Can any former British tanker provide some information on this M2 tripod?

[MG34_Dan]

I know this forum is populated by many former British and Commonwealth servicemen. I'm hoping one of these can provide some assistance.

A friend of mine recently suffered the loss of a relative. He and his family are collecting all the deceased's gun stuff, categorizing it, and getting ready to sell it in order to offset funeral expenses. He called me recently to take a look at what they dug up. In the pile of "stuff" was an M2 tripod like I never saw before. It has a cast aluminum cross head and a pintle that utilizes a chain attached QD cross pin instead of a nut and bolt. The pin works exactly like a Colt M35 tripod cross pin. Nobody knows where the tripod came from. The T&E also utilizes a cross pin that is identical to the pintle's.

At first everyone who has seen the tripod has identified it as an FN build due to the cross pins. But, both Dolf Goldsmith and Alex Krueger, formerly of the Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg Texas, have identified it as a post WWII British build. Why on earth would the Brits build a new M2 tripod when Europe was flooded with surplus US M2 tripods? Dolf said that this tripod and T&E were issued to British tankers only and not the British Army in general. They were to be used with the tank's 1919A4 machine gun when dismounted. He states this tripod assembly is far more rigid than its US counterparts and the British tankers wanted a more stable shooting platform. Alex said a picture of this tripod is shown in a Ferret manual. So I guess it may have been issued there too. Both Dolf and Alex said this is only second or third example of this tripod seen in the US. Is there any additional documentation for it out there?

Here are some pictures. As you can see, it is truly a "Barn Find":

Information

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