New Vanguard 110: Universal Carrier 1936–48, The ‘Bren Gun Carrier’ Story

by David Fletcher, illustrated by Tony Bryan

Osprey Publishing Ltd, ISBN 1-84179-813-8, 48 pages

Here’s a treat for fans of British armour. David Fletcher has given us a very clear account of how the Universal Carrier came to be, how it was used and, most importantly, what the various Mark numbers actually meant and how to tell them apart.

The book actually begins with the early tracked carriers of the mid-1930s, from the prototype to the Scout Carriers, Machine Gun Carriers and the true Bren Gun Carrier that evolved into the Universal Carrier and was commonly known as the Bren Carrier. All of them get good descriptions and the photographs are well-chosen to show their differences. The Universal Carrier itself was adopted to fill all the original roles as well as some extras and, again, they are described and well illustrated.

There are combat reports here too, and a great collection of colour plates by Tony Bryan. The whole book will give modellers plenty of ideas to use with the Tamiya Universal Carrier kit, backdating it to the original Scout and Bren Carriers not being too difficult a job either.

Highly recommended.

John Prigent

More details from Osprey Publishing

Read an extract at Osprey Publishing