page_title: AEC Matador
section_title: Service
hierarchical_section_title: AEC Matador / Service
caption_attribution_description: English: The Royal Air Force during the Second World War The Avro Lancaster B I R5868 'S-Sugar' refuels at RAF Hunsdon after completing its 100th operation the previous evening against Bourg Leopold in Belgium on 12 May 1944. The 2500 gallon tank truck is AEC 854.
context_page_description: The AEC Matador was a heavy 4×4 truck and medium artillery tractor built by the Associated Equipment Company for British and Commonwealth forces during the Second World War. AEC had already built a 4×2 lorry, also known as the Matador.
context_section_description: About 9,000 Matadors were built, some going to the Royal Air Force (RAF).
  For the British Army, it fulfilled a role between field artillery tractors (FATs) such as the Morris C8 Quad, which towed smaller guns such as the 25-pounder gun-howitzer, and the Scammell Pioneer, used for towing the 7.2-inch howitzer. It was commonly used to tow the 5.5-inch medium gun and the QF 3.7-inch AA gun. The Matador was found to be a generally useful vehicle and was adapted for other roles, including carrying a 25-pounder gun.
  The RAF used Matadors in the flat bed form for load carrying. The 6-wheeler Matador Type A with refuelling pumps and equipment by Zwicky Ltd, was used as a refuelling tanker, capable of carrying 2,500 Imperial gallons of fuel and also for towing ashore Short Sunderland flying boats at their stations.
  Six armoured flamethrowers, the 'Heavy Cockatrice' on the 6×6 chassis, were used by the RAF for airfield defence.
  In 1942/43, for the North African campaign, some Matadors mounted the 6-pounder anti-tank gun to give the AEC Mk1 Gun Carrier "Deacon".
  The Canadian Army used the Matador during the Second World War.
caption: AEC 854 refueling an Avro Lancaster, 1944
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