Austin K2/Y (1938)
Heavy Ambulance, 13,500 produced
The Austin K2/Y is a British heavy military ambulance that was used by all Commonwealth services during the Second World War. Built by Austin, it was based on the 1938 Austin K30 30-cwt light truck combined with the K2 chassis for many uses.
Development
The Austin K2/Y was introduced in 1939, remained in production until 1945 with a chassis derived from the Austin K30. It was a 30 cwt open-cab military truck. The K2/Y by itself became the most common British Heavy Ambulance of the war. The Tommies used to call it "Katie" and it was used by all services, the Royal Army, Royal Navy and Air Force.
The Royal Army in early 1939 realized it lacked dedicated ambulances in case of war and thosed used for civilian services were generally road vehicles, not capable of off-road service. Thus a specification was published to all manufacturers.
Specifications for the body were specified under No. 2 Mk I/L. They were written by the Royal Army Medical Corps. Morris proposed the chassis derived from the K30, wheeras Mann Egerton designed and manufactured the medical cab. These coach-builders based in Norwich proposed a simple to make design that can accommodate an attendant and four stretchers, or ten sitting casualties. It was later revised as to more realistically house eight seated patients. It was approved as the war commenced in September 1939 and Morris setup a new line at Longbridge works for these. It ran from early 1940 until the end of the war.
Design
Chassis and general design
When designed, the K2/Y looked as to be as cheaply produced as possible and engineers used simple recipes; The body for example was of simple construction, with a wooden frame covered with painted with leather-cloth. It was insulated. This medical unit could accommodate four stretchers or eight sitting patients in its final version. There were fresh-air vents in both sides, a metal roof an doors. The vehicle measured 5.49 m (216 inches) overall, with a width of 2.21 m (87 inches) and height of 2.79 m (110 inches). It was classed with a lass of 3 tons 1½ cwt (3124 kg) (dry).
Fir winter operations, a Clayton Dewandre hot water heater was installed inside, to warm up the cabin enough. This particular truck/body combination was also used as multipurpose van used for other roles. This cabin was also adapted to Bedford ML and Morris-Commercial CS/CD chassis as well. However depending on the configuration, the K2/Y could take up to ten casualties all sitting. In case of grave injuries and critical patients, four stretcher cases was a bit reduced though. There were simple canvas closures in place of driver's cab doors.
Medical Cab No. 2 Mk I/L
The interior of the cab was 2.6 metres long, 2.0 metres wide and 1.7 metres high. At the rear two large doors were installed and a lifting step. From the driver's cab, the wounded could be accessed through a small internal door with a seat in case they needed attention during transport without having to stop and leave the vehicle to enter via the back doors. The cabin exterior was mainly made from painted canvas.
Mobility
The Austin K2/Y was powered by an Austin 6-cylinder (petrol) Austin D-Series (3.462 cm3 or 211 cubic inches) displacement. It was capable of 60 hp at 3.000 rpm. It had a 153 lb/ft or 207.4 Nm torque at 1200 rpm. This enabled 50 mph (80 km/h) on road. The chassis had a wheeled 4×2 configuration with dual tires at the rear, leaf spring suspensions, front driving axle and the torque on the rear drive. It ran on 10.50–16 tyres.
It also had a widely spaced four-speed gearbox. It was not easy to use, and drivers complained they needed to "understand" it, but once mastered it became smooth to use. The vehicle came with two petrol tanks: One was on each side with a total capacity of circa 2×12 Imperial gallons (2×54.5 L)). Brakes were Hydraulic. Range is unknown.
Production & Variants
A total of 13,102 Austin K2/Y ambulances with specific front mudguards at the rear, very close to the doors, were built at Longbridge plant from 1940 until to 1945. The Austin chassis was one of three designs fitted with Mann Egerton bodies alongside with the Morris Commercial CS11/30F (front mudguards underneath the rungs) and Bedford ML 54 (front mudguards ended before the doors). As for surviving ones, an estimated 50 or more compared to just two Morris Commercials, and no Bedford. This tells volume about the popularity and availability of the Austin K2.
Mark I: Early version showed two round rotary ventilators on the roof, spare wheel cover with large hump.
Mark II: The late version had two square fixed vents on the roof, a spare-wheel cover smaller, rounder hump. The spare wheel was moved further into the body to avoid hitting the cover and wheel. There was also a larger cut-out in the internal door, from reports to Austin.
specifications |
| Dimensions | 18 ft x 7 ft 5 in x 9 ft 2 in (5.49 x 2.26 x 2.79 m) |
| Total weight | 3 tons 1½ cwt (3124 kg) dry |
| Crew | 2 – 3 |
| Propulsion | 6-cyl. 3462 cc Austin D-Series petrol 60 hp/3000 rpm |
| Suspension | Wheels 4×2, 10.50–16 tyres |
| Speed (road) | 50 mph (80 km/h) |
| Range | No data |
| Payload | 4 stretchers or 10 "walking wounded" |
| Production | 13,102 |
The Austin K2 in action
A column of Austin K2/Y in Libya, 1942
The vehicle combat's debut was in France wit the BEF albeit as production was just ramping up, they probably arrived in June, too late to be used; Thus, they saw action in North Africa. One driver recalled how he managed to he once managed to carry 27 wounded total out of the scroching desert: Passengers were seated on the wings, bonnet, rear steps, and extra stretchers suspended by rifles across the rear walkway...
Princess Elizabeth was trained to also drive one during her Auxiliary Territorial Service. The design was popular and it akso saw service with Commonwealth troops, even US forces which only had to content with the smaller and late production Dodge WC 54. This was another case of reverse Lend-Lease. The K2 ('KTwo' then "Kathy") was called as such when stationed in Germany during the 1950s. Thus, the vehicle was also used aplenty in the Korean War and took part in the 1956 Operation Musketeer in Egypt. It was also used by many countries postwar. Many were bought from the British Forces in Germany after WW II, 14 for example acquired by Denmark, 7 in the Danish Brigade in Germany, 4 disposed of in the mid 1950, superseded by VW Transporter ambulances.
A K2/Y became the star in the 1958 "Ice Cold in Alex" WW II drama featuring John Mills, Sylvia Syms, Anthony Quayle and Harry Andrews based on a novel from 1957 by Christopher Landon. The vehicle featured however was a 4-wheel drive Canadian Military Pattern chassis variant. The standard 2WD K2 was incapable of off-road performances thus as presented there. Three of these participated in the VE-VJ days (50th anniversary parade) in the Mall in London on 19 August 1995 and they are a common occurence during the ceremonies of D-Day (lile the 80th anniversary coming soon) and are a regular occurence of military vehicles exhibits such in Overloon.
Read More/src
armyvehicles.dk
Register Info started September 1979 pdf
wardrawings.be
facebook.com
heritagemachines.com
imcdb.org 12
commons.wikimedia Austin K2
en.wikipedia.org
Video documentary