Bedford QLD - Danish Army Vehicles Homepage

Bedford QLD


	Side view, left side Picture courtesy of Bent E. Hansen.
Shown is a Bedford QLD with a M55 Machine Gun Trailer Mount on top. The multiple machine guns excelled in duels with aircraft flying up to about 1,500 feet, and also provided AA fire units with local defence against ground attack or infiltration. To load an un-load the M55 two ramps and a hand-operated winch (visible to the left of the M55) was used. The M45 Quad mount was a weapon mounting consisting of four M2 Browning heavy barrel machine guns mounted in pairs on each side of an electrically powered turret. It was built by the Maxon Manufacturing Co. of New York to replace the earlier M33 twin mount. The M45 was combined with a variety of towed or self-propelled mounts. It could be combined with the M20 trailer, a light single axle trailer, or with the M17 trailer, a heavier tandem axle trailer based on a searchlight platform. When combined with the M17 trailer it was called the M51 Multiple Machine Gun Carriage, and when combined with the M20 trailer it was called the M55 Machine Gun Trailer Mount. It could also be combined with the M3 Halftrack for greater mobility, in which it was known as the M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage. The M45 was operated by two loaders and one gunner. The mount was capable of traversing a full 360 degrees around, with an angle elevation between -10 and +90 degrees. Traverse, and elevation were electrically driven, powered by two 6 volt batteries that would be recharged by a small generator. The "tombstone" ammunition cans would hold 200 rounds apiece. The Bedford QL was replaced by the GMC CCKW-353 in the the 1950´s which in return was replaced by the Bedford MJP2 in the 1970´s.