M5 Half-Track Personnel Carrier

M5A1 Half-Track and infantry of the 1st Motor Battalion, Grenadier Guards

A British M5A1 Half-Track armoured personnel carrier with ring mount, converted from a Lend-Lease M14 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage manufactured by IHC International Harvester Co. of Chicago, Illinois. 1600 M14 Half-Tracks were supplied to the British who removed the Quad .50 anti-aircraft gun and converted these vehicles to the M5 or M5A1 Half-Track personnel carrier, command vehicle, or truck configuration. The Soviet Army used M5 and outwardly similar M9A1 Half-Tracks almost exclusively as HQ vehicles of armoured formations. M5A1 Half-Tracks later served in the Israel Defence Force and the ALS Lebanese Militia. The vehicle shown above belongs to the 1st Motor Battalion, Grenadier Guards, of the 5th Guards Armoured Brigade. The US and French army used similar M3 Half-Track Personnel Carriers.

Available Scale Model Kits

M5 Halftrack stowage set, 1:35 Verlinden 1856
M5A1 Half-Track, 1:76 Airfix 02318
M5A1 Half-Track, 1:76 Fujimi 76069
M5A1 Half-Track, 1:76 Hinchliffe 20/171
M16 Half-Track Conversion, 1:76 Matchbox 40078
M5A1 Half-Track, 1:285 GHQ UK33
M5A1 Half-Track, 1:300 Heroics & Ros ISM06

Technical Specifications

M5A1 Half-Track with ring mount (with or without winch)
Engine: International Harvester Co. IHC 6-cylinder, 107 KW
Transmission: 4 forward, 1 reverse (two gear ratios)
Wheelbase: 3444 mm
Length: 6151 mm
Width: 2212 mm
Height: 2313 mm
Weight: 7000 kg
Armament: ring mounted machine gun
Crew: 13

Bibliography

Half-Track: A History of American Semi-Tracked Vehicles R. P. Hunnicutt

Historical Employment

British Army, 1943–1945
Canadian Army, 1943–1945
Soviet Army, 1943–1945
Israel Defence Force, 1948 –
Armée du Liban-Sud (ALS), 1982-1984

Related Films

A Bridge Too Far, directed by Richard Attenborough, starring Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Edward Fox, Elliott Gould, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Hardy Krüger, Ryan O’Neal, Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, Maximilian Schell, Liv Ullmann, Denholm Elliott and many others. M5 Half-Track personnel carriers of the 1st (Motor) Battalion, Grenadier Guards, 5th Guards Armoured Brigade can be seen in several scenes showing the advance of the 30th Corps towards Arnhem.

Possible Conversions

M5 Half-Track
M5A1 Half-Track with ring mount
M14 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage with Quad .50 AA

M5 and M5A1 Half-Tracks produced by International Harvester Co. of Chicago, Illinois, were supplied to Britain, Canada, the Soviet Union and other allied nations under Lend-Lease.

Frequently Asked Questions

For further information and updates, please join us on facebook or in the Miniatures Forum.

British Miniatures of World War Two