Jeffery armored car

Jeffery armored car

A Jeffery armored car of later serial model, likely of the Eaton Motor Machine Gun Battery, seen in Toronto, Ontario.
Type Armored car
Place of origin United States
Service history
Used by British India Command
United States Army
Wars Pancho Villa Expedition
Production history
Manufacturer Thomas B. Jeffery Company
Produced 1915
Specifications
Length 18 ft (5.48 m)
Width 6.4 ft (1.95 m)
Height 8 ft (2.44 m)
Crew 4
Main
armament
 4 x Benet-Mercier or 1 x .303 Vickers machine guns
Engine 4-cylinder petrol
Suspension 4x4 wheel
Speed 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) maximum

The Jeffery Armored Car No.1 was developed by the Thomas B. Jeffery Company in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1915.

The armored car No.1 was used in by General John Pershing’s 1916 Pancho Villa Expedition in Columbus, New Mexico for training. Pancho Villa was far into Mexico at that time and there are no records on its use in fighting.[1]

A number of armoured cars were also built on the Jeffery truck chassis in 1916 for use in British India. Forty were added to the "Field Force" that was operating to contain the Mohmand rising of Haji Mullah on the North West Frontier. The "Mohmand blockade" involved British armoured cars patrolling unpaved tracks between blockhouses. Maintenance of the cars was difficult as the ship carrying spares had been torpedoed. They were armed with a single Vickers machine gun. Although the four-wheel drive with independent transmission and wide range of gears should have been an advantage, the narrow solid tyres negated that and running at more than 12 mph caused problems with engine bearings.[2]

Another model of armoured car built on the Jeffery Quad chassis was built in Russia by Ukrainian officer Volodymyr Poplavko who was the Odessa city commandant (1917-18), and was known as Jeffery-Poplavko.

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ Albert Mro, American military vehicles of World War I: an illustrated history of armored cars, staff cars, motorcycles, ambulances, trucks, tractors and tanks. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2009. ISBN 978-0-7864-3960-7, p.76
  2. ↑ AFV Profile No. 9 Early Armoured Cars

External links

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