Morris Light Reconnaissance Car (LRC) was a British light armoured car for

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops ( skirmishe ...

use produced by

Morris Motors Limited Morris Motors Limited was a British privately owned motor vehicle manufacturing company formed in 1919 to take over the assets of William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, William Morris's WRM Motors Limited and continue production of the same veh ...

and used by the British during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The Nuffield Group had been brought in to supplement production of light reconnaissance cars by Standard Motor Company ( Beaverette) and Humber ( Humber LAC, also known as "Humberette"). The vehicle had an unusual internal arrangement, with the three-man crew sitting side by side by side with the driver in the middle, a crewman manning a small multi-sided turret mounting a

Bren light machine gun The Bren gun was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in World War II, it was also used ...

on the right, and another with a

Boys anti-tank rifle The Boys anti-tank rifle (officially Rifle, Anti-Tank, .55in, Boys, and sometimes incorrectly spelled "Boyes"), is a British anti-tank rifle used during the Second World War. It was often nicknamed the " elephant gun" by its users due to its s ...

(mounted in brackets in the hatches on the hull roof) and access to radio set on the left. From 1940 to 1944, over 2,200 were built. The vehicle was used in the

North African North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and in

North-West Europe Northwestern Europe, or Northwest Europe, is a loosely defined subregion of Europe, overlapping Northern and Western Europe. The region can be defined both geographically and ethnographically. Geographic definitions Geographically, Northwe ...

campaigns. Some served with the

RAF Regiment The Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regiment) is part of the Royal Air Force and functions as a specialist corps. Founded by royal warrant in 1942, the Corps carries out soldiering tasks relating to the delivery of air power. Examples of such tas ...

, others were given to

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

units. One of the surviving vehicles is on display at the

Imperial War Museum Duxford Imperial War Museum Duxford is a branch of the Imperial War Museum near Duxford in Cambridgeshire, England. Britain's largest aviation museum, Duxford houses the museum's large exhibits, including nearly 200 aircraft, military vehicles, arti ...

, another at

The Tank Museum The Tank Museum (previously The Bovington Tank Museum) is a collection of armoured fighting vehicles at Bovington Camp in Dorset, South West England. It is about north of the village of Wool and west of the major port of Poole. The collection ...

, Bovington, and another at the Military Museum at Port Dickson, Malaysia.

Variants

*Mk I - original version. **Mk I OP - observation post version. No turret. Equipped with two

rangefinder A rangefinder (also rangefinding telemeter, depending on the context) is a device used to measure distances to remote objects. Originally optical devices used in surveying, they soon found applications in other fields, such as photography an ...

s. *Mk II - four-by-four chassis. *Morris Experimental Tank - had two turrets. Never reached production. *Firefly - an experiment by Morris to use 6 pounder guns from the period before the tanks became available to mount them. A 57 mm QF 6 pounder anti-tank gun was mounted in the front of the hull. It was rejected. *Salamander - A narrow two seat version of the Morris LRC with a turret on top. Prototype built but no production. *Glanville Fighter Car - A one-seat version of the Morris LRC with two fixed machine guns. Prototype built but no production.

Notes

References

* *
Great Britain's Morris Mk II Reconnaissance Car
wwiivehicles.com *

External links

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 World War II armoured cars World War II armoured fighting vehicles of the United Kingdom Reconnaissance vehicles of the United Kingdom Armoured cars of the United Kingdom Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944