Belgian Minerva Armoured Car

[David]

The Army of Belgium was quite to the forefront when it came to motorization before 1914, and they were the first to field Armoured Cars in any quantity. From the beginning of the war they used Machine Gun equipped motor cars in combat, and already from mid-august many of them were equipped with armour plating, of some 5mm thickness. Most of these were based on a standard motor car, model 38CV with a 4 cylinder engine, manufactured by the Antwerp firm of Minerva. (The only modification was that the standard single back wheels were substituted for double ones.) The vehicle was open-topped, lacked entry doors - the crew had to climb in and out over the sides. The engine was of course armoured as well, with two doors in front of the radiotor. Later marks - produced from 1916 - had the fighting compartment fully enclosed. Armament was one 8mm Hotchkiss MG, protected by a semi-circular shield. The total weight was some 4 tons, the maximum speed some 40 km/h. Some 25-30 vehicles of model 1914 were built, until the Minerva Factory was overrun by the Germans in October 1914. This AFV was basically sound, and the last vehicles were not withdrawn from the Belgian Army until 1935! (There were later marks of this vehicle that had an enclosed fighting compartment, while some were equipped with turrets or even 37mm guns.) The German Army used four captured Minervas, and some of them were employed - together with other German armoured cars - in the invasion of Rumania. A detachment of Belgian Armoured Cars also participated in the war on the Eastern Front, supporting the Russians until they were pulled out in 1917.