Morris Light Reconnaissance Car Mk I
Two Morris LRC's of the RAF Regiment
Entering production and service in 1942, the Morris Light Recce Car Mk I was designed by the Nuffield group and based on the Morris 4x2 truck chassis, with rear-wheel drive. It had a crew of three which sat side by side, the driver in the middle, commander to the left of him who had a number 19 radio and a Boys anti-tank rifle which could be mounted on special brackets on the hatch which opened up above him, and on the drivers right was the gunner who had a multi-sided turret armed with a Bren Gun. Unlike Bren Guns used by the infantry, they were fitted with 100 round drum magazines so the gunner wouldn't have to reload so often. The drum magazine was commonly used by Bren Guns used on vehicles, such as the Tetrarch light tank and the Humber scout car.
Two well camouflaged Morris LRC Mk I's of the RAF Regiment
The front wheels had an independent suspension with large coil springs, with the rear axel having leaf springs instead. The Morris wasn't particularly heavily armoured, the hull armour was 14mm, turret armour 12mm and the roof 8mm thick, however it was only designed to resist small-arms fire, the Morris wasn't the sort of vehicle you'd expect to intentionally come face-to-face with a Tiger tank in.
Suspension for the front axle
Around a thousand Mk I Morris LRC's were built, from early 1942 to 1943 when they were replaced with the Mk 2. The Mk I was built in two batches, the second batch being reduced in order before being completed. Most of them went to Reconnaissance regiments in the British Army, however two hundred and twenty five of them were supplied to the RAF Regiment, who used them for defending airfields, and, later in the war, capturing enemy airfields. The Morris LRC Mk I served far and wide, in the North African and Italian campaigns, and also in North West Europe.
The visor for the Morris - the glass was armoured (could have been Perspex, not sure), and like shown on the diagram, when the visor was closed the driver had (very limited) vision out of the two narrow slits running horizontally. The visor was opened and closed by a level inside the hull
I have seen five camouflage schemes so far for the Morris Mk I - desert yellow in North Africa, black over desert yellow (also in North Africa, may have continued into Italy though), black over brown which I believe was used in the UK, although probably in North Africa as well. In North West Europe and possibly Italy, dark green was used, sometimes with 'Mickey mouse' camouflage, which is a black circular pattern over the green to break up the lines of the vehicle.
Engine and transmission - also showing the rear axle
Another RAF Regiment Mk I
The following photographs seem to be of a prototype Morris LRC as it has a couple of features unseen on other Morris Light Recce Cars - the two holes in the commanders side door (on the left hand side), which is a slit on other Morris's, and the square panel also on the commanders side. It is also on a turntable so these photographs would appear to have been official ones specifically taken
