Lanchester Armoured Car

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The Lanchester 4x2 was the second most numerous armoured car in service during World War I. Designed by the Admiralty Air Department for the Royal Naval Air Service, it was intended to support air bases and to retrieve downed pilots. The production version featured a circular turret with a narrow horizontal roof, central hatch, steeply sloped at the sides, and continuous sloped bonnet plating. This, together with a more compact form than the earlier Rolls-Royce Armoured Car (achieved by positioning the driver beside the engine), gave the Lanchester a deceptively modern appearance.

Thirty-six of the production versions were sent to France in May 1915. One twelve-car RNAS squadron served with the Belgian Army. In addition, Belgium received between ten and fifteen cars on loan from the RNAS. Later that year, all thirty-six RNAS armoured cars were returned to Britain, and following complete overhaul, twenty-two were supplied to the Imperial Russian Army. Of these, nineteen were later re-armed with a 37mm naval Hotchkiss gun in place of the standard Vickers machine-gun.

In January 1916, a further batch of Lanchesters arrived with the RNAS Expeditionary Force deployed to the Caucasus, Romania and Galicia in support of the Russians. Operating in climates ranging from desert to near-Arctic conditions, the vehicles covered over 53,000 miles. They were deployed in a manner that would become the standard for AFV warfare in the twentieth century. Acting as scouts and armed raiders, they operated well forward of the infantry in their armoured trucks. When operating alongside the infantry, they would act as fire-support vehicles. Their last operation was in support of the Brusilov Offensive in mid-1917.