The Sneaky SoDs – The Sawn-Off Daimler

An Inns of Court ‘Sawn Off Daimler’ and other recce vehicles France, Sept 1944

The Sneaky SoDs – The Sawn-Off Daimler

By Adam Brooker

The Daimler Armoured Car was one of the most widely used and successful British Armoured Cars used in WWII and was primarily used for armed reconnaissance and liaison purposes. It was commonly used in the Sabre Squadrons of the Reconnaissance Regiments of the British Armoured Divisions, with the Humber Armoured Car being commonly used in the Infantry Divisions Reconnaissance Regiments, although they weren’t exclusive to either.

The Daimler Armoured Car was one of the most widely used and successful British Armoured Cars used in WWII and was primarily used for armed reconnaissance and liaison purposes. It was commonly used in the Sabre Squadrons of the Reconnaissance Regiments of the British Armoured Divisions, with the Humber Armoured Car being commonly used in the Infantry Divisions Reconnaissance Regiments, although they weren’t exclusive to either.

The Daimler was armed with a 2pdr main gun and a co-axial Besa machine gun, both located in the turret, and often another Bren gun on a pintle mount for AA fire. The vehicle was essentially an enlarged Daimler ‘Dingo’ Scout car that was developed in parallel to Daimler Armoured Car, both were produced by Birmingham Small Arms, and saw the first cars arrive in 1941. It was a four-wheel drive vehicle, with an engine producing 95 hp, giving it good off-road abilities, a top speed of 80 km/h on roads, and a range of around 320 kilometres.

A Dingo Scout Car in front, with a Daimler Armoured Car passing behind, Tunisia 1943

A Dingo Scout Car in front, with a Daimler Armoured Car passing behind, Tunisia 1943

Both vehicles would often be deployed together in Scout Car troops, with two larger Daimler Armoured cars and one or two smaller Dingo Scout Cars in a typical Scout Troop. But by the middle of the war, it was evident that the 2pdr main gun was not sufficient to penetrate newer German vehicles, and a squeeze-bore ‘Littlejohn’ adapter was added to the barrel of some of the 2pdrs when they fought in Western Europe in 1944.

This adapter, which had a smaller diameter at the end of the barrel, used a tungsten-cored APCNR round ‘squeezed’ out of the barrel. This increased the velocity of the round as it exited and focused the penetrating core in a smaller area, which would allow it to pierce some larger German tanks. The drawback was that the adaptors tended to distort after a few shots, so they were often stored away rather than fitted all the time and normal rounds were fired without the adaptor. But photographic evidence has shown some units, like D Squadron of the 11th Hussars, used them on almost all of their Daimlers and had them fitted often.

It was found the APCNR rounds performed better than the standard 2pdr rounds even without the Littlejohn adaptors fitted, so they were sometimes used without the adaptors in a pinch. Interestingly the Squeeze-bore principle was developed by a Czech factory owner František Janeček in the early 30s, and his son Karel brought it to the English when he fled Czechoslovakia after the Germans took power. The name ‘Littlejohn’ comes from the literal anglicization of František Janeček's name.

Two Daimlers with Littlejohn adaptors attached, 11th Hussars, 1944

Two Daimlers with Littlejohn adaptors attached, 11th Hussars, 1944

By the time of the Normandy D-day Landings, the typical Scout Troop would consist of two Daimler Armoured Cars (1x Littlejohn adaptor) and two Dingo Scout cars. But many British reconnaissance Regiments had started to take the turrets off their scout vehicles, to reduce the profile of the vehicle and allow them to sneak up on the enemy without being spotted.

This had the effect of reducing their firepower and the protection of a turret, with the Stuart light tank “Jalopies” losing it's 37mm gun and co-axial MG, and the Daimler similarly losing its 2pdr and co-axial MG. The argument from their superiors was that as the guns could not really do much against German tanks except get them into trouble, it was better of removing them and making them better at their primary role of spotting and reporting on the enemy, ideally while not being spotted.

Some regiments, like the Inns of Court, accepted this change without complaint and used the Sawn-Off Daimlers liberally in their Sabre Squadrons and found success. Other Regiments in different theatres, especially Burma or Italy, were very much against the change as they felt it made the crews much more vulnerable, with a sharp increase in crew casualties as soon as they were ordered to make the change.

In Italy, the mountainous terrain and concealed enemy positions usually in elevated positions meant that the crews were often killed or wounded from small arms fire from above, with the protection of a turret no longer there and only a machine gun to return fire.

In Burma, the close jungle environment meant they could be ambushed at any time, and crews much preferred fighting from inside an armoured vehicle in the areas they could utilize the wheeled scout vehicles. Many Daimlers were used well after WW2 and they all had their turrets firmly attached, which probably goes a long way in suggesting which option was preferred.

It seems that the Stuart Jalopies and Sawn-off Daimlers (SoDs) worked best in the relatively flat terrain of Western Europe, with plenty of small woods, hedges and other greenery giving cover for the SoDs to sneak up and do their work quietly. The Inns of Court certainly showed success with this.

When C Squadron of the Inns of Court Regiment landed on Juno Beach on D-Day it was the only proper wheeled Reconnaissance unit on the beach and one of the first units of vehicles landed. It was tasked before the invasion with what they called a ‘hare-brained scheme’; to rush past the assaulting troops on the beach and blow up as many of the bridges over the Orne and Odon rivers between the landing beaches and Caen with the help of a unit of Engineers in half-tracks.

This was to prevent or slow the German reinforcements, especially the 21st Panzer Division, from counter-attacking. It would be a very dangerous mission as they would be blowing up the bridges as they crossed them, preventing them from retreating back. The eventual plan was for them to meet up with French Resistance or the 6th Airborne Division pushing onto Caen, who had been dropped the night before. As you would expect this was not very successful, despite the bravery of the men, with heavy casualties, friendly US Thunderbolts bombing and strafing them (as they did not think any Allied units had penetrated that far), and a Sherman brewing up another. By the third day of their advance, the fighting had become too hard and they had to abandon their mission.

The Inns of Court is the Regiment that you see the most prominent use of the Sawn-Off Daimler, with a lot of photographic evidence of them in use in their Armoured Car Troops. It seems their Troops would be composed of one Sawn-off Daimler, one Daimler 2pdr, and two Dingo Scout Cars, although they would also split up into half troops, with a Daimler and Dingo in each.

Daimler Armoured Car Troop

They also had Staghound Armoured Cars in their HQ as well as Staghound AA cars with twin .50cal heavy machine guns, and the Matador AEC III 75mm Heavy Armored Car in their Heavy Troop to provide fire support. Also, the Inns of Court would have very prominent Allied Stars painted on their vehicles, so if you do want to model them on the table, make sure you have plenty of Allied Stars displayed, hopefully, you can avoid any friendly fire better than they did.

Another Inns of Court ‘Sawn Off Daimler’ in Helmond, Sept 1944, with a PIAT on the hull

Another Inns of Court ‘Sawn Off Daimler’ in Helmond, Sept 1944, with a PIAT on the hull

The Inns of Court would use the Sawn-Off Daimler to scout aggressively and would prefer to disengage than take on any enemy vehicles, or heavy dug-in resistance. It was not their job to assault enemy positions with dug-in defenders, but to quickly move from town to town, securing them from light resistance, and report the position of the enemy. But in the case that they were forced to take on larger vehicles the SoDs were often seen to have PIAT launchers readily available on the side of the hulls (see above) in case they had to take out a tank at very close quarters. The only other weapon they would carry would be light personal arms and a Bren gun.

The Sawn-Off Daimler – BR312, armed with a Bren gun

In game, the Sawn-off Daimler is a unit Upgrade card from the British Bulge Command Card deck, to be used on a Daimler Armoured Car Troop. You can take it on any Daimler AC Troop, it’s not limited to the Inns of Court Regiment – The Devil’s Own Command Card, although I think that in most cases that would be the best use for it. It turns one of the two Daimlers in the unit into essentially another Dingo scout car, which will look cool and make the unit stand out, but it does not do much more than that.

Sawn-Off Daimler Command Card from British Bulge

It would be really great if you had the option of losing the 2pdr but gaining a PIAT launcher. It would add a bit more flavour to the Command Card, and it would make it different from just having another Dingo, as well as making it an attractive swap points-wise.

Inns of Court Regiment - Command Card from British Bulge

I think I will be using the SoD as the Troop leader of the Dingo Recce Patrol (a unit of 3 Dingo Scout Cars) personally, it will make them stand out, and will still fit the theme historically while not taking away from the firepower of the Daimler Armoured Car Troops. Also, there is no reason you can’t add some house rules for games with your mates and add a PIAT launcher to the Sawn-Off Daimler Card. I think losing the longer-range 2pdr and getting the PIAT is a fair swap. Let me know what you think.

Happy Gaming,

Adam