STORY ALAN HEBDEN URING THE NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN ALLIED ARMOURED D CAR RECONNAISSANCE UNITS WERE THE EYES AND EARS OF THE ARMY. FAST AND HIGHLY MOBILE THEY CAME INTO FREQUENT CONTACT WITH THE ENEMY. IT WAS A RISKY BUSINESS AT THE BEST OF TIMES, BUT WHEN TWO FEUDING RECCE COMMANDERS NURSING A FORTY-YEAR OLD GRUDGE STARTED EGGING EACH OTHER ON IT BECAME DOWNRIGHT DANGEROUS.
ART OLIVERA COVER JANEK MATYSIAK
4 WHEN YOUNG LIEUTENANT SIMON WEBB OF THE RECONNAISSANCE CORPS JOINED HIS NEW UNIT IN NORTH AFRICA IN 1941 HE WAS DELIGHTED TO DISCOVER THAT IT HAD JUST BEEN RE-EQUIPPED WITH THE LATEST DAIMLER ARMOURED CARS. I’VE HEARD THEY CAN CLIMB A ONE-IN-TWO SLOPE.
CERTAINLY A STEP UP FROM THESE OLD MARMON-HERRINGTONS WE’VE BEEN USING. THEY’VE DONE STERLING WORK, BUT THEY WERE NEVER SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR THE JOB, UNLIKE THE DAIMLERS HERE.
SIMON’S NEW COMMANDER, CAPTAIN RUPERT CONNINGSBY, HAD SOME FIRM IDEAS ABOUT THE ROLE OF RECCE UNITS, ABOUT WHICH HE WAXED LYRICALLY. RECONNAISSANCE SQUADRONS ARE THE ARMY’S MODERN-DAY LIGHT CAVALRY. IT’S OUR JOB TO BE IN THE VANGUARD OF ANY ADVANCE AND THE REARGUARD OF ANY RETREAT. FIRST IN, LAST OUT, THAT’S OUR MOTTO.
SOUNDS GOOD TO ME, SKIPPER.
IT WAS LEFT TO SIMON’S DRIVER, CORPORAL FRED JOLLY, TO BRING SIMON BACK DOWN TO EARTH WHEN, ON THEIR FIRST TRAINING RUN, THEIR NEW DAIMLER PROMPTLY BROKE DOWN. THEY MAY BE FASTER, MORE-HEAVILY-ARMED AND MORE MANOEUVRABLE THAN THE OLD MARMON-HERRINGTONS, BUT FROM WHAT I’VE SEEN THEY CERTAINLY AREN’T AS RELIABLE.
NEW VEHICLES AND WEAPONS ALWAYS COME WITH TEETHING TROUBLES, CORPORAL. WE’LL JUST HAVE TO DEAL WITH THEM AS THEY ARISE.
5 IT WASN’T LONG BEFORE SIMON WAS THROWN INTO ACTION. A MAJOR ALLIED OFFENSIVE WAS BEING PLANNED, WHICH IN TURN CALLED FOR INTENSIVE RECCE ACTIVITY. A FEW DAYS LATER THEY ENCOUNTERED A FORCE OF ITALIAN AUTOBLINDA ARMOURED CARS. RUPERT’S RESPONSE WAS, AS SIMON WOULD DISCOVER, ENTIRELY TYPICAL OF THE MAN. SAPRISITI... INGLESE!
THE EYETIES USE AUTOBLINDAS TO SCREEN HEAVIER UNITS. LET’S BLAST THROUGH AND TAKE A LOOK.
THE FACT THAT WE’RE OUTNUMBERED DOESN’T SEEM TO COUNT FOR ANYTHING.
LIKE NELSON AT TRAFALGAR, RUPERT SPLIT HIS FORCE INTO TWO SEPARATE COLUMNS WHICH PUNCHED THEIR WAY THROUGH THE ITALIAN LINE AT RIGHT ANGLES. SIMON COULDN’T HELP BUT BE IMPRESSED BY THE SHEER BRAVADO OF THE TACTIC. MIO DIO! TALLY-HO!
IT’S WORKING PERFECTLY. I THINK I’M GOING TO LIKE THIS NEW C.O. OF MINE.
6 LEAVING THE AUTOBLINDAS FLOUNDERING IN THEIR WAKE THE DAIMLERS CRESTED THE RISE BEYOND AND DISCOVERED EXACTLY WHAT THE ITALIAN ARMOURED CARS HAD BEEN SCREENING. M-FOURTEEN TANKS!
INGLESE!
THE FIAT M14 LIGHT TANKS WEREN’T EXACTLY STATE OF THE ART, BUT THEY BOASTED A HEAVIER MAIN GUN AND THICKER ARMOUR THAN THE DAIMLERS, WHICH PROMPTLY TURNED ASIDE, BUT NOT BEFORE ONE OF THEM NEARLY CAME TO GRIEF. WE’RE HIT!
AIM FOR THAT TANK!
7 THE DAIMLER’S MAIN ARMAMENT WAS A 2-POUNDER GUN, A FAIRLY HARD-HITTING WEAPON TO BE MOUNTED ON SUCH A RELATIVELY SMALL VEHICLE, BUT FIRING IT WHILE GOING FLAT OUT TOOK A LOT OF SKILL AND PLENTY OF LUCK. FORTUNATELY SIMON’S GUNNER HAD BOTH.
GREAT SHOOTING! NOW THE OTHER CAR CAN GET AWAY.
BY NOW THE AUTOBLINDAS HAD RE-GROUPED AND CAME CHARGING IN TO ADD THEIR WEIGHT TO THE COUNTER-ATTACK. NOT ONE TO INDULGE IN POINTLESS HEROICS RUPERT TOOK THE SENSIBLE COURSE. ALL CARS SCATTER. MAKE YOUR OWN WAYS TO RENDEZVOUS NUMBER FIVE.
ALL RIGHT FOR HIM TO SAY, BUT HE HASN’T GOT A PAIR OF EYETIES BREATHING DOWN HIS NECK. DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO TO GIVE ‘EM THE SLIP, CORPORAL JOLLY.
AYE, AYE, SKIPPER!
8 WITHOUT A MOMENT’S HESITATION FRED TURNED THE ARMOURED CAR TOWARDS A SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE SLOPE AND DROVE AT IT FLAT OUT. SIMON STARED AHEAD WITH DISBELIEVING EYES.
STREWTH, WILL WE MAKE IT?
HOPEFULLY, SKIPPER!
THE FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE IN LOW GEAR CARRIED THE DAIMLER TRIUMPHANTLY TO THE TOP OF THE SLOPE WHILE ITS TWO PURSUERS WERE FORCED TO GIVE UP.
THEY WEREN’T JOKING WHEN THEY SAID THIS THING COULD CLIMB A ONEIN-TWO SLOPE.
GOOD THING THEY WEREN’T OR WE’D BE AUTOBLINDA MEAT RIGHT NOW.
9 THE GERMANS, OF COURSE, HAD THEIR OWN ARMOURED VEHICLES, AND A SUDDEN ENCOUNTER WITH AN 8-WHEELED SCHWERER ARMOURED CAR A FEW DAYS LATER WAS NO LAUGHING MATTER. ACHTUNG, BRITISHER!
HECK, THERE’S NO ROOM TO TURN!
I’VE GOT IT!
THE DAIMLER WAS FITTED WITH DUPLICATE DRIVING CONTROLS FACING THE OTHER WAY AND AN EQUALLY ADAPTABLE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM. AS FAST AS HE COULD SIMON TOOK OVER THE REAR-FACING CONTROLS.
WITH THE GEARS SWITCHED THE DAIMLER SPED BACK JUST AS QUICKLY AS IT HAD GONE FORWARD, SPEEDING ROUND A TIGHT CORNER NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON.
SWITCHING TO REVERSE GEARING! THEN LET’S GET OUT OF HERE!
THAT WAS TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT.
10 THEY DROVE BACK OUT OF THE GULLEY AT FULL SPEED, BUT THEIR PROBLEMS WEREN’T OVER. THE UNGAINLY-LOOKING SCHWERER HAD A MUCH MORE POWERFUL ENGINE AND WAS ACTUALLY SLIGHTLY FASTER THAN THE DAIMLER. IT’S COMING AFTER US, BUT IT’S ON ITS OWN.
IN THAT CASE IT’S TIME TO HIT BACK.
THE SCHWERER’S WEAK SPOT WAS ITS THIN ARMOUR, AND A WELL-AIMED SHOT FROM THE DAIMLER WAS ENOUGH TO REMIND ITS COMMANDER THAT HIS QUARRY COULD HIT BACK HARD.
DONNERWETTER, TURN ASIDE! THAT’S RIGHT, BUZZ OFF!