Pattern Wheeled Carrier

This artefact is a New Zealand Pattern Wheeled Carrier which were used in World War II by the Home Guard and later in the Korean War. These Indian designed carriers were based on a four wheel drive Ford chassis and were built in the New Zealand Railways Hutt Valley workshops during the latter part of World War II. Although they were produced too late for service in that war, at least two vehicles served with 16th Field Regiment during the Korean War of 1950-53. They were never particularly satisfactory and were withdrawn from service in 1956.

While serving with artillery units, these vehicles were known as Local Pattern Observation Posts (LPOPs) and were used as artillery observation vehicles. The crew of four would observe the fall of shot and relay corrections to the guns by radio. The vehicle was armoured and armed with a light machine gun because it would often be necessary for it to be positioned close to the enemy in order to see the target adequately.

The Museum’s LPOP (not usually on public display) can be seen in January 2013 at Wings Over Wairarapa in Masterton.

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