Universal Carrier The Universal Carrier , also known ( incorrectly ) as the Bren Gun Carrier is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers - Armstrong . Produced between 1934 and 1960 , the vehicle was used widely by British Commonwealth forces during the Second World War . Universal Carriers were usually used for transporting personnel and equipment , mostly support weapons , or as machine gun platforms . With some 113 , 000 built in the United Kingdom and abroad , it is the most produced armoured fighting vehicle in history . Design and development . The origins of the Universal Carrier family can be traced back generally to the Carden Loyd tankette s family which was developed in the 1920s , and specifically the Mk VI tankette . In 1934 Vickers Armstrong produced , as a commercial venture , a light tracked vehicle that could be used either to carry a machine gun or to tow a light field gun . The VA . D50 had an armoured box at the front for driver and a gunner and bench seating at the back for the gun crew . It was considered by the War Office as a possible replacement for their " Dragon " artillery tractors and took 69 as the " Light Dragon Mark III " . One was built as the " Carrier , Machine - Gun Experimental ( Armoured ) " carrying a machine gun and its crew . The decision was made to drop the machine gun and its team and the next design had a crew of three – driver and gunner in the front , third crew - member on the left in the rear and the right rear open for stowage . A small number of this design as " Carrier , Machine - Gun No 1 Mark 1 " were built and entered service in 1936 . Some were converted into pilot models for the Machine gun Carrier , Cavalry Carrier and Scout Carrier – the others were used for training . The carrier put the driver and commander at the front sitting side - by - side ; the driver to the right . The engine was in the centre of the vehicle with the final drive at the rear . The suspension and running gear was based on that used on the Vickers light tank series using Horstmann springs Directional control was through a ( vertical ) steering wheel . Small turns moved the front road wheel assembly warping the track so the vehicle drifted to that side . Further movement of the wheel braked the appropriate track to give a turn . The hull in front of the commander ' s position jutted forward to give room for the Bren gun ( or other armament ) to fire through a simple slit . To either side of the engine were two areas in which passengers could ride or stores be carried . Initially , there were several types of Carrier that varied slightly in design according to their purpose : " Medium Machine Gun Carrier " ( the Vickers machine gun ) , " Bren Gun Carrier " , " Scout Carrier " and " Cavalry Carrier " . However , production of a single model came to be preferred and the Universal design appeared in 1940 ; this was the most widely produced of the Carriers . It differed from the previous models in having a rectangular body shape in rear section , with more space for crew . Production . Production of Carriers began in 1934 and it ended in 1960 . Before the Universal design was introduced , the vehicles were produced by Aveling and Porter , Bedford Vehicles , the British branch of the Ford Motor Company , Morris Motors Limited , the Sentinel Waggon Works , and the Thornycroft company . With the introduction of the Universal , production in the UK was undertaken by Aveling - Barford , Ford , Sentinel , Thornycroft , and Wolseley Motors . By 1945 production amounted to approximately 57 , 000 of all models , including some 2 , 400 early ones . The Ford Motor Company of Canada manufactured about 29 , 000 of the Universal Carriers . Smaller numbers of them were also produced in Australia ( about 5 , 000 ) , where hulls were made in several places in Victoria and by South Australian Railways workshops in Adelaide , South Australia . About 1 , 300 were also produced in New Zealand . Operational history . The Reconnaissance Corps regiments – which replaced the cavalry regiments in supporting Infantry divisions after 1940 – were each equipped with 63 carriers along with 28 Humber Scout cars . Universal Carriers were issued to the support companies in infantry rifle battalion s for carrying support weapons ( initially 10 , 21 by 1941 , and up to 33 per battalion by 1943 ) . A British armoured division of 1940 – 41 had 109 carriers in total ; each motor battalion had 44 . Artillery units used them as an artillery tractor for the Ordnance QF 6 pounder anti - tank gun . The British Carrier Platoon originally had ten Universal Carriers with three Carrier Sections of three Universal Carriers each plus another Universal Carrier in the platoon HQ . Each Universal Carrier had a NCO , a rifleman and a driver / mechanic . One Universal Carrier in each section was commanded by a sergeant and the other two by corporals . All the Universal Carriers were armed with a Bren light machine gun and one Carrier in each Carrier Section also had a Boys anti - tank rifle . By 1941 the Carrier platoon increased in strength to contain four Carrier sections and one Carrier in the Carrier sections also carried a 2 - inch mortar . By 1943 each Universal Carrier now had a crew of four , an NCO , driver / mechanic and two riflemen . The Boys anti - tank rifle was also replaced by the PIAT anti - tank weapon . The Universal Carrier ' s weapons could be fired from in or outside of the Carrier . A Carrier platoon had a higher number of light support weapons than a rifle company .