peerless armoured car

1919 British Revolution Scenarios

I really enjoyed reading 1919: Britain’s Year of Revolution a book that looks at the (all too real) prospects of a revolution in the United Kingdom post the Great War.

1919; Britain’s Year of Revolution tells the story of an almost unknown passage in British history. On the August Bank Holiday that year, the government in London despatched warships to the northern city of Liverpool in an overwhelming show of force. Thousands of troops, backed by tanks, had been trying without success to suppress disorder on the streets. Earlier that year in London, 1,000 soldiers had marched on Downing Street, before being disarmed by a battalion of the Grenadier Guards loyal to the government. In Luton that summer, the town hall was burned down by rioters, before the army was brought in to restore order, and in Glasgow, artillery and tanks were positioned in the centre of the city to deter what the Secretary of State for Scotland described as a Bolshevik uprising. Industrial unrest and mutiny in the armed forces combined together to produce the fear that Britain was facing the same kind of situation which had led to the Russian Revolution two years earlier. Drawing chiefly upon contemporary sources, this book describes the sequence of events which looked as though they might be the precursor to a revolution along the lines of those sweeping across Europe at that time. To some observers, it seemed only a matter of time before Britain transformed itself from a constitutional monarchy into a Soviet Republic.

I found it a real gripping read and learnt so much about that post war era and the sparks that could have resulted in a full blown revolution and civil war.

Here are some ideas for scenarios.

Soldiers are deployed to remove strikers who are occupying important buildings in the city centre. The army bring in tanks and armoured cars. The strikers build improvised armoured buses, trucks and cars.

By the winter of 1919, the quiet horror of the Western Front had migrated to the cobbled thoroughfares of Britain’s industrial heartlands. Where the War Office dispatched Mark V tanks and Peerless armoured cars to break the council building occupations and clear city centres, they encountered an urban vanguard forged in the foundries of the Clyde, Tyne, and Mersey. Red Guards and striking boilermakers had systematically stripped heavy steel plating from dormant shipyards, welding makeshift parapets over double-decker trams, commercial lorries, and motor-coaches. Behind barricades of paving stones and overturned omnibus chassis, these improvised “Red Ironclads”—rattling top-heavy monstrosities studded with riveted boiler-plate and improvised firing slits—clanked into the grand town squares, meeting the state’s war-surplus armour in an unprecedented, suffocating clash of steel on domestic soil.

Peerless Armoured Car in Cork in 1922 – National Library of Ireland on The Commons [No restrictions]

Sailors brought in by ship into docks across the UK to remove striking dockers. The dockers retaliate and attack the naval forces.

With Britain’s commercial trade paralysed at the water’s edge, the Admiralty took the drastic step of ordering Royal Navy destroyers and light cruisers directly into the nation’s key ports, deploying armed naval landing parties to clear the quays and force the unloading of essential supplies. The bluejackets expected passive non-cooperation, but they disembarked into a brutal gauntlet constructed by thousands of furious dockers, coal-heavers, and unionised merchant mariners. Armed with cargo hooks, heavy iron marlinspikes, and improvised Molotovs, the strikers swarmed the gangways and crane gantries, driving back the sailors with a volley of cobblestones and heavy freight blocks. In dockyards from Liverpool to the Thames, the salt air turned acrid with smoke as naval forces found themselves pinned down behind stacked timber-crates, fighting off ferocious hand-to-hand charges by a maritime workforce determined to hold the port gates at any cost.

Soldiers mutiny and take over buildings in city, but more troops are sent in to stop this.

A British Army Mark V tank rams a sealed premises on Capel Street. Dublin January 18th 1921

What began as a quiet refusal to entrain for anti-Bolshevik deployment in Russia swiftly erupted into outright mutiny when regiments stationed in the provincial garrison towns seized control of local municipal halls, telegraph exchanges, and railway stations. Emboldened by months of demobilisation delays and rising revolutionary fervour, the rebellious soldiers declared these strongholds liberated “Soldiers’ Councils.” In response, the War Cabinet acted with cold, decisive speed, dispatching battle-hardened loyalist brigades direct from the Western Front—troops untainted by industrial unrest and supported by field artillery—to isolate and besiege their former comrades. As cordon lines tightened around city centres, loyalist machine-gun posts took position atop church spires and departmental rooftops, turning former army barracks and grand Victorian civic halls into contested war zones where British veterans faced British veterans across barricaded avenues.

A government armoured train is used for rear area security. Opposition forces plan to ambush the train with improvised armoured vehicles.

As military control unravelled across the rail corridors connecting London to the industrial North, the Ministry of Munitions pressed heavy armoured trains into service to maintain rear-area security, protect vital supply lines, and guarantee the passage of government troops. Yet these rolling fortresses, formidable on open track, found themselves hopelessly vulnerable to the partisan warfare brewing in the railway cuttings. Laying in wait near a coal-dusted junction, insurgent forces assembled a mobile strike force of improvised armoured lorries and plating-reinforced traction engines. Packed with high explosives and shielded behind layers of riveted boiler-plate, the rebel vehicles charged down parallel railway access roads, blowing the rails behind the train to cut off its retreat before using heavy improvised rams and makeshift sticky charges to breach the iron flank of the state’s juggernaut.

There are lots of miniatures out there that can be used for this kind of gaming across different scales.

I have written a number of blog posts on the different kinds of armoured vehicles developed in the inter-war period.

You can also see from the book how the seeds were potentially sowed for an armed conflict along the lines of the Very British Civil War background.

VBCW or Very British Civil War is an alternative history created by messers Jones, Mortimore and Douglas and published by Solway Crafts and Miniatures. In their scenario Edward VIII refuses to abdicate triggering a constitutional crisis which divides the nation and results in Civil war. As a result instead of going to war in Europe, the nation is facing a very British crisis.

This Peerless Armoured Car was on display at the Tank Museum at Bovington.

The (original) Peerless Armoured Car was an armoured car that was used by the British Army during the First World War. Sixteen American Peerless trucks were modified by the British to serve as armoured cars. These were relatively primitive designs with open backs, armed with a Pom-pom gun and a machine gun, and were delivered to the British Army in 1915.

In 1919 a new design was built. it was based on the chassis of the Peerless three-tonne lorry, with an armoured body built by the Austin Motor Company.

The Peerless lorry was a relatively slow and heavy vehicle but was reckoned to be tough, with solid rubber tyres and rear-wheel chain drive. The armour for the vehicle produced by the Austin company was based on an earlier design created for the Russian Army.

The most common variant was a twin-turret design fitted with two machine guns. However, a number of other variants were developed, including a vehicle armed with a 3-inch (76 mm) gun and an anti-aircraft variant armed with a 13-pound 6cwt AA gun.

The car had a crew of four .The Peerless Armoured Car was used in a variety of roles, including reconnaissance, escort duty, and direct fire support. It was used by the British Army in the Russian Civil War.

The Peerless Armoured Car was a relatively successful design for its time. It was well-protected and reliable, and it was able to carry a significant amount of firepower. However, it was also slow and heavy, which limited its usefulness in some roles. The Peerless Armoured Car was eventually replaced by more modern designs in the 1920s.

Poor off-road performance hampered the vehicle but it still saw considerable service, notably in Ireland. A few were still in service with the British at the start of the Second World War. Seven were in service with the Irish National Army during the Irish Civil War and used by the Irish Defence Forces up until 1932.

This photo appeared in the Sunday Independent on 13 August 1922, with the caption: “A Dangerous Corner – This photograph was taken in one of the towns captured during the past week by the National Army. It shows an amoured car “manoeuvring for position” at the end of a street facing the post office. Irregulars occupy the further end of the street, and are being quickly dislodged by infantry supported by the armoured car.”

Peerless Armoured Car in Cork in 1922 – National Library of Ireland on The Commons [No restrictions]

These armoured cars would have been used in the world of A Very British Civil War. They would also make ideal vehicles for the concept of the 1919 British Revolution I talked about in this blog post.

If there had been a British Revolution in 1919, the Peerless Armoured Cars would have likely been used to suppress the uprising. The cars were well-protected and armed with machine guns, making them ideal for use against rioters and rebels. They would have been deployed to key locations around the country, such as government buildings, military bases, and communication hubs. The cars would have also been used to patrol the streets and to provide support to police forces.

The use of Peerless Armoured Cars would have likely been controversial. Some people would have argued that the cars were necessary to protect the country from chaos and anarchy. Others would have argued that the cars were a symbol of government oppression. The use of the cars would have likely exacerbated tensions between the government and the people, and it could have led to further violence.

Ultimately, the outcome of a British Revolution in 1919 is impossible to say. However, the use of Peerless Armoured Cars would have likely played a significant role in the conflict.

Peerless Armoured Car

A rather dark photograph of mine of the Peerless Armoured Car at the Bovington Tank Museum.

During the First World War, sixteen American Peerless trucks were modified by the British to serve as armoured cars. These were relatively primitive designs with open backs, armed with a Pom-pom gun and a machine gun, and were delivered to the British army in 1915.

After the war, a new design was needed to replace armoured cars that had been worn out. As a result, the Peerless Armoured Car design was developed in 1919. It was based on the chassis of the Peerless three ton lorry, with an armoured body built by the Austin Motor Company.

Here is a better lit photograph of the Peerless Armoured Car at Bovington from Wikimedia.

These armoured cars would have been used in the world of A Very British Civil War. They would also make ideal vehicles for the concept of the 1919 British Revolution I talked about in this blog post.