Posted by Gordon on August 02, 1999 at 23:30:40:
In Reply to: Power Wagon Military Service posted by Jim C. on August 02, 1999 at 19:36:56:
Hold that back page a minute...
Never realized we hadn't really discussed this but here goes.
In addition to the Dodges built specially for the british, like the WC 42 Radio Panel, the US forces in North Africa were equipped with Dodge half tons, many of which can be seen in service up through Italy.
The Signal Corps Archive (Library of Virginia from memory) has photos of equipment being returned from overseas late in the war, and some very interesting shots of Weapons Carriers and jeeps being stacked for shipment.
Main reasons for Command and Carryall being obseleted was that they were just too obviously senior staff transport - would you rather be a live general in a humble jeep or a dead one in the wreckage of a prestigious Command Car (the redoubtable Patton excepted) They were also pigs to ship - poor volume ratio as you would get four stacked Weapons Carriers in the place of two Carryalls. The WC 54 ambulance went the same way, but much later 'cause they took so long to get the KD ambulance up and running to replace it.
A lot of use was made of Commands and Carryalls by the USAAF in England when they were found to be 'too obvious' as above, but they were fine aircrew transport. Many of the same airfields used British Austin K2 4 x 2 Ambulances, as many of the WC 54 Dodge ones were swapped out by the Austins to allow the 4 x 4 s to get shipped up the sharp end.
.... and finally, just to upset some folks, the majority of the vehicles and parts I've seen in / from Norway were shipped to Norway in the late '40's direct from the US (like my WC 53) and never saw any action at all. This is the reason that many of the returned trucks are 44 and 45 GMCs, though strangely some of the Weapons Carriers were very early ones made before blackout lights were standardised.
Just a Scotish perspective on this, my 1.9 groats worth....
Gordon