The White Scout Car (and another overlooked vehicle)

Of all the vehicles used by the South African 6th Armoured Division, the White scout car is probably the most anonymous. Very few photos of this vehicle appear in the various histories of the Division. In two volumes of William Marshall's Camouflage and Markings of the the 6th South African Division there are just three photographs of Whites, one of which is incorrectly captioned as a M5 halftrack, and one of which is included only because it is depicted being towed by a captured SdKfz 7. In fact, Marshall only allowed himself 3 lines of text regarding Whites, noting "a small number of these vehicles were issued to the Division."

In fact, they were the second most numerous armored vehicle in the division (170 in use), only being outnumbered by the Sherman tank variants (255 in use). They outnumbered Universal Carriers 2 to 1, and M5 halftrack variants 4 to 1.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that if you want to build a representative force of the SA 6th Armored Division, best you include a few (or more) White scout cars.

This pair are resin kits from Die Waffenkamer, depicted as Natal Mounted Rifles vehicles in the 1943 Italian pattern camouflage. Baggage has been sourced from a wide range of manufactures, and the .50 Browning is a plastic molding from Rubicon models. Drivers are from Die Waffenkamer and Warlord Games, and the trooper manning the Browning is built from the Warlord Games plastic British Infantry kit. Decals from Starmer, Dom's Decals and Warlord Games.

Depicted here along with the Whites, is another vehicle which is often overlooked - the common or garden Dispatch Rider's (Don R) motorbike. The division used a mix of bikes from Ariel, BSA, Matchless, Triumph and Harley Davidson, and together almost 500 motorcycles were issued to the division. After the ubiquitous 3-ton truck (about 2500 in use), they were the second most numerous type of soft-skin vehicle in use.

Ironically, given the broad range of bike manufacturers used, I believe this kit depicts a model not used but the division - the Norton 16H. The rider is a Perry figure, but the Perry bike itself appeared to my eyes to be far too small. Instead, I used the motorcycle from the Foundry "Home Guard" range.