Jeffery armored car

Jeffery armored car
Jeffery armored car
	A Jeffery-Russel armored car, likely of the Eaton Motor Machine Gun Battery, seen in Toronto, Ontario.
Type	Armored car
Place of origin	United States; Canada
Service history
Used by	Canada; British India Command ; United States Army
Wars	Pancho Villa Expedition
Production history
Manufacturer	Thomas B. Jeffery Company
Produced	1915
Specifications
Length	18 ft (5.48 m)
Width	6.4 ft (1.95 m)
Height	8 ft (2.44 m)
Crew	4
Main; armament	4 x Hotchkiss M1909 Benét–Mercié machine guns (No. 1) or 1 x .303 Vickers machine gun (Jeffery-Russel)
Engine	4-cylinder petrol
Suspension	4x4 wheel
Maximum speed	20 miles per hour (32 km/h) maximum

The Jeffery armored car was an armored car developed by the US and Canada. It saw heavy use in World War I.

Armored Car No. 1

The Jeffery Armored Car No.1 was developed by the Thomas B. Jeffery Company in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1915 with a hull from the Rock Island Arsenal

The armored car No.1 was used in General John Pershing’s 1916 Pancho Villa Expedition in Columbus, New Mexico for training. Pancho Villa was far into Mexico at that time and there are no records on its use in fighting.^[1]

Jeffery-Russel armored cars

The Russel company in Canada built a number of armored cars on the four-wheel drive Jeffery chassis. After serving in Canada for a while they were sent to the UK. From there they were sent on to British India. Forty were added to the "Field Force" that was operating to contain the Mohmand rising of Haji Mullah on the North West Frontier. The "Mohmand blockade" involved British armored cars patrolling unpaved tracks between blockhouses. Maintenance of the cars was difficult as the ship carrying spares had been torpedoed. They were armed with a single Vickers machine gun. Although the four-wheel drive with independent transmission and wide range of gears should have been an advantage, the narrow solid tires negated that and running at more than 12 mph (19 km/h) caused problems with engine bearings.^[2]

Jeffery-Poplavko

A different model of armored car basing on the Jeffery Quad chassis was built in Russia by Ukrainian officer Victor Poplavko who was the Odessa city commandant (1917–18), and was known as Jeffery-Poplavko.

Gallery

No. 1 c. 1916 in Mexico
Ditto
Russian Jeffery-Poplavko (in centre and on the left)

References

^ Albert Mro, American military vehicles of World War I: an illustrated history of armored cars, staff cars, motorcycles, ambulances, trucks, tractors and tanks. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2009. ISBN 978-0-7864-3960-7, p.76
^ AFV Profile No. 9 Early Armoured Cars

External links

Eaton Machinegun Battery with image
Jeffery No.1 warwheels.net

[1] Albert Mro, American military vehicles of World War I: an illustrated history of armored cars, staff cars, motorcycles, ambulances, trucks, tractors and tanks. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2009. ISBN 978-0-7864-3960-7, p.76

[2] AFV Profile No. 9 Early Armoured Cars

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