'Military Lessons of the Arab Rebellion in Palestine 1936' [‎52r] (108/294)

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At first none^of the tanks had spotlights fitted and this proved to
he a serious defect# xo ohviate it one of the headlarrips v>ras fitted to
the gun, and later when the standard spotlight for fitting to the turret
was received the headlamp fitting was retained. This dual arrangement
proved invaluable, tne spoblight was used by the commander to swing from
side to side while looking over the turret, while the headlamp on the gun
provided a beam along which to shoot, since the spotlight and"the gun
could not be operated simultaneously. The need for a beam of light along
which to shoot ao nignt was keenly felt oy all units which were required
to fire automatic weapons from vehicles, and led to the evolution of a
special fitting which ib> referred to later in this chapter and is des
cribed in Appendix XII.
Radio Telephony proved of the greatest value, but unfortunately was
not available in all tanks. The Company brought with it two sets for
Cpy<*H»Q. and one for each of the five sections, and later one more was
obtained; but had each tank been fitted with R/T, sub-section control -
especially at night - would have been much simplified. On more than
one occasion the tanks R ./1 proved of value in assisting the communica
tions of the infantry with whom they were co-operating. The comparative
ly short range of R/T on the No. 1 sets brought to light a lack of train
ing in Morse on the part of tank commanders, and some intensive training
had to be organized. It is worth noting that the use of R/T, especially
at night, had its disadvantages from the point of view of the commander
of a tank patrol. The wearing of earphones deadened the sound of the
occasional sniper’s shot for which he might be listening while, if the
tank was lying in ambush, conversation might easily give away its
position.
Armoured Cars
Both the 11th Hussars and the R.A.F. Armoured Car Companies were
equipped with Rolls-Royce cars which gave excellent service, though
employed for the greater part of the time on the main roads. Cross
country work, such as patrolling along the rough tracks beside the oil
pipe-line, told very heavily on the cars and even on the main roads the
mileage demanded of them was so great as to necessitate an ample reserve.
The 11th Hussars had a reserve of only four cars, and needed at least
twice that number.
All cars suffered at first from difficulty in elevating their guns
sufficiently to bring fire to bear on the hilltops from the deep valleys
through which many of the roads led. It was also necessary at times to
deal with enemy concealed in ditches at the roadside or even attempting
to board the car. The Royal Air Force succeeded in modifying their
Vickers mountings sufficiently to give an added eight degrees of eleva
tion to the guns. But even this was not sufficient, and moreover it
was often necessary to bring fire to bear from both sides of the car
simultaneously. For this reason a Lewis gun was fitted in addition to
the Vickers: it not only provided the essentials for close-in fighting
but enabled fire to be continued in the case of one gun jamming. 11
had the disadvantage of exposing the gunner while actually firing, buo
experience proved that in Palestine this risk was justified. Lhe mount
ing adopted by the R.A.F., and in modified form by the 11th Hussars, was
an aircraft gunner’s "all round traverse ring" on the top of tne turret,
and this proved entirely satisfactory. Again the need of bet ter light
ing was felt, either in the form of an improved spotlight on the car or
a separate armoured searchlight vehicle to each section of armoured cars.
Luminous night sights were required for the guns, especially as the Uoe
of tracer bullets was later forbidden.
The inclusion of rifle grenades in the equipment of armoured cars^
was found to be most useful: this was especially noticeable at night in
conjunction with a searchlight for plunging fire against an enemy con
cealed in sangars. At times however the range was found to be inadequate