The GMC CCKW

I know that the loading the CCKW is pretty much a 'make it fit in the cargo bed' type proposition, but are there any pics that show LOADED CCKWs (like w/ gas cans, ammo, rations etc).

Anything that will give me some ideas on putting a good kit on my CCKW.

Most of the WWII pictures I have seen show lots of German prisoners stuffed into trucks. They are so packed in they have to stand.

Hit the MVPA Local Shows, a lot of wooden GI Boxes and Chests show up. The Armed Forces had a lot of commodities to haul, there were Quartermaster Laundries, Quartermaster Bakeries, Pigeoneers with Pigeon Coops, Ammo, Fuel Cans, you name it and it was hauled. I have a Headquarters Field Desk, a Wooden .50 Ammo Crate for aircraft, 3 Carbine Ammo Crates, a couple wooden 81mm Mortar ammo Boxes, a couple O.D G508 Parts Crates with the Hands Across the Sea labels, a WWII Typewriter Chest, the M-1 Bomb Lift at times, my .50M2. 3 extra CCKW wheels w/new NDTs. a boarding ladder,and still have room to lower the Lazy Back on the Drivers side to haul a half dozen Veterans.-all this on a SWB. Only rule I have is not to dangle Web Gear all over my truck-it hides its aesthetic lines.
Joel

Thats a nice load Joel. I have four anti-tank mine wooden boxex, some artillery grease cans and wooden .50 cal ammo boxes and several of the .50 cal metal side open ammo cans. Simulated loads look great in a display.

Under the old DRMO system, they Military Bases had an annual contract for Wood Scrap, and it was possible to chase down the contractor with the award, and that is how I bought a hundred 81mm Mortar round crates with rope handles. Dow Field was a good source for the Carbine ammo crates in the 50s/60s, I have two left. Th .50 wood Box is one of the brown colored ones you see in WWII B-17 scenes. Things are different now as the Ammo is packed in more modern containers. I am lucky as I grew up in the GI Surplus Business, and saved a lot of neat items. The WWII Typewriter Chest is still getting offers.
Joel

I have a buddy here in SA that grew up in military city, U.S.A. when there were many surplus stores in town. He started buying A2 flight jackets with the unit painting on them. He has over a hundred of them that he bought real cheap in the 60's. A Japanese collector offered him $150,000.00 for all of them and he said no. He said he can hold on to them and double that real easy.

Steve Workman (cckw owner) made some replica (exact) 50 cal wooden boxes. When I talk to him at the Weare Rally, I will ask if he has any left.

Another idea I had thought of was to take a bunch of leaky Jerry cans and cut them in half, top to bottom and mount them on a piece of plywood that would mount at the rear of the bed to give the apperance (with the canvas rear tarp on the truck) that it was full of gas cans.

My idea was to have some (door) slide bolts to anchor it into the back end of the troop seat wood so that you could easily remove it.


Steve AKA Dr Deuce

In all the great pictures I am being sent by all the site participants it is clearly evident that our European members do a much better job of adding and displaying the "accessories" than we do here in the colonies.

I am sure it has to do with a lot of reasons that we won't get into here but I commend them!

If you hit the event sections of the site and check out both the Overlord and Bussum Bridge pages you will see the amount of optional equipment that they hang off their rigs and scatter around their encampment area. I believe that it truly ads an atmosphere and flavor that not only informs the general public about the way it was 60 years ago but draws them in to look closer when they might have passed by.

In particular I like the following setup.

It was at Overloard. Doesn't the setup on this CCKW invite you in for a closer look



The haphazard parking of the vehicles, the dual front wheels, the 55 gallon refueliing drum on the ground. Ammo and/or Ration crates piled where they would have been used, Gun rings with a mounted 50, the hot food pail, and yes even the obligatory water bucket on the 352 in the background. It just motivates me to want to know more and visit.

It is not that us Yanks do anything wrong...it is just that they do it different.

Once I get my trucks done...if ever...I will try to get my displays to look like this. In fact I am looking for good condition 55 Gallon steel drums that I can squirt OD and mark accordingly.

Bill

dr deuce wrote: Another idea I had thought of was to take a bunch of leaky Jerry cans and cut them in half, ..........
Steve AKA Dr Deuce

Oh thats CHEAP. Go the whole hog and fit the full 125 load out.

( you'll still only need one bucket though )

I've done a similar thing with the "Bustle Basket" cans on my 44 GPW. Have false bottoms on the cans that I use as storage. They padlock into place for security. Just enough room to take two shelter halves, hexy cooker, mess tins and a few bottles of water. Tea anyone?

Karoshi