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This vehicle is currently on display at the Museum
Even before World War 2 began Britain was assessing the potential of the industries of the countries in the Commonwealth to produce military equipment.
Canada had a thriving motor industry and heavy engineering works producing railway locomotives and ships. The Canadian motor industry consisted almost entirely of branches of neighbouring US companies but they nevertheless undertook to produce trucks more akin to British military requirements. These included right hand drive and single low pressure tyres.
A series of very standard truck designs was eventually produced by Ford and General Motors (the latter badged as Chevrolets). Both types were superficially identical but differed in engines and transmissions and some minor details. Together they were known as Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) vehicles. Earlier versions used in the campaigns in North Africa suffered a fault common to most vehicles there. The sun's reflection off the sloping windscreen revealed the position of the vehicle to observers in enemy reconnaissance aircraft. The CMP No13 cab was designed to overcome this problem. The windscreen sloped inwards at the bottom giving a distinctive and instantly recognisable shape to this range of vehicles.
CMP trucks were produced in capacities from 8 hundredweight up to 3 tons. The six wheeled versions of the 3 tonner being capable of carrying greater loads. The 3 ton four wheel drive trucks were among the most common and were fitted with a huge variety of bodies including two main recovery versions. These used twin boom recovery gear of standard US pattern made by either Holmes or Garwood.
The Museum's example is a Chevrolet chassis with Garwood recovery equipment. It had at one time been used by the Norwegian Army after World War 2 and came to the Museum via a private collector.
This vehicle arrived in the New Exhibition Hall on 15 June 1999.
Length |
6.22 m (20 ft 5 in) |
Width |
2.43 m (8 ft) |
Height |
2.74 m (9 ft) |
Wheelbase |
3.81 m (12 ft 6 in) |
Winch |
7 tonnes capacity |
Engine |
Chevrolet 6 cylinder petrol |
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Page produced by Peter Eldred - Last updated 24 July 2004