SAS Jeeps
With its outstanding reliability and ease of maintenance, the Jeep was a natural for use in the desert and saw service extensively with the SAS (Special Air Service) and LRDG (Long Range Desert Group). Both these secretive outfits specialised in travelling deep into enemy territory and carrying out nightime attacks on targets such as airfields and storage facilities. In contrast to other vehicles such as the 15cwt Canadian built Chevrolet trucks, the Jeeps required very few modifications for use in the desert.
SAS jeeps were stripped of all non-essential parts including the windscreen and most of the characteristic radiator grille slats to increase the load carrying capacity of the vehicle. As seen in the pictures, an enormous amount of petrol and water had to be carried in Jerricans to support man and machine during weeks of deep desrt operations. A water condenser is fitted to the front grille to catch steam evaporating from the radiator which would otherwise have been lost.
The jeeps were armed with combinations of both Browning and Vickers K machine guns. The Vickers K was a gas operated gun, originally used in aircraft. It was manufactured in .303 calibre and had an adjustable rate of fire between 950 and 1200 rounds per minute. The K was often mounted in pairs, giving a phenomenal rate of fire.
