Morris C8

Morris C8 Quad
Morris-Commercial Quad, limber, and 25-pounder field gun crossing a pontoon bridge at Slaght Bridge in Antrim, Northern Ireland, 26 June 1942
Type	Artillery tractor
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Production history
Manufacturer	Morris and others
No. built	10,000
Specifications
Weight	3.3 long tons (3,400 kg)
Length	14 ft 8 3⁄4 in (4.489 m)
Width	7 ft 3 in (2.21 m)
Height	7 ft 5 in (2.26 m)
Crew	1 + 5 passengers
Armour	none
Engine	Morris EH, 4-cylinder 3.5 litre (214ci) petrol engine 70 bhp (52.2kW)
Suspension	Wheel, 4 x 4
Operational range	160 miles (257 km)
Speed	50 miles per hour (80 km/h)

The Morris Commercial C8 FAT (Field Artillery Tractor), commonly known as a Quad, is an artillery tractor used by the British and Commonwealth (including Canadian Army) forces during the Second World War. It was used to tow field artillery pieces, such as the 25-pounder gun-howitzer, and anti-tank guns, such as the 17-pounder.

Although its sloped sides suggest otherwise, the Quad was not armoured.

In 1937 the War Department identified a need for a new FAT to supplement, and then replace, the Light Dragon and Morris CDSWs then in service. A specification was issued for a four-wheeled, four-wheel drive vehicle, with winch, on a short chassis. Guy Motors produced their design quite quickly using existing components, and Morris followed with theirs. It was a totally new, but conventional, design evolved from the CS8.

It included a new four-cylinder engine mounted on a subframe and not directly onto the chassis. Like the Guy, the body had a very characteristic slope sided, "beetle back" shape. It was all-metal and designed to facilitate chemical weapon decontamination, as well as to enable a gun traversing platform to be carried on the rear roof section. In addition to 6 men, it was capable of carrying 24 complete boxed rounds of 25-pounder ammunition and at least 8 boxed antitank shells, together with vehicle and gun detachment equipment.

The first Morris C8 Quad was delivered in October 1939 and it then stayed in production until 1945. There were two major changes to the mechanical side of the vehicle, and two independent ones to the body. The engine/chassis design was used on other Morris types, such as the C8 Morris 15 cwt truck. A long-wheelbase version was used to produce the C9B self-propelled Bofors Light Anti-Aircraft Tractor.

As a FAT the Quad served with Field Artillery Regiments. Each regiment had 36 Quads; 24 towed a limber and gun, and 12 towed two limbers.

It was first issued in late 1939 and first used in action in France in 1940, towing 18-pounder, 18/25-pounder and 4.5-inch howitzers. Many were lost in the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from France and as a result some of these were taken into service by the Wehrmacht.