During WW2 Australia produced four types of Universal Carriers:

Universal Carrier MG, Local Pattern No. 1

Also known as “LP1 Carrier (Aust)”. Australian production similar to Bren carrier but welded and with some minor differences. About 60 were sent to North Africa in 1940 and saw action in North Africa, Greece and Palestine. In all, 160 LP1 carriers were built by Victorian Railways at their vast Newport workshops in Melbourne. They were not successful as the engine overheated, there was a shortage of spare parts and break wear was excessive. Although problematic, much was learnt from the experience, and a new design was produced, which corrected many of the inherent faults of this first model.

Universal Carrier MG, Local Pattern No. 2

Also known as “LP2 Carrier (Aust)”. Australian-built variant of the Universal Carrier. Also produced in New Zealand. Used 1938–1939 Ford commercial axles; the 2A had 1940 Ford truck axles. Over 2700 of these were produced.

2-pounder Anti-tank Gun Carrier (Aust)

The Australian 2-pounder Anti-tank Gun Carrier, also known as 2-pdr Attack Carrier was built on an extended LP2 chassis. The driver had an open-topped compartment that was armoured on the front and sides. The gun was mounted on an open platform at the rear of the vehicle that allowed the gun to be traversed 360-degrees. The vehicle had a crew of 4: commander, gunner, loader and driver. Testing of the first prototypes began in August and September of 1941. At the conclusion of successful trials in February/March 1942, an order for 200 of them was placed with the first one being delivered in May 1942. They were built by Metropolitan Gas Company of Melbourne.

By the time the 2-pounder Anti-tank Gun Carrier came into service, it was already obsolete as most of the vehicles it was designed to combat had armour that was too thick for the 2-pdr to successfully penetrate. As a result, all of the carriers were kept in Australia and used as training vehicles and equipment for Australian reserve and volunteer units.

3 inch Mortar Carrier (Aust)

The Carrier, 3-inch Mortar (Aust) was a design based on the 2 Pounder Carrier with a 3-inch mortar mounted in place of the 2 pounder. Designed to enable the mortar to have 360 degree traverse and to be fired either from the vehicle, or dismounted. 400 were produced and were ultimately sent as military aid to the Nationalist Chinese Army. None of these are now known to still exist.

Bren Gun Carriers were allocated to all types of Australian Army Units.

Owing to the shortage of tanks, in the newly formed 1st Australian Armoured Division on July 1, 194 a great number of Carriers were pressed into service in Milne Bay and Cape Endaiadere, where their attack failed with all five attacking Brens destroyed on December 5, 1942.

I will provide more details of their use by Australians in combat when I post on a second carrier, but suffice to say, it did not take long for soldiers on the ground to realise their open top, light armour, and inability to traverse the jungle made them a liability. They were quickly replaced with carriers of the two-legged variety.