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Long Range Desert Group (LRDG)

Chevrolet 1533x2 30-cwt Patrol Truck

Specifications

Country of Origin/Used by:	Great Britain
First Produced/Service Dates:	1942
Manufactured by:	General Motors of Canada with LRDG modifications
Crew:	3-4
Armament:	Multiple armament packages were fitted to vehicles depending on the unit mission and/or specific vehicle's role/function. Weapons that were mounted included the .303 Browning machine gun (aircraft), .303 Lewis MG, .303 Vickers MG, .303 Vickers "K" MG (air), .50 cal Browning HMG (air), .50 cal Vickers HMG.  Some of these weapons were fitted to single and/or dual mounts, most notably the Vickers "K" MG's.  Also, Captured Italian weapons were also employed, including the 7.92mm Breda MG and 20mm dual purpose 20/65 cannon.
Engine:	6 Cylinder Gasoline
Miscellaneous Info:	The Chevrolet 1533x2 4x2 30 cwt (1 1/2 ton) Patrol Truck succeeded the Long Range Range Desert Group's (LRDG) Ford F30 Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) 30 cwt Patrol Trucks in early 1942. These 1941-1942 model Chevy trucks were specially ordered Modified Conventional Pattern (MCP) vehicles, which were upgraded civilian vehicles manufactured for military use at the factory and then further modified by the LRDG after receipt. Typical LRDG basic vehicle modifications were the the cutting down of the front-cabs, strengthening the suspension, fitting of sand tires, condenser cooling systems, cut down radiator grating, addition of un-ditching equipment (sand channels and pioneer tools) and the famous Bagnold sun compass.  Furthermore, LRDG patrol trucks were also employed in specialized roles and equipped to accomplish those missions/tasks. Besides conducting basic patrols, some trucks acted as fittter's vehicles, "heavy" patrol vehicles, light artillery vehicles (including acting in the anti-tank role - the "scorpion's tail"), medical orderlies' vehicles and wireless/communications vehicles. The 1533x2 trucks were the most numerous patrol trucks employed by the LRDG throughout their short life and soldiered on until the unit's disbanding.
Data Sheet Available:	None Available

Photos

Reference	Source/Provider
Chevrolet 1533x2 30cwt Patrol Truck Photos	British War Office via the Imperial War Museum
Chevrolet 1533x2 Truck Before Conversion in LRDG Workshops (Notice tires and wind screen)	British War Office via the Imperial War Museum
Chevrolet 1533x2 Patrol Truck with Captured Italian 7.92mm Breda Machine Gun Mounted in Front	British War Office via the Imperial War Museum
Chevrolet 1533x2 30cwt Patrol Truck Photos	Erik Johansen - South Shields, Tyne & Wear UK
Bagnold Sun Compass	Imperial War Museum
.303 Vickers "K" Machine Gun	Imperial War Museum

References Available

Online

Printed

Reference	Author
A Photo History of Armoured Cars In Two World Wars	George Forty
"Desert Chevrolets: A Lone Long Range Desert Group Survivor and Its Contemporaries"	Wheels & Tracks: The International Review of Military Vehicles - Issue #8
Desert Raiders: Axis and Allied Special Forces (1940-1943) - Osprey Battle Orders #23	Andrea Molinari
Long Range Desert Group In Action, The: 1940-1943 (Pen & Sword-Images of War)	Brendan O'Carroll
Long Range Desert Group, The: 1940-1945 (Osprey Publishing, New Vanguard 32)	Robin Jenner & David List
Long Range Desert Group, The: History & Legacy (Helion & Company) Review by Dr. Chris Lloyd-Staples	Karl-Gunnar Norén & Lars Gyllenhaal
Long Range Desert Group Patrolmen: The Western Desert - 1940-43  (Osprey Publishing, Warrior 148)	Tim Moreman
"LRDG Patrol Trucks: Desert Warfare" (April 2006 Issue of Military Machines International Magazine)	John Blackman
"Model Mastery" (September 2020 Issue of Classic Military Vehicle Magazine) (Discussing the author's LRDG Diorama)	Alejandro Mario Luchinelli
"Old Kit, New Tricks" (January 2020 Issue of Airfix Model World Magazine (A build of the 1/76 Matchbox LRDG 30cwt Chevrolet/Willys Jeep Model Kit Set)	Dave Oliver
"Piracy on the High Desert" (June 2020 Issue of Classic Military Vehicle Magazine)	Toby Savage
SAS & LRDG In Detail: British WWII SAS & Long Range Desert Group Vehicles (Wings & Wheels Publications #R092)	James Baxter, Jan Willem de Boer & Frantisek Koran
Special Forces Vehicles: 1940 to Present Day (Pen & Sword, Images of War)	Pat Ware

Hobby Modeling

For a Full List of Model Kits and Accessories related to the LRDG Chevrolet Patrol Trucks (WA & 1533x2), you can check out Scalemates.

Model Photos