Description

The Humber Scout Car entered service in 1943, probably too late to see service in the Tunisian campaign, but was then widely used in Italy and North-West Europe. As it was a Scout Car, it was used by many different units, including the Royal Armoured Corps, Armoured Guards battalions, as well as by the Royal Engineers, Royal Artillery and at the various Formation Headquarters. In some cases it seems that units 'tweaked' the establishment to put the larger Humbers in the HQs, with their Dingos being used at Troop level. Users included Liaison Officers, Intelligence Officers, Signals Officers, Technical Adjutants, and Commanding Officers as their 'run-around' when not mounted in their tank. It was frequently used in Formation HQs as an un-allocated 'pool' vehicle. It was also used by Britain's allies, including the Canadians and Poles. It has already been noted that production was stopped in 1945, as the war in Europe ended. A decision had been made to continue to use the smaller but generally more capable Dingo as the Scout Car for the post-war army, and thus most of the Humber Scout cars were scrapped or sold off. They did continue to serve in Malaya until the early 1950s, being used by Brigade HQs and Armoured Car regiments, some converted to mount twin MGs with a spotlight between, for anti-ambush purposes. They were used by the French, Belgian, Dutch and Danish armies, the French apparently using them in Indo-China in the war with the Viet Minh. A few surviving examples can be found in museums, and a small number of beautifully restored examples survive to grace military vehicle rallies.