In Great Britain and its colonies, the American Ford-T was also one of the most common cars. They were immediately mobilized for military service and turned … into patrol cars. They differed little from their civilian counterparts, except that in the back they had a Vickers machine gun on a tripod. Sometimes the Lewis light machine gun was also used, and the patrol crew consisted of two people. Since many of these machines had to operate in desert conditions, they have water in cans. Water was also required for water-cooled machine guns, especially since it boiled in the casing already in the third minute of firing.
The Model T was used in Mesopotamia and Palestine against the Turks. They were assigned to cavalry divisions and served as leaders. Having stumbled upon the enemy, they retreated, hiding behind machine-gun fire, and sent messages with missiles. It was noted that the crews of these cars acted very professionally. Which, however, is not surprising, because they usually recruited civilian drivers, and they considered it an honor to serve on the patrol and demonstrate their high professional skills.
Here, by the way, it is necessary to tell a little about how then they generally drove a car because it was by no means an easy matter, so difficult that not every today's driver would have coped with it. Unlike modern cars, in which all the levers and buttons are in the cockpit, on most cars during the First World War, two very important levers were on the right side: the shifter for gear shifting and the hand brake lever in the ratchet sector. On the steering wheel there were two semicircular toothed sectors and two shifters - one for setting the ignition timing, and the second for manual gas, and from them there were control cables. Below, underfoot (this was already so then) were the transmission and accelerator brake pedals.
The engine was started as follows. First, the crankshaft speed and the ignition timing were set with the shifter. Then, on the dashboard, the ignition system switched from magneto to battery, and a quiet hum was usually heard. Now it was possible to get out of the cockpit, stand in front of the radiator and grab the crank, and so that the thumb was necessarily parallel to all the others, in a fist. Such a grip was specially taught, because otherwise, if suddenly a finger protrudes forward, then during an unsuccessful start, when the shaft jerked in the opposite direction due to delayed ignition in the cylinders, the handle could suddenly hit the finger and even break it.
The handle had to be sharply "twisted" clockwise, and then the engine began to "sneeze" and tremble from uneven operation. Here it was necessary not to blink your eyes, but to quickly climb back into the cockpit and carefully manipulate the shifters so that the engine started running smoothly and at the same time warmed up properly. Then it was already possible to switch the battery ignition back to magneto, squeeze the clutch and turn on the first speed …
But now the driver had to release the clutch so as not to burn the leather lining at its cone, then put his foot on the accelerator pedal and, if the engine had not stalled from inept clutch operation, then … yes, the car began to move. Or it was necessary to repeat all over again! If it was necessary to brake quickly, the hand brake lever was sharply pulled back, which acted on the brake pads of the rear wheels, and at the same time they pressed the transmission brake pedal with their foot. Such are the "miracles of technology", it was not for nothing that drivers were so respected at that time.
At the start of the war, in order to fill the shortage of vehicles, the British government acquired a huge number of vehicles in the United States, a total of almost 18,000 trucks. The first contracts were placed at the end of 1914, and the first deliveries were made in early 1915, through the base in Liverpool and the repair depot in Islington, where the incoming vehicles were checked and serviced until they were transferred to the British Department of Ammunition.
One of the most important types of transport vehicles was the "Model B" 3-ton truck manufactured by FWD in Clintonville, Wisconsin. It was a four-wheel drive car very similar to its contemporary Jeffrey Quad, with a four-cylinder gasoline engine with a three-speed gearbox, a two-speed transfer case and a drive shaft for each axle. On the highway, the transfer case was disabled, but for driving over rough terrain, four-wheel drive was usually included, which accordingly increased the vehicle's cross-country ability.
Interestingly, this FWD company was founded in 1912, and the first 18 "Model B" cars were produced only in 1913. The US Army also tested one of the very first vehicles of this type and in 1916 ordered 38 units for General Pershing for his Mexican campaign against the Pancho Villa guerrillas. Meanwhile, with the outbreak of the war in Europe, "Model B" was ordered not only by the British, but also by the Russian government. When America entered the war in 1917, the orders from the US Army were so large that production had to be given to three other companies - the demand for four-wheel drive three-ton of this type was so great!
In total, the company ordered at least 30,000 four-wheel drive vehicles, of which 12498 were delivered to customers by the time of the truce. 9,420 vehicles went to France also before hostilities ended.
As for the British, they ordered 5474 trucks of this type. Moreover, for the needs of the artillery units, it was envisaged to supply not just cars, but entire automotive divisions, including repair shops with a full set of welding equipment, a lathe and drilling machine in the back, a portable forge (forging horses, which no one has canceled either!) And acetylene cylinders and oxygen! It was envisaged that the specification of repair work should cover the repair of not only cars, but also tools, and even … horse harness!
Most British vehicles were equipped with a winch and searchlight. Well, the FWD was used, first of all, as an artillery transporter, but it happened to carry both water and gasoline, for which special tankers were produced.
Its own three-ton truck was the Leyland in thousands of units produced for both the army and the air force. Moreover, hundreds of cars were equipped with removable bodies, for example, it could be a mobile workshop, fuel tanks, motorized dovecotes and even quite unusual cars for launching balloons. These were extremely reliable vehicles and many of them survived the war. And then the Leyland company simply bought them from the army, they underwent a major overhaul, after which they were resold again (with a two-year warranty - here it is, purely British quality!) For commercial use.
And here, by the way, one of his specific examples: one such truck was acquired by the company "Chivers and Sons" from Cambridge in 1919. The car worked in London until 1934, then it was converted for the factory fire brigade and used during the Second World War, after which the car worked on farms until Chivers bought it out and completely restored it in 1959. That is, the machine worked for 40 years and after the restoration is still on the move!
Back in England in Southport there was a car company "Volcano", which produced durable and reliable cars. Her 1.5-ton truck was the simplest: the engine was a four-cylinder with a capacity of 22.4 liters. sec., four speeds and reverse of the worm gear reducer for reverse movement. The wheels had hard rubber tires (the back of the wheel was double) and the most primitive body of wooden slats and a roof of tarpaulin. It should be noted that the British designers of trucks were not very keen on delights. The driver's seat was open to all winds, and only overhead there was a roof again made of tarpaulin. Therefore, in cold weather, the usual clothes of the drivers were a leather coat with fur or an overcoat with a vest, a balaclava on the face and large canned glasses. As a rule, the wheels had wooden rims and again wooden, albeit thick, spokes. The bodies were also made of wood, as metal was saved on everything. By the way, on the Vulcan there was no driver's cabin at all, and he drove his car sitting right in the back! For the same reason, the control levers were not on the right, but on the left, since there simply would be nowhere to install them on the right!
