The SAS's Willys MB Jeeps A History of Stealth and Firepower

WW2 SAS Jeeps during World War 2, Britain received between 40,000, and 80,000 Willys WW2 SAS Jeeps. A number of these Willys MB jeeps were assigned to the newly formed Special Air Service, the United Kingdom’s premier special forces unit. The SAS tallied many vital and daring raids behind enemy lines in the critical North African theatre of war.

Operations behind enemy lines typically needed a lot of fuel, firepower, and equipment, and the SAS made use of specially prepared Willys MB jeeps. The vehicles were heavily armed: most common configuration seems to have been a pair of twin-mounted Vickers K .303 observer’s machine guns on a pintle ahead of the front passenger’s seat – this was originally an aircraft-mounted gun and, with a rate of fire of more than 3,000 rounds per minute from a drum magazine, it was a formidable weapon, offering twice the hitting power of the Bren.
There was often a third Vickers, or a .303 Bren gun, on a pedestal mount to the left of the driving position, and a standard infantry-issue water-cooled Lewis machine gun was sometimes carried for use in static firing.
Other variations Willys MB included the use of an M2 0.50in heavy machine gun ahead of the passenger seat, with the twin Vickers units relegated to the rear area ahead of the back seat; other examples show a 0.50in machine gun at the rear.
Other weapons were carried to suit the particular mission. The normal 2-inch and 3-inch mortars usually proved useful for destroying enemy targets, as did the PIAT (projectile, infantry, anti-tank) gun. Most SAS raiding parties would also have carried a plentiful supply of number 36 Mills bomb grenades, plus other grenades such as the number 69 Bakelite grenade and the Gammon anti-tank bomb.
The Willys MB jeeps were stripped of all non-essential parts including the windscreen. Sometimes the front bumper was removed to reduce weight so more fuel and water could be carried for fast long-range raids, eliminating the need for slower support vehicles.
Their grilles were cut to get more airflow through the radiator and a water condensing unit was fitted to the front. It was essentially a radiator overflow tank that was fed from the radiator cap to the bottom of the tank. Water that would normally be vented outside the vehicle would now go into the tank and when the engine was cooler it would be drawn back into the radiator. This simple system reduced loss from the radiator which would otherwise have had to be topped up from the limited drinking water supplies
The jeeps also carried sand mats, radio equipment, and large quantities of ammunition.
Some Willys MB jeeps were specially fitted with an extra gas tank mounted on the chassis beneath the passenger’s seat.

The .303 inch Buckingham incendiary round was popular with the SAS for attacking aircraft on the ground. Invented by John Buckingham an English engineer, it was developed early in WWI as an anti-balloon round. The Buckingham contained yellow phosphorus and was sealed with a small hole drilled in the side of the envelope filled with fusible metal. When the bullet was fired friction in the barrel melted the solder and on leaving the muzzle the phosphorus started to leak and was ignited by the air trailing a distinctive smoke trail of the burning phosphorus.
With all guns blazing a single SAS Willys MB jeep could deliver an impressive 5000 rounds per minute. The effectiveness of this armament firing a mix of ball, armor-piercing, and tracer shells can be judged from one assault on an airfield where 12 aircraft were destroyed in a five-minute raid.