The British Army planned to issue these two-man tankettes to the infantry for use as machine-gun carriers. But the infantry were wary of change, and most of the tankettes ended up with the Royal Tank Corps who used them for reconnaissance (patrol and observation work).
The original idea for a tiny, cheap armoured vehicle came from Major Giffard Le Quesne Martel of the Royal Engineers. His design was then taken up by engineers, John Carden and Vivian Loyd. When their company merged with Vickers-Armstrongs in 1927, hundreds of tankettes were built and sold worldwide.
The Carden-Loyd Carrier is powered by the Model T Ford car engine – and wasn’t an easy vehicle to drive. The driver had to change gear with his right foot and steer with a short tiller bar. It was intended for patrol work rather than fighting, so the armour is very thin, and there is no protection for the head and shoulders of the crew.
The Tank Museum’s vehicle
This vehicle cost about £400 when it was built in 1928. It would have served with many British regiments before the Second World War. It probably ended its career as a training vehicle at Bovington Camp.
