember rightly approx 25.

From memoirs I thought about a platoon – but whether that was a full strength platoon, or a slightly battleworn one.

a whole platoon? must be one humongous truck! er, lorry, er, whatever.

Yep a full platoon – I seem to recall the body was longer than other QL variants, with a pronounced overhang at the back so that the troop space was big enough.

Edit – make that not a full platoon – 29 men plus driver and front passenger…. Text below from the excellent Trux models site:

"Bedford QLT 3ton 4 X 4 Troop Carrying Vehicle.
Platoons for troop carrying in armoured divisions used the Bedford QLT. This was a Bedford QL which carried a 3foot 5inch longer body. This was made possible by

- adding a chassis extension to the rear

- replacing the fuel tank normally placed behind the cab with two smaller tanks, one either side of the chassis

- moving the spare wheel to a carrier under the chassis rear end.

There were double doors at the rear with steps at either side. There were also inward opening doors at the front on either side. There were simple bench seats down either side of the body. These were padded and could be folded flush with the sides. There were also padded backrests. Down the centre of the body was a single bench with backrests fitted to face alternately to the right and left. These seats could be removed and stowed under the body. There were folding seats fitted to the two front doors. This gave a capacity of 29 men in the body plus one in the cab. The body was fitted with a canvas tilt on a tubular frame and the sides could be rolled up. There was a bracket on the rear offside door on which a bicycle could be carried.

The QLT could be used for carrying loads with the seats folded or removed as described above. The rear part of the body should not have been used for loads and factory fresh vehicles had a line and a stenciled notice ‘Load Forward of Line'.Some 2,500 QLT were built. In early contracts some vehicles were fitted with non standard wooden bodies. "

According to this site:

armyvehicles.dk/bdqlt.htm

It held 29.

And my grand-dad used to build 'em!

Platoons were almost never at full strength – particularly when you factor in the LOB (Left Out of Battle) party. Hence why platoons were only issued one TCV or three Kangaroos, even though the 'paper' strength couldn't fit into them.

They were often known as 'Droopers' because the lengthened body put a bit much load on the rear springs, so they tended to ride with the tail-end drooping.

29+1+driver?

So that's what? 3 rifle squads of 9 men each = 27 + Lt. = 28 + platoon sgt. = 29 + what? medic?

No weapons squad, I take it.

No 'Squads' at all.

A few sections. though…… ;-)

John

As a practical matter, 3 sections of 7 or 8 men plus a platoon HQ, although all sorts of oddities are known as alternatives (eg, one section of 3-4 Bren teams, and a second of whatever riflemen are available – lieutenant leading one and sergeant the other….)

This has always puzzled me and i wonder if anyone has ever found a definitive answer ?

The 29 man capacity would be enough for a motor infantry platoon which had 7-8 men sections but these were carried in "armoured lorries" ie half tracks.

The rifle battalions in an armoured division which used QLT's were organised similar to standard rifle battalions with 10 men sections totaling a 37 man platoon.

So how did that lot fit into a QLT ?

Being conveniently "understrenght" all the time down to 29 men is not really that likely, at least at the start of a campaign.

I have read that a RASC transport company capable of carrying an infantry battalion consisted of 5 platoons of 6 lorries each with 4 spare making a total of 34 lorries.

This would indicate there may have been one RASC platoon to each rifle company allowing two QLT's per rifle platoon, plenty of room then !

But thats just guesswork – anyone have an actual answer ?

"So that's what?"

Thre rifle sections of ten men (Section Leader, 2iC, Bren gunner and No 2 and six riflemen).
Platoon HQ (Platoon CO, Platoon 2iC, 2" mortar team, runner/radio op plus possibly a couple of other odds and sods).

Generally platoons were not this strong, but it is hard to imagine that was factored in beforehand. Rifle companies also had a 15cwt truck or two to stash equipment on, like ATRs/PIATS.

Squads, sections; potayto, potahto.

BTW, what's the dif between a truck and a lorry? if any

Truck is little, lorry is big…. (I can never remember where the line's drawn, but think it was at 30cwt, ie. 1 1/2 tons – anything bigger than that is a lorry.)

Even in the 'Lorried' brigades, there was not normally sufficient MT to transport the whole lot in one go – shuttling and leap-frogging were the normal method of moving infantry battalions (as well as tank-riding and later, allocating Kangaroos, which were used for general infantry transport, as well as assault).