Tilly was the name given to a number of British military vehicles produced during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 from civilian car designs and used by all of the armed forces in most theatres of that conflict.

History

As an expediency British car manufacturers adapted civilian saloon designs to be fitted with a simple rear loading area to create the Car, Light Utility 4 x 2.

Tens of thousands were built during the war but very few still exist today. Preserved restored examples are on public display in the Czech Republic's tank museum at Lesany near Prague, Yorkshire Air Museum

Yorkshire Air Museum

The Yorkshire Air Museum & Allied Air Forces Memorial, , is an air museum in England. The museum was founded, and first opened to the public, in the early 1980s....

, in France's Regional Air Museum at Angers-Marce and at the Malta Air Museum at Ta Kali, Malta, the Muckleburgh Collection

Muckleburgh Collection

The Muckleburgh Collection is a military museum sited on a former military camp at Weybourne, on the North Norfolk coast, England. It was opened to the public in 1988 and is the largest privately-owned military museum in the United Kingdom.-History:...

, Norfolk among others

Some of the privately-owned Tillys are shown at the annual 'War & Peace Show' at Beltring

Beltring

Beltring is a village in the local government district of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England.Beltring is known for the annual War and peace show which takes place at The Hop Farm Country Park...

 near Paddock Wood

Paddock Wood

Paddock Wood is a small town and civil parish in the Borough of Tunbridge Wells and county of Kent in England, about southwest of Maidstone. At the time of the 2001 census it had a population of 8,263, and is the centre for hop growing in Kent.-History:...

, Kent, Britain's largest military vehicle show.

Owners of the few surviving Tillys today regard them as very special versatile vehicles but which tend to be overlooked by many in the military vehicle preservation scene. The Tilly Register was formed in 1996 to bring Tilly owners together. Its primary aim is to locate and record all surviving vehicles worldwide. All four marques of Tilly – Austin, Hillman, Morris and Standard – are catered for, as well as the Austin 8 Tourer which is a close relative of the Austin Tilly. The Register has members all over Europe and in Australia.

Cars on which the Tilly was based

• Austin 8
  Austin 8
  The Austin 8 was a small car made by the Austin Motor Company. Launched in 1939 and produced into the war , about 9,000 of the wartime Austin 8 models were two-seater tourers produced for the military and government, and the rest were saloons...
  
   HP Series AP
• Austin 10 HP Series G/YG
• Morris 10 HP Series M
• Standard 12 HP Series UV, based on the Standard Flying 14
• Hillman 10 HP, based on the Hillman Minx
  Hillman Minx
  The Hillman Minx was a series of middle-sized family cars produced under the Hillman marque by the Rootes Group between 1932 and 1970...
  
  

Successor Vehicles

The use of the apellation "Tilly" carried on into the last part of the 20th century in all parts of the UK armed forces, with the Morris Commercial J4 and later the Leyland Sherpa, often in minibus form. The Royal Navy which had no embedded vehicle assets of its own, unlike its soldiers in the Royal Marines and the other services, was reliant on the civil service Principal Supply and Transport Organisation (Navy) PSTON to provide both the vehicles and drivers. The Austrailian Armed Forces similarly carried on this practice, but opted to use the appellation UTE taken from the first rather than the latter parrt of "Utility".