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A portee is a truck that carries a gun on its bed, such that the gun is not fixed permanently to the vehicle, can be quickly unloaded and can be fired from the truck.
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While the term portee can be used to denote any truck carrying a gun on its bed, it is most often used to describe equipment used by British/Commonwealth forces in the North African Campaign of World War II. Modern terms for such vehicle are technical and/or gun truck.
Types
The AEC Mk I Gun Carrier (known as Deacon) introduced in 1942 in the Desert War was a more sophisticated successor to the portee. The 6-pdr gun was mounted in an armoured shield on a turntable on the back of an armoured AEC Matador chassis.
Sidi Rezegh
On 21 November 1941 at Sidi Rezegh, Libya, during Operation Crusader J Battery, Royal Horse Artillery with its 2-pounders defended against a German counter-attack with Panzer IV tanks.
The battle has been cited by modern historians as an epic example of leadership and courage under fire. Second Lieutenant George Ward Gunn fought with his (A) troop until it had only one remaining gun in action. The battery commander Major Bernard Pinney MC ordered Ward Gunn to remove the dead crew on a serviceable gun and get it back into action. In a short space of time the gun caught fire so Pinney, exposed to enemy fire, got up to put out the fire. Firing around fifty rounds Ward Gunn destroyed two German tanks while the portee was burning. When Ward Gunn was killed, Pinney pushed his body out of the way to continue the action single handedly until it was eventually put out of action by direct enemy fire. Pinney was killed by a stray shell the following day.
Despite the inadequacy of the 2-pounder portee guns that only had effect at short range, the battle halted a divisional advance. Both Pinney and Ward Gunn were put forward for the Victoria Cross; which Ward Gunn was posthumously awarded.
Cavalry
Portee cavalry is horse cavalry – both the horses and their riders – carried in trucks or other carriers. The cavalry is thus mechanized for strategic and operational movement, and horse-mounted for tactical deployment. Portee cavalry units were briefly tested in the American army during the interwar change from fully horsed cavalry to fully mechanized cavalry, but were generally found to be overcomplicated and not worthwhile.