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Ram Kangaroo


The Ram Kangaroo was perhaps the second most important conversion of the Ram tank after the Sexton self-propelled gun. The idea of transporting infantry into action in armoured carriers was first put into practise in WWII by 2nd Canadian Corps in the push towards Falaise in the Summer of 1944. Defrocked Priests were the original vehicles used in this role but they had serious shortcomings in that their high sides made mounting and dismounting the vehicle difficult for combat loaded infantry and the vehicle itself provided no overhead protection for its occupants.
Attention was drawn to the Ram tank as an alternative as they had become largely surplus to Canadian needs with the adoption of the Sherman series for the campaigns in the Mediterranean and North-West Europe. The Ram would prove to have some of the same faults as the defrocked Priests, but in a lesser degree. Entry and exit would still prove difficult, but the armour protection was much better and Rams were in plentiful supply for conversion to the new role.
The initial proposal for conversion of the Ram to an armoured personnel carrier forecast removing the turret and turret basket, covering the drive shaft which ran through the hull, moving the batteries to a sponson and installing a 14mm roof plate with 28" square hinged hatches to the turret ring of the hull. A Number 19 wireless was to be fitted in the left front of the hull and the .30 calibre MG was to be retained in the bow mount. It was to be crewed by 2 and would carry 11 infantry. Benches were never installed for the infantry occupants and photos illustrate the fact that troops often rode on the outside of the vehicles when not in action. They were forced to crouch inside the vehicle for protection when moving into harms way.
The conversion was first ordered on 08 August 1944 but changes soon followed in that the hull roof plate was eliminated as it was thought to restrict exit from the vehicle, and perhaps most importantly, it would delay the delivery of the converted vehicles to the front line units.
The initial order for 56 Ram carriers was increased to 100 plus a further 25 to be held in reserve. The order was increased to 162 for just 1st Canadian Army alone by 14 October 1944, and the conversions continued as the carrier would eventually equip 1st Canadian Armoured Personnel Carrier Regiment and the British 49th Armoured Personnel Carrier Regiment, both of which operated under Britain's 79th Armoured Division.
The conversions were applied to both the earlier style Rams which mounted the auxiliary MG cupolas on the right hull front, and the later version where it had been eliminated; although the later versions were preferred.
The Ram carrier eventually became known as the Kangaroo and proved to be a success in moving the infantry forward with reduced casualties.


(8)
Ram Kangaroo based on an earlier production Ram
equipped with the hull MG cupola.

(60)
A restored Ram Kangaroo unveiled as a monument to
the 1st Canadian Armoured Personnel Carrier Regiment,
Mill, The Netherlands, 05 May 1995.


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© Chris Johnson, 1997