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74-510: Canadian factories produced some 850,000 vehicles in World War II, including some 50,000 armoured vehicles, self-propelled guns and tanks, but the greatest significance is given to the vast majority – over 800,000 – of trucks and light wheeled vehicles, produced by Ford, GM and Chrysler of Canada. Until the currency restrictions of the late 1940s, the Canadian automotive industry's output provided

148-679: A corps in the British Army. In any future conflict it was assumed that Canadian forces would again be tightly integrated with those of the Mother Country, and so it would be essential that Canadian-manufactured equipment be compatible with British standards and specifications. Early in 1937, the Ford Motor Company of Canada and General Motors of Canada Ltd were each invited by the Canadian Department of National Defence to produce

222-450: A turret on a tracked chassis so they superficially resemble tanks. However, they are generally lightly armoured, which is insufficient to withstand direct-fire combat; nonetheless this protects their crews against shrapnel and small arms and therefore they are usually included as armoured fighting vehicles . Many are equipped with machine guns for defense against enemy infantry. The key advantage of self-propelled over towed artillery

296-535: A 95 bhp (71 kW), 239 cu in (3.9 L) Ford V8 Flathead engine while most of the Chevrolet-built CMP trucks had an 85 bhp (63 kW), 216 cu in (3.5 L), straight-6 overhead-valve engine. An American -made 270 cu in (4.4 L) GMC straight-6 engine powered the C60X 3-ton truck. The Ford and Chevrolet trucks shared a standard cab design, which evolved over

370-542: A Canadian prototype of a 15- hundredweight (cwt) ¾-ton U.S.) payload rating, light infantry truck similar to the Morris CS8 that had then been recently adopted by the British War Office. By 1938, Canadian military authorities had shifted their interest to heavier 4x4 and 6x4 designs. In that year, Ford and General Motors of Canada Limited were invited to produce prototypes of a 6x4 medium artillery tractor derived from

444-607: A broad range of medium-rated vehicles. Light jeeps and trucks over 3 tons capacity, required by the Canadian Army, were purchased from outside suppliers. Canadian industry production included both modified civilian commercial designs (306,000 of which were classified as "Modified Conventional Pattern", MCP), as well as dedicated military-purpose designs, conforming to the Canadian Military Pattern specification, in roughly equal numbers. Most CMP trucks were manufactured by

518-429: A compact truck design that would be more efficient to transport by ship. The specifications also demanded right-hand drive. Internally the cab had to accommodate the comparatively large North American engines and it was generally cramped. The standard cabs were then matched up with a variety of standard chassis, drive trains and body designs. Chevrolet-built vehicles could be recognised by the radiator grille mesh being of

592-533: A diamond pattern, whereas Ford-built ones had grilles formed of a square mesh. Dodge production started later. Early prototypes used the No. 13 cab, but production vehicles retained a commercial cab and longer conventional control similar to MCP vehicles. This enabled more rapid production, while retaining similar specifications for chassis, drive, and mounting of vehicle rear bodies. The production of CMP truck bodies in Canada

666-610: A diverse range of "Indian Pattern" vehicles. To meet the pressing demand for military vehicles during World War II, several Commonwealth countries designed light armoured vehicles based on Canadian-made CMP chassis. Special chassis were created to aid in this purpose, featuring rear mounted engines and central steering positions. Armoured cars used these or standard chassis depending on design and availability. A number of Indian Pattern vehicles also had armoured bodies built, creating armoured trucks. Self-propelled gun Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery )

740-603: A few Komsomolets tractor-mounted 57   mm ZiS-2 guns early in the war. By 1943, the series of Samokhodnaya Ustanovka casemate-armored vehicles had started to appear at the front, starting with the SU-85 , and by late 1944 the SU-100 , which mounted powerful guns on modern chassis adopting the full-casemate enclosure of the crew compartment as the Germans had done with the StuG III. These had

814-506: A gunner's hatch in the roof. Initial production D60s had 8.25x20 tires and dual rear wheels; they were subsequently switched over to the larger CMP-specification 10.50x16 size and axles with single rear wheels, as well as being fitted with British-pattern rear bodies. Operator's and technical manuals for the Dodges also mirrored the Ford and GM CMP manuals. Most of Dodge's models were two-wheel drive, with

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888-630: A high and low-range rear axle. Only the 3,000 Dodge WC-1 (T-207) –based D8As and 11,750 units of the 3/4 APT ('Air Portable'; T-236 ), Canadian-built versions of the 3 ⁄ 4 ‑ton WC-52 were equipped with four-wheel drive. All Dodges were powered by the Chrysler straight-six flathead gasoline engines – the D60 models' 236 cu in (3,870 cm) engine delivered 95 hp (71 kW) at 3,600 rpm. The initial 60 cwt (3-ton) Dodge types (engineering codes T110L-S, T110L-3, T110L-4, as well as

962-518: A major part of British Empire countries vehicles. These territories levied reduced " Imperial preference " duties on Canadian products, usually made by Canadian subsidiaries of the big U.S. auto manufacturers. In the late 1930s, Canada started drawing up standard designs, to prepare for the beginning of the war, which involved a unique and historic design-and-production collaboration between rival giant car-makers, especially Ford Canada and GM of Canada . Canadian Military Pattern trucks not only motorized

1036-500: A significant role throughout the Cold War era conflicts and in the 1991 Gulf War . Modern SP artillery is highly computerized, with the ability to self-survey firing positions using systems such as GPS and inertial navigation systems . This, in conjunction with digital fire control /ballistic computers and digital communications, allows individual guns to disperse over a wide area and still deliver rounds on target simultaneously with

1110-530: A simple rocket rack on the back, a cheap and crushingly effective weapon, provided area saturation was called for rather than accurate fire. The Axis powers had captured the Katyusha and made their own versions; Germany created the 8 cm Raketen-Vielfachwerfer , while Romania developed the Mareșal tank destroyer , an early prototype of which was armed with a Katyusha. It also had self-propelled howitzer versions. After

1184-720: A vehicle for every three soldiers in the field — compared to one vehicle per seven American soldiers — making it the most mobile army in the world. The rise to power in Germany of Hitler and the Nazi party in 1933 led to discussions in the mid-1930s between the British War Office and the Canadian Army concerning the possible production of military vehicles in Canada. During the First World War , Canadian land forces had participated as

1258-479: Is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer , self-propelled mortar , and self-propelled rocket artillery . They are high-mobility vehicles, usually based on continuous tracks carrying either a large field gun , howitzer , mortar , or some form of rocket / missile launcher. They are usually used for long-range indirect bombardment support on

1332-400: Is a 120 mm automatic twin-barrelled, breech-loaded mortar turret. There are also numerous AFVs and even main battle tanks that can be equipped with a mortar, either outside or inside the cabin. The Israeli Merkava main battle tank carried a 60 mm mortar in the small troop compartment in the rear, which fired through an opening in the roof, allowing the crew to remain protected. This

1406-414: Is that it can be brought into action much faster. Before the towed artillery can be used, it has to stop, unlimber and set up the guns. To move position, the guns must be limbered up again and brought—usually towed—to the new location. By comparison, self-propelled artillery can stop at a chosen location and begin firing almost immediately, then quickly move on to a new position. This shoot-and-scoot ability

1480-555: Is very useful in a mobile conflict and particularly on the advance in open battlefields. Conversely, towed artillery was and remains cheaper to build and maintain. It is also lighter and can be deployed in areas that self-propelled guns cannot reach. Since the Vietnam War , heavy transport helicopters have also been used for rapid artillery deployment albeit at considerable expense and risk, mitigating one of towed artillery's disadvantages. Both self-propelled and towed artillery remain in

1554-671: The AEC Matador medium gun tractor was issued in sufficient numbers. Heavy artillery pieces towed included the 6-inch gun , 8-inch howitzer , 155 mm Long Tom and the 7.2-inch howitzer . Many Pioneer gun tractors were lost in France in June 1940 with the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), either destroyed by the withdrawing troops or captured by the Germans. Scammell produced 980 Pioneer R100 heavy artillery tractors by

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1628-710: The Brummbär ), leftover chassis from cancelled programs ( Elefant and Sturer Emil ); others were converted from battle-damaged tanks ( Sturmtiger ). The single most-produced armored fighting vehicle design for Germany in WW II, the Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) assault gun, in 1936–1937 pioneered the later casemate-style fully enclosed armor that would be used on almost all late-war German self-propelled artillery and Jagdpanzer -format tank destroyers. The Soviets experimented with truck- and tank-based self-propelled weapons, producing

1702-814: The Burma campaign , the Philippines , the liberation of Northwest Europe , and the Western Allied invasion of Germany . CMP trucks also served in post-war conflicts in Indonesia , French Indochina , and the Portuguese colonies in Africa . The United Kingdom 's official History of the Second World War called Canada's war-time production of soft-skinned trucks, including the CMP class,

1776-713: The Fox Armoured Car , the design of the British Humber Armoured Car adapted for production by GM. General Motors Canada built 1,761 Otter Light Reconnaissance Cars , which were an adaption of the Humber Light Reconnaissance Car Mark III for a C15 chassis The Ford Lynx Scout Car, also known as ""Car, Scout, Ford Mark I", (4x4, 101-inch wheelbase), was the hull of a Daimler Dingo on a CMP chassis. Chrysler of Canada built about 180,000 Dodge military trucks from 1939 to 1945, mostly for

1850-504: The Islamic gunpowder empires , especially those of Iran, especially in the rugged Iranian plateau , where the transportation of heavy cannons is difficult. The British Gun Carrier Mark I was the first example of a self-propelled gun, fielded in 1917 during World War I . It was based on the first tank , the British Mark I and carried a heavy field gun. The gun could either be fired from

1924-533: The M3 half track and M113 APC , to vehicles specifically intended to carry a mortar, such as the 2S31 Vena . The Israeli Makmat is a mortar carrier based on the M4 Sherman tank chassis. The Russian army uses a 2S4 Tyulpan (Tulip) self-propelled 240 mm heavy mortar. Patria Hägglunds , a joint venture between Finnish Patria and Swedish BAE Systems Hägglunds , manufactures AMOS (Advanced Mortar System), which

1998-788: The Marder I , using captured French Lorraine 37L tractors, the Marder II , using the Panzer II light tank chassis, and the Marder III , which was based on the Panzer 38(t) Czech chassis. These led to better-protected assault guns – Sturmgeschütz – with fully enclosed casemates , built on medium tank chassis. In the same way self-propelled anti-tank guns such as the Jagdpanzer IV and Jagdpanther were built. Some designs were based on existing chassis (such as

2072-548: The arsenals of many modern armies. During the Thirty Years' War , early 17th-century experiments were made with early types of horse artillery . Batteries towed light field guns where most or all of the crew rode horses into battle. The gunners were trained to quickly dismount, deploy the guns and provide instant fire support to cavalry, and act as a flexible reserve. The Russian army organized small units of horse artillery that were distributed among their cavalry formations in

2146-555: The BEF. The Pioneer SV2S had a simpler redesigned extending crane that provided greater lifting height. It was Introduced in 1938 and remained in production throughout the war, with a total of 1,975 built by the end of the war. Among the Pioneer's equipment was a pair of tracks that could be fitted over the two rear wheels, converting it temporarily into a half-track and giving greater traction on soft ground. The last Pioneer recovery vehicle

2220-714: The British Sexton (25 pdr) and the German Wespe and Hummel being typical examples. A different route was chosen by the Soviets, who did not develop a specialized indirect-fire vehicle, but following a tradition of dual-purpose towed artillery, built a series of versatile assault guns with indirect-fire capabilities (example ISU-152 ). A related and novel program was the development of the Soviet Katyusha self-propelled multiple rocket launchers , which were unarmored trucks with

2294-518: The British War Office purchased a single petrol engined example in 1932. Equipped as a tank transporter with a permanently coupled 18t semi-trailer , it was assigned to a training unit but did not initially catch on. Additional transporters were not purchased until 1937. With the exception of the single 1932 tank transporter, all Pioneers purchased by the British Army were equipped with a 102 bhp Gardner 6-cylinder diesel engine, driving

Canadian Military Pattern truck - Misplaced Pages Continue

2368-531: The British 6x4 Scammell Pioneer . By 1939, plans had been prepared for the mass production in Canada of a range of military vehicles based on fairly strict CMP British specifications. These trucks were originally designated "Department of National Defence (DND) Pattern"; however, when production volumes increased and it became clear that the Canadian-built vehicles were to serve widely in the forces of other countries,

2442-470: The CMP pattern, being fitted with standard Dodge control cabins, on 2-inch (50 mm) longer wheelbases, and mostly being two-wheel drive. Furthermore, roughly 9,500 additional bare 4x4 CMP chassis were made, mainly for conversion to armoured cars and other vehicles in Allied countries. Canada's production of CMP trucks alone exceeded the total military truck production of Nazi Germany. The British History of

2516-518: The CMP role, and following the same naming convention. Three quarters of these were 3‑ton models of various D60 (Dodge T-110) types. To achieve a quick increase in production output of trucks providing equal functionality, it was deemed acceptable for the Dodges to forgo the standardized cab used on Fords and Chevrolets; and like the other two automakers, Dodge fitted its own engines. Although regular Dodge cabs were fitted, they were right hand drive (except for those for Canadian domestic use) and had

2590-1061: The Canadian Chevrolet division of General Motors, and Ford Motor Company of Canada. The two manufacturers quickly ramped up their Canadian production utilizing the reserve production capacity that had remained idle ever since the Great Depression , and through an unusual act of collaboration between the two rival companies — the use of interchangeable components. A smaller number of CMP trucks were assembled from Canadian-made chassis and parts, typically first built on Canadian production lines, then broken (knocked) down, crated, shipped overseas, and re-assembled in Britain , Australia , New Zealand , South Africa (2,600), India (9,500), Italy, and Egypt . Following British convention, CMP trucks had right hand drive even though most of them were built in Canada, which primarily used left-hand drive vehicles. The CMP specification proved versatile, and it formed

2664-536: The Second World War (the United Kingdom's official history of the war) argues that the production of soft-skinned trucks, including the CMP truck class, was Canada's most important contribution to the eventual Allied victory. After 1945, newly manufactured and modified war surplus CMP trucks were used in several European armies (e.g. the Netherlands , Belgium , Denmark , Norway , Portugal , Spain ), and around

2738-484: The StuG III, and the immense 152 mm howitzer-armed, Soviet ISU-152 , both fully casemated in their design, are examples of this type of self-propelled artillery. All major nations developed self-propelled artillery that would be able to provide indirect support while keeping pace with advancing armoured formations. These were usually lightly armoured vehicles with an open-topped hull; the American M7 Priest ,

2812-507: The War. This mounted an 18-pounder field gun, capable of both the usual artillery trajectories and high-angle anti-aircraft fire , on a Vickers medium tank chassis. It was designed and built for investigations into a general approach to warfare where all arms, infantry and artillery included, would be able to operate over the same terrain as tanks. The Red Army also experimented with truck- and tank-mounted artillery, but produced none in quantity. At

2886-511: The advantage of being relatively cheap to build and mounting a larger gun compared to the conventional tank that they were derived from, but at the expense of flexibility. Heavily armoured assault guns were designed to provide direct-fire support to infantry in the face of enemy defenses. Although often similar to tank destroyers, they carried larger-caliber guns with weaker anti-armor performance but capable of firing powerful HE projectiles. The German 105 mm howitzer-armed StuH 42 based on

2960-515: The basis of a wide variety of different truck types and even some armoured vehicles. There were no less than ninety types of CMP army vehicles on twelve different chassis, including three different types of wireless trucks, four ambulance types, and thirteen field-workshop vehicle types. In Australian service (almost always with the No. 13 cab), the vehicles were known as the "Chev Blitz" or the "Ford Blitz". Around 410,000 CMP trucks were manufactured in Canada, with GM contributing 201,000 and Ford making

3034-590: The battlefield. In the past, self-propelled artillery has included direct-fire vehicles, such as assault guns and tank destroyers , which were typically well-armoured vehicles often based upon the chassis of a tank . In lieu of the standard tank's general-purpose main gun that fired both high-explosive and anti-tank ammunition, direct-fire vehicles had specialized roles, with assault guns providing close fire-support for infantry and tank destroyers mounting an anti-tank gun to take on enemy armour. Modern self-propelled artillery vehicles often mount their main gun in

Canadian Military Pattern truck - Misplaced Pages Continue

3108-533: The class of trucks was redesignated "Canadian Military Pattern" (CMP). At the outbreak of World War II, Canada's large and modern automobile industry was shifted over to the production of military vehicles, outproducing Germany. Initially intended for Canadian military use, the vehicles were soon taken on by all British and Commonwealth forces. While the Dunkirk evacuation in the spring of 1940 succeeded in rescuing close to 340,000 Allied soldiers who had been encircled by

3182-547: The country's most important contribution to Allied victory. Canada's trucks are considered to have "put the British Army on wheels". In the North African Campaign, the British Eighth Army fought Panzer Army Africa using almost exclusively CMP trucks, and the Allied progress from Sicily through Italy and France depended heavily on the Canadian trucks. By the end of the war, Canada's vast supply of trucks provided

3256-413: The earlier TOT ( time on target ) concept. The necessary rapid reloading is made possible by an automated ammunition feed system. Rockets have greater ranges and carry much more complex " shells " than guns, since there is less restriction on size (calibre). A multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) can be used to saturate a large area with sub-munitions. Scammell Pioneer The Scammell Pioneer

3330-649: The early 18th century. While not forming large batteries and employing only lighter 2- and 3-pound guns, they were still effective and inflicted serious losses to Prussian units in the Seven Years' War . This inspired Frederick the Great to organize the first regular horse artillery unit in 1759. Other nations quickly realized the capability of the new arm and by the start of French Revolutionary Wars in 1790s Austria, Hannover, Portugal, Russia, France, Great Britain and Sweden had all formed regular units of horse artillery. The arm

3404-678: The end of World War II , the assault gun fell from use with a general trend towards a single heavy gun-equipped vehicle, the main battle tank , although some wheeled AFVs such as the South African Rooikat , the Maneuver Combat Vehicle of the JGSDF , and the US M1128 MGS , among others, are still developed with large-caliber, direct-fire weapons. Self-propelled indirect-fire artillery remains important and continues to develop alongside

3478-408: The end of the war, had the two flat panes of the windscreen angled slightly downward to minimize the glare from the sun and to avoid causing strong reflections that would be observable from aircraft. All the CMP cab designs had a short, " cab forward " configuration that gave CMP trucks their distinctive pug -nosed profile. This design was required to meet the original British specifications for

3552-635: The end of the war. As this quantity was insufficient to meet requirements, the Pioneer was supplemented by the Albion CX22S heavy artillery tractor from late 1943. From 1936, the British Army began to receive Pioneer heavy recovery vehicles. The first 43 delivered were designated the Pioneer SV1S and the Pioneer SV1T both with a 3-ton folding crane and lockers for recovery equipment and towing bars. Most of these early Pioneer recovery vehicles were lost with

3626-509: The general-purpose field gun. Many vehicles have used ancillary smoke mortars for local defense, which project one or more smoke grenades in a pattern that allows them to lay down a smoke screen some distance in order to conceal the vehicle from enemy observers. Mortar carriers are vehicles which carry a mortar as a primary weapon. Numerous vehicles have been used to mount mortars, from improvised civilian trucks used by insurgents , to modified infantry fighting vehicles , such as variants of

3700-408: The gun and its crew. Many of the early designs were improvised, and the lessons learned led to better designs later in the war. For example, the first British design, " Bishop ", carried the 25 pdr gun-howitzer on a Valentine tank chassis, but in a mounting that severely limited the gun's performance. It was replaced by the more effective Sexton . The first battery of self-propelled artillery guns

3774-521: The increased firepower provided by modern mobile howitzers is the latest version of the 155 mm G6 howitzer , the G6-52. It can fire up to six rounds in quick succession that will land nearly simultaneously. This is achieved by firing the shells at different trajectories so that the first round has the longest flight time and the last round the shortest. This is an improvement of the concept of multiple-round simultaneous impact (MRSI), itself an enhancement of

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3848-665: The invading German army, the British Expeditionary Force had been forced to abandon most of its military vehicles in France . There then arose an urgent need to replace those losses and to provide new vehicles to equip the rapidly expanding armed forces of the Commonwealth. The logical answer was CMP vehicles, based on the British specification and with large manufacturing capacity. Canadian factories produced around 850,000 vehicles in World War II, including some 50,000 armoured vehicles, self-propelled guns, and tanks. But of greater significance

3922-675: The later T110L-14) were not formally D60s, leaving 124,961 (91% of the 3‑ton trucks) with a CMP-type name-code (based on serial numbers). Including the D8As and D15 units, a total of 156,829 (87%) of Canada's Dodge trucks received a CMP type-code. The D3/4 APT (for 'Air Portable') was based on the U.S. Dodge WC-52 , but was powered by a 25 in (64 cm) long engine-block, like the 3‑tonners, rated at 92 + 1 ⁄ 2  bhp (69.0 kW). The first batch of 5,000 were 6 ft 11 + 1 ⁄ 8  in (2.11 m) wide, but this presented an issue with their air-portability, so

3996-637: The list below, a drive specification of NxM means that the vehicle has a total of N wheels and that M of those wheels are driven. The military specifications did not permit more than two wheels per axle . The British standard load capacities of 8 cwt (400 kg), 15 cwt (760 kg), 30 cwt (1,525 kg) and 60 cwt (3,050 kg) correspond roughly to the American loads of 1/2, 3/4 ton, 1.5, and 3 short tons , respectively. The 60-cwt CMP trucks were usually called 3-ton lorries or trucks (60 cwt being 3 long tons ). As well as trucks, CMP chassis were used for

4070-724: The militaries of Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, but were also sent to the Soviet Union after the Nazi invasion , as part of Canada's Gift and Mutual Aid program to the Allies , comparable to the U.S. Lend-Lease Act. During the war, CMP trucks saw service around the world in the North African campaign , the Allied invasion of Sicily , the Italian Campaign , the Eastern Front ,

4144-480: The other guns in their battery. These capabilities also increase survivability manyfold as modern SP artillery can displace and avoid counterbattery fire much more quickly and effectively and, if desired, more frequently than previously possible. In conjunction with modern logistic systems (where the SP gun's systems can track and report on ammunition consumption and levels) with similar navigation systems and palletized load dropping / lifting capabilities mean that

4218-433: The outbreak of World War II, virtually all artillery was still being moved around by artillery tractors or horses. While the German Blitzkrieg doctrine called for combined-arms action, which required fire support for armoured units, during the invasion of Poland and France this was provided by the Luftwaffe using Junkers Ju 87 'Stuka' dive-bombers effectively acting as artillery. Conventional towed howitzers followed. As

4292-452: The rapid displacement can occur without significant disruption to actually firing missions as it is possible for the ammunition to keep up with the guns. A modern battery of six guns, each firing 43 kg projectiles with a burst firing speed of four rounds per minute, can deliver over a tonne of ordnance per minute for up to four minutes. This is an immense weight of fire , which can be delivered with very high accuracy. One example of

4366-473: The rear wheels through a constant-mesh gearbox and fitted with a power take-off driving a Scammell winch. Introduced in 1935, the Pioneer R100 heavy artillery tractor was used throughout World War II to tow medium and heavy artillery pieces. It had accommodation for the gun's crew, tools, equipment, and ammunition. Typical early war use included towing such medium pieces as the 60-pounder , 6-inch howitzer , 4.5-inch gun and 5.5-inch howitzer , until

4440-400: The remainder. The most prevalent models were 4x4, 3-ton trucks (common types were the Chevrolet C60S and C60L, and the equivalent Ford F60S and F60L), with just over 209,000 vehicles made. Additionally, Chrysler was enlisted to produce another 180,000 Dodge trucks, just over three quarters of which were 3-ton trucks. These were to also be used in the CMP role, although they differed somewhat from

4514-557: The second batch of 6,750 were built with narrower beds of 6 ft 5 + 1 ⁄ 8  in (1.96 m) width. Winch capacity of the D3/4 was 7,500 lb (3,400 kg) The first, wider batch were also referred to as 2M1A, and the second, narrower series as the 2M2A. Chassis and vehicle production was licensed to Australia, allowing local production, while other vehicles were shipped to Britain in part-assembled "knocked down" form. These were delivered as kits, and had final assembly in factories in Britain. Air-portable versions had

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4588-428: The top half of the cab superstructure and exterior components stowed — to allow the vehicles to fit in the hold of transport aircraft — and could easily be re-fitted on receipt in theatre. Bare chassis were created for alternative bodies to be fitted, reducing the shipping requirement to India. Bodies for these vehicles were locally produced in India from available materials, frequently built entirely from wood, creating

4662-409: The trailer was more-or-less fixed to the tractor, not demountable like modern semi-trailer trucks . Hinged ramps were used to get the tank onto the trailer; if the tank was immobilised, it could be pulled onto the trailer with the tractor unit's winch. Pioneer tractor/trailer combinations proved too tall to carry higher profile US tanks under some British bridges, resulting in their being superseded by

4736-400: The vehicle, or removed and set up as normal. In effect, the carrier replaced the use of a separate horse team or internal combustion engine-powered artillery tractor , and allowed a new way for the gun to be used. The next major advance can be seen in the Birch gun developed by the British for their motorised warfare experimental brigade (the Experimental Mechanized Force ) after the end of

4810-431: The war progressed, most nations developed self-propelled artillery. Some early attempts were often no more than a field gun or anti-tank gun mounted on a truck—a technique known in the British Army as carrying portee . These were mobile, but lacked protection for the crew. The next step was to mount the guns on a tracked chassis (often that of an obsolete or superseded tank) and provide an armoured superstructure to protect

4884-452: The world (e.g., South Africa , Argentina , Jordan , South Vietnam , and Malaya ). CMP trucks were adapted after the war for a variety of civilian roles including forestry, grain transport, fire-fighting, and snowplowing. In Malaysia , after the Malayan Emergency , many CMP trucks were converted to log transporters or off-road trucks at construction sites with upgraded brake systems and more powerful engines. The Ford-built CMP trucks used

4958-407: The years of production. The first (designed at Ford by Sid Swallow), second and third cab designs were called No. 11, 12 and 13, respectively. The first two types were similar, the main difference being a two-part radiator grille in the No. 12 cab (its upper part was opened with a bonnet, which was known as the "Alligator cab"). The final No. 13 cab, an entirely Canadian design made from late 1941 until

5032-515: Was a British 6×4 tractor unit used in World War II as an artillery tractor , recovery vehicle and tank transporter . Designed as a 6×4 off-road vehicle for use in Britain's colonies where metalled (sealed) roads were scarce, the Pioneer was first produced in 1927. Though lacking all-wheel drive , its combination of a suspension with great travel, excellent traction, and a low-revving engine gave it impressive pulling power on rough ground at low speeds. Though not designed for military use,

5106-497: Was created when Hauptmann Alfred Becker , a mechanical engineer and battery captain in the 227th Infantry Division , mounted his 10.5 cm leFH 16 howitzers on the chassis of captured British Vickers Mk.VI light tanks to mobilize his guns. His 10.5 cm leFH 16 Geschützwagen Mk VI 736 (e) was the forerunner to German tracked field guns such as the Wespe and Hummel . The Germans also mobilized their anti-tank guns, using light, obsolete or captured tracked vehicles. Examples include

5180-400: Was employed throughout the Napoleonic Wars and remained in use throughout the entire 19th century and into the first half of the 20th century, when advances in weapons technology finally made it obsolete. Zamburak was a specialized form of self-propelled artillery from the early modern period . It featured small swivel guns to be mounted and fired from the back of camels. It was used by

5254-464: Was not retired from the British Army until the 1980s in Belize . Delivery of a production tank transporter did not begin until 1937. This was equipped with a longer wheelbase for an extended cab to accommodate the tank crew as passengers and larger rear wheels than the artillery tractor and recovery vehicle variants. It was designated Pioneer TRCU20 . 20- and 30-ton ( Pioneer TRMU30/TRCU30 ) tractor/trailer combinations were delivered. In both cases,

5328-625: Was subcontracted out to smaller companies in Ontario and Manitoba , organized into the wartime "Steel Body Manufacturers Association" by the Department of Munitions and Supply . The wide variety of truck body designs included general service (GS) / troop carrier, fuel / water tanker , vehicle recovery ( tow truck ), field ambulance, dental clinic , mobile laundry , wireless house (radio HQ), machinery ( machine shop / welding station), folding-boat transport, artillery tractor, and anti-tank gun portee . In

5402-505: Was the much larger number – more than 800,000 units – of trucks and light wheeled vehicles, produced by Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler of Canada. Thanks to a large pre-war automotive sector, Canada's great wartime achievement was to build more military trucks than the main Axis nations – Germany, Italy, and Japan – combined, matching the demands of mobile warfare in the age of blitzkrieg. Canada's military truck production focused predominantly on

5476-460: Was useful for fighting nearby infantry, as a mortar is shorter-ranged and cheaper to shoot than the large main gun, as well as being better suited to wounding enemy infantry taking cover behind objects. However, since the mortar is only a secondary weapon in this case, the Merkava is not considered a mortar carrier. Self-propelled artillery remains important in the equipment of many modern armies. It saw

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