War time and post war time engineering makes all things possible. It appears, however , to be a more recent engineering job in order to mount a machine gun on that particular truck. One never knows.
52 M38 Willy's
Former owner and restorer of CCKW353 " Betty Boop"
proud father of a career Army officer/Blackhawk pilot/ War in Iraq veteran
Retired high school history teacher at Lt. Colonel Robert G. Cole CMH High School, Fort Sam Houston Texas
proud great grandson of four Confederate soldiers.
great great grandson of a War of 1812 veteran
great great great grandson of 2 American Revolutionary war veterans
Post war there were many of these (M37) stripped out when they entered the civvy market. The 3 pole M36 mount being retained for a number of years as a universal mount fitting the Dodge, the Ward le France The DUKW and others. Thus they were harder, (more expensive) to come by.
It does save on having to modify the wing mirror mounts when you have a bed mounted ring though.
This is an Ex Norwegian Truck.
Royal Norwegian Army did not use the M 36 mount. This was regarded to be inadequate and to flimsy. Enyone who has beening firing a .50 cal either from a tripod or a ring mount know that there is lots of recoil power.
Trucks got by that reason either M32 or M37 Mount regardless if it was a soft top or a closed cab in Norway.
We also prodused some copies of M37 in Norway, they are recognized to be a little bit thicker in the framework than US made..