GOLDEN YEARS OF MVs

[joel gopan]

WWII military trucks were great, they carried the war to the foe on the ground and varied in type. The WWII period was the formulative period for modern motorized warfare on the ground. Specifications were drawn for different catagories of Army vehicles, 4X4 and 6X6 wheeled vehicle catagories were chosen, Amphibious trucks were created, Tanks and Half Tracks reached perfection, along with the TO&Es for issue. Manuals were written, Parts systems were established, schools were set up and the Armed Forces expanded to meet wartime needs.
Much of this was done in 40-42 when manpower was low. Much of the early operations such as schools and repair shops was done out of tents and temporary buildings. Maintenance specialists from the Automotive industry were recruited to fill the ranks until the new soldiers could gain experience and take over. Throughout the war production expanded, vehicles were upgraded, parts were distributed to depots which trickled them back down to the units. Combat became a reality, men, vehicles and parts were consumed at unforseen rates, yet the armed forces kept them rolling. ...............Nothing short of amazing.

The next round of vehicles were the M-Series developed just before and during the Korean War period, drawing on experiences from WWII, improvements were in order.
Most noticeable was driveability, the new M-Series vehicles were an improvement. They were more powerful, more comfortable, faster and more adaptable to worldwide service.
24 Volts was standardized to make systems common among the wheeled and tracked vehicles, winterisation kits were developed for all, provisions for fording were built in, giving all wheeled vehicles a mmimum 72" waterfording capability.

WWII vehicles were mixed with M-Series during the early 50s, but by 1955, most units had turned in their WWII vehicles except for a few types of specialty vehicles such as machine shops, Amphibians and a few tracked and wheeled tank retrievers.
I was lucky to have been witness to these changes, having grown up in the surplus vehicle business along with the new Civilian Jeeps starting in late 1945 and continuing on with continuous ties to these vehicles to the present day.
What was nice was to be able to visit the local national Guard Armory and study these vehicles intact in their near new WWII condition and witness first hand the transition to the M-Series M-37, M-38, M-38A1, M-211, M-35 and M-54 types when they were delivered new. My next door neighbor Sgt frank Wyman, was long time Army Advisor to the National Guard, and would drive these vehicles home.
Dow Air Force Base was across the street from our business, WWII and M-Series vehicles of all sizes were quite active and visable. Cletracs were very interesting as they sped about like hot rod tractors. durinf snow storms it was not unusual for an airman to drive his Oshkosh snowblower over to our restaurant for a dozen hot coffees to go.

I only wish I had realized how interesting these vehicles would be years later, and taken some pictures.

[joel gopan]

If only I had thought to do so, the opportunity was there to store away enough NOS parts to create a like new CCKW later on.
I did complete this wish 32 years ago by building an M-38A1 with all NOS parts starting with a new chassis. All parts were NOS and from Surplus, the screws ,Wiring Hardware and brake lines were all by part number from Jeep. it took 1 1/2 years
Try doing this today.