Thread: Leyland Hippo

Designed as a heavy load carrier, the Leyland Hippo 6x4 10-ton truck entered military service in 1944 and eventually proved its worth hauling supplies during the closing stages of the Allied advance across North West Europe. The huge bodies on these trucks had a well-type floor incorporating the wheel arches, this giving a lower loading height, an important element in the war days as fork-lift trucks were few and much loading was accomplished by hand. Steel hoops and a canvas tilt gave weather protection to the stores carried, The Hippo Mk 1 initial version was based on a pre-war commercial type with an open cab with canvas tilt and fixed windscreen, while the Hippo Mk 2 had an all-steel cab, The Hippo Mk 2 had single rear wheels, whilst the Hippo Mk 2A had dual wheels fitted with 10- 50-22 tyres, The difficulty experienced with the Mk 2A was the need to carry two spare wheels, one for the front and one for the rear, It is perhaps quite amazing to see these trucks still in service in the 1980s. Besides the general service vehicle, many were fitted with large van type bodies, and several expandable body types were built, albeit of similar design. The side panels were split horizontally, the upper half being raised to form extra roof area and the lower half forming extra floor space to provide additional freedom around machinery. The vehicles could also be linked together to form a consolidated workshop area. Van bodies included an auto-processing type for developing photographs, an enlarging and rectifying type for exposing original film onto new film, a printing type with a rotary offset printing machine, and a photo-mechanical type equipped with a rotary offset printer, work tables and plate racks. Entrance to all these bodies was through a single door in the rear. Because of the length of the body, the spare wheel had to be transferred from behind the cab and placed under the rear of the chassis. A post-war fitting was the adoption of a 9092-litre (2,000-Imp gal) AVTUR refueller body and, with the rear body removed, of a Coles Mk 7 or Neal Type QMC crane.

The 10-ton 6x4 format became widely used in the British army after the war. Manufacturers included Albion, Foden and Leyland. The Leyland Hippo, introduced in 1943, is seen here with WDpattern open cab and the GS body.

Specification:
Leyland Hippo Mk 2 GS

• Powerplant: one 74.6-kW (100-bhp) Leyland Type L 6-cylinder diesel engine
• Dimensions: length 8,31 m (27 ft 3 in); width 2.46 m (8 ft 1 in); height 3.33 m (10 ft 11 in)
• Weights: unladen 8941 kg (19,712 lb) and laden 19711 kg (43,456 lb)
• Performance: radius 837 km (520 miles)

The Leyland Hippo was one of the Army's 10-ton 6x4 trucks, the largest category of rigid chassis used by the British Army in WWII. This is the Mark II introduced in 1944 and made for several years after the War. Its 7.4 litre 6 cylinder diesel engine developed 100 bhp, and drove through a 5 speed gearbox.

The Leyland Hippo II (Above) 10-ton 6x4 was introduced in 1944 and was distinguished from the Hippo I (Below) by its closed cab and more powerful, though smaller engine.