Deacon (artillery)

The AEC Mk I Gun Carrier, known as Deacon, was a British armoured fighting vehicle of the Second World War. It was an attempt to make the QF 6 pounder anti-tank gun into a self-propelled artillery piece. It was employed only during the North African Campaign (1942-1943).

History
The Deacon, fitting in with the style of naming self-propelled artillery after ecclesiastical titles, was developed in 1942 to provide British Army units in North Africa with a mobile anti-tank weapon. It can be seen as a development of the practice of carrying smaller artillery pieces en portee - sitting on the back of trucks. This meant the artillery could quickly move albeit with some loss of traverse. The basis of the Deacon Gun Carrier was an AEC Matador truck chassis. On the flat bed at the rear of the chassis a 6-pounder gun with enclosed armoured shield was mounted. The gunner and loader operated the gun from within the shield. The conventional cab was replaced with a boxy armoured construction that covered the engine and the drivers position. Production started in December 1942 and a total of 175 units were built.

Combat service
The Deacon was used against German armoured vehicles in North Africa, an environment in which wheeled vehicles were as manoeuvrable as tanks. They are credited with action at El Hamma where the 76th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery were victors in a battle against a German force that included Panzer III tanks.

They were withdrawn after the end of the campaign in North Africa as they were not considered suitable for use in Europe. Some were converted to armoured ammunition carriers. Some vehicles were sold to Turkey in 1943.