Major Raymond Brutinel, a successful French businessman who had immigrated to Canada before the outbreak of the war, organised and raised a mobile machine-gun unit with private funds. He organised armoured trucks to be built by the American Auto Car company. Each Autocar had an open-topped armoured box with an angled front plate and drop sides. The machine guns were pedestal-mounted and capable of firing over the sides of the vehicle. The machine-guns could also be dismounted for ground use.