World War One was a conflict that saw rapid advances in terms of military technology. This surge is especially noticeable in aviation but the land war also saw many advances in small arms, dedicated anti-tank and anti-aircraft artillery, chemical weapons, and of course, the birth of tanks and wide spread usage of armored cars. Prior to the start of World War One, armored cars were more or less a curiosity. Perhaps one of the first armored cars which featured an armored body with a rotating armored turret was the 1904 Austro-Daimler Panzerwagen. It was the Italians that took the armored car to war during the Italo-Turkish War which lasted from September 29, 1911 to October 18, 1912 where they deployed the Fiat Arsenale which was built on a Fiat 15bis truck chassis. When World War One broke out, armored cars were used to good effect, in part due to their mobility. Unfortunately, as the war started to bog down into static warfare on the Western Front, the terrain became all but impassible for armored cars to get to where they were needed. Thus, their main advantage of speed was no longer an asset.
However, one Major Raymond Brutinel of the Canadian Army felt that the armored car had much potential, especially if it was utilized within a fully mechanized unit. A former Captain of the French Army Reserve, Brutinel immigrated to Canada prior to the war and amassed a sizable fortune as an entrepreneur. He went to the Canadian Minister of Militia and Defense, Sam Hughes, and pitched his concept with a large carrot...that being Brutinel would finance the entire endeavor. While this was not an unusual practice, what Brutinel wanted to do certainly was. Checkbook in hand, Brutinel ordered twenty Colt Model 1914 machine-guns, bought truck chassis from the Autocar Company located in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, and obtained armor plate from Bethlehem Steel (also in Pennsylvania). Once all of the purchases arrived back in Canada, work commenced on what would simply be called the Armored Autocar. The vehicle was, in the basic sense, an armored box on top of the Autocar chassis. The front and rear of the box were angled and the flat sides and rear had drop-down panels. Armor thickness was 5mm on every facing except the rear which was only 3mm thick. There was no overhead protection, the box being open topped. Situated inside the box were two pedestals, each one mounting a single Colt machine-gun which could be rotated 360 degrees. The weapons were capable of firing over the sides but if need be, could be removed from the pedestals and deployed on the ground. Both guns were fed from a generous onboard ammunition supply of 20,000 rounds. Fully loaded, the Armored Autocar weighed 3 tons and the 22hp engine could move the vehicle on roads at a top speed of 25mph. A total of eight men crewed a single Armored Autocar. In combat order, the Armored Autocar, in addition to the ammunition, carried enough rations for fourteen men along with additional stores of gasoline.
On August 24, 1914, the Automobile Machine Gun Brigade No. 1 was established though in short order, the name was changed to Canadian Automobile Machine Gun Brigade of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) on September 15, 1914. The initial compliment of vehicles was composed of eight Armored Autocars, six to eight unarmored Autocar trucks as support vehicles, four automobiles for the unit staff, and an ambulance. This force was broken down into two batteries, the 1st. and 2nd. Sifton Batteries. Within a year, private funding authorized three more batteries, the Eaton, Borden, and Yukon Batteries. In October 1914, the unit was sent overseas to England where it was renamed the 1st. Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade CEF (1st. CMMG Brigade). The brigade had five batteries (A through E) with each battery having eight Armored Autocars and twelve trucks. Each battery was broken down into four Sections which contained two Armored Autocars each. In addition, the brigade had a motorcycle unit whose 51 men served as signalers, scouts, and dispatch riders. Unfortunately, the situation on the Western Front had stagnated to the point that the brigade was, more or less, sidelined and had no opportunity to prove it's worth. This situation stretched into 1916 and 1917 (by this time, the unit was now in France) but the brigade was able to retain unit integrity and not have their equipment and men bled off into other units. During this time, the Colt machine-guns were switched out with Vickers .303 caliber machine-guns and some of the Armored Autocars carried a loose Lewis light machine-gun. 1918, however, saw the start of Kaiserschlacht (Kaiser's Battle) which was better known as the 1918 Spring Offensive. Beginning on March 12, 1918, the Germans launched widescale offensive attacks on the Western Front, seeking to defeat the French, British, and other allied countries before the United States could fully deploy troops into the theater.
At this time, the 1st. CMMG Brigade was able to highlight its capabilities. While not able to participate in offensive operations, the brigade excelled in the defense where its rapid deployment capability allowed it to act as a “fire brigade” and shift to wherever it was needed to stem German advances. The latter capability was due to the firepower the brigade could project as each battery contained sixteen machine-guns plus an additional 8 light machine-guns. The Armored Autocars, though, were not invulnerable. The 5mm of armor was only effective against some small arms and only at distances of 180 feet or more. In addition, with no top cover, the vehicle was vulnerable to grenades if the enemy was able to close with it. Against artillery or anti-tank guns, the Armored Autocar had no chance of survival if struck. With at least six men manning the weapons, hits by the enemy against the Armored Autocar was sure to cause casualties and so injuries and fatalities among the crews were high. Despite the losses, the 1st. CMMG Brigade proved its worth and in May 1918, the 2nd. CMMG Brigade was stood up. In addition, a Canadian Corps Cyclist Battalion was attached to the unit which brought 300 infantrymen (whose mobility came from bicycles) to be utilized defensively to protect the Armored Autocars or to conduct offensive operations. Finally, a trench mortar section was added that had their mortars mounted on trucks and thus had the same mobility advantage as the Armored Autocars and brought even more firepower to bear on the enemy. Following World War One, the two brigades were eventually stood down. However, the concept of the fully mechanized nature of the brigades was a first (and only) such force during the war and would prove an influence to later military planners and theorists.
Only one Armored Autocar remains today and is on display at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario.
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