Universal Carrier 1936-48: The 'Bren Gun Carrier' Story

Osprey New Vanguard #110

by David Fletcher, Tony Bryan (Illustrator)

The Universal Carrier was a fast, lightly armed vehicle developed by the British Army to carry infantry across ground defended by small-arms fire, specifically the Bren light machine gun, hence the name 'Bren Gun Carrier'. This name would stick with the Universal Carrier and all of its future variants. This book details the Carrier, which was employed in a number of roles including carrying ammunition and towing anti-aircraft guns and trailers. All Allies used the Universal Carrier extensively during practically every World War II campaign. By the war's end, the Universal Carrier had proved itself to be an invaluable and successful cross-country vehicle that was both agile and fast for its time.

Genres: History

48 pages, Paperback

First published June 12, 2005

About the author

David Fletcher is a historian at the Tank Museum at Bovington and has written a great number of books on British armour.

Reviews

[Leandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authoritative book on the Universal Carrier. Fletcher includes a wealth of information and the odd noteworthy story including a carrier. I don't think there's a better book out there on the topic.

[Michael Dorosh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Other reviews (i.e. at amazon.com) have suggested that Mr. Fletcher's wry sense of humour is a welcome and appreciated touch; I couldn't disagree more. His caustic tone actually obscures meaning, and it seems that sentence construction and turns of phrase are more important than communicating clearly and concisely. As someone who attempted to use the book as a reference tool, I found it very frustrating to have to wade through the author's personal opinions and have to try and sort out fiction from fact, especially when so many facts were absent from the book. such as solid info on dates of production, numbers, rationale for the development of the T16 and Windsor variants produced in Canada, or, for that matter, photographs or images of these vehicles. Yet a look at the Canadian Army's own Vehicle Data Book from the summer of 1944 suggests these were numerically significant types. The exotic Smith Carrier, a one-off, is illustrated, but the Oxford Carrier, which did see service, is not even mentioned.

Osprey's standards have risen significantly in recent years; this book does not meet the standards of many other recent titles and would benefit from a tightening of the organization, more comprehensive coverage, and a more serious tone. The book as is jumps around, trying to tie together both service and production histories, and mostly just confusing the reader by throwing out bits of trivia and tucking them under different headings rather than taking a logical approach to the topic.

There is doubtless good information to be found in the book, but it is a chore trying to find what you might want, and the reader is left with a nagging feeling that - even with the proviso this is a primer fully in mind - there are major gaps in the coverage.