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Bren Gun Carriers - fun to drive - but- jump


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Well this little gem came from my dad (89) today.

"I haven't driven a tractor but I have driven a Bren Gun Carrier. Good fun but if you see smoke jump out quick."

He's said very little about his war experiences; and his elder brother who saw hundreds of men killed around him in Burma, even less.

"Those who have been through a war generally talk about it less than those who haven't."

So some research please before the UK add-on about Bren Gun Carriers catching fire. They were petrol apparently, rather than diesel. Then he shut up and nothing more.....

We're running out of time to hear from those who were there about what you would or wouldn't do if you saw .......

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Contrary to what seems to be common perception, most AFVs used in the ETO used petrol, not diesel fuel. So this, in and of itself, was not a differentiator for the Bren Carrier.

But overall, it was a very lightly armored vehicle. So one penetration was likely to be followed by another. Not surprising to me, then, that crew inclination was to bail out at the first sign of damage.

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The old notion of tank catching fire more easily because they use petrol is a bit of a myth, sure is it flammable as opposed to combustible (considerably higher ignition temperature) but the temperatures in a tank cook up don't make the difference a significant issue. The "Ronson" moniker of the Sherman was more about its vulnerable ammunition and it wasn't the only tank to suffer this affliction, the Panther was another.

But for sure the Bren Carrier was an open topped lightly armour vehicle so everything in it was vulnerable including the fuel tank.

I'd look at them more as a tracked jeep rather than a tankette.

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The old notion of tank catching fire more easily because they use petrol is a bit of a myth, sure is it flammable as opposed to combustible (considerably higher ignition temperature) but the temperatures in a tank cook up don't make the difference a significant issue. The "Ronson" moniker of the Sherman was more about its vulnerable ammunition and it wasn't the only tank to suffer this affliction, the Panther was another.

But for sure the Bren Carrier was an open topped lightly armour vehicle so everything in it was vulnerable including the fuel tank.

I'd look at them more as a tracked jeep rather than a tankette.

I dimly recall the Monmouths, who replaced a Rifle Brigade Bn in the infantry Bn that traveled with the 23 Hussars in the 11th armored (159 Bde? 129 bde?) just before Blue Coat were notorious for preferring to ride on tanks rather than in Bren Gun carriers. But even riding on tanks can be a fire hazard since sometimes the exhaust pipes would set things on fire.

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Well today's gem came from my Mum (87).

"The last time I drove through here I was towing an anti-aircraft gun."

She, then aged 20, was a lieutenant in an anti aircraft battery at Antwerp in December 1944.

They were about 10-20 miles from the front line and were ordered to evacuate. (It wouldn't look good girlies being killed would it?). They refused; they hadn't landed in Europe to run away again, so they pretended they hadn't received the order.

So there you are Battlefront, when your Arnhem and beyond comes out - model some English girly soldiers in honour of my mum and her pals.

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Oh so tempted to say ALL English soldiers are girly but I won't but NOW I understand why the community is so keen to have AAA included in the game !

On a more serious note I had no idea that women were allowed in what was pretty much a combat role way back then.

AA was chock-full of women, going right back to at least 1940.

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