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Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) trucks were mutually coherent ranges of military trucks, made in large numbers, in several classes and numerous versions, by
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
's branches of the
U.S. 'Big Three' auto-makers during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, compliant to
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
specifications,
[though Ford's and GM's more so than Chrysler's] primarily intended for use in the armies of the
British Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
allies, but also serving in other units of the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
.
Canadian factories produced some 850,000 vehicles in World War II, including some 50,000 armoured vehicles,
self-propelled gun
Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) 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 mo ...
s 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 a major part of British Empire countries vehicles. These territories levied reduced, "]Imperial preference
Imperial Preference was a system of mutual tariff reduction enacted throughout the British Empire following the Ottawa Conference of 1932. As Commonwealth Preference, the proposal was later revived in regard to the members of the Commonwealth of N ...
", 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
Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited ( French: ''Ford du Canada Limitée'') was founded on August 17, 1904, for the purpose of manufacturing and selling Ford automobiles in Canada and the British Empire. It was originally known as the Walkerville ...
and GM of Canada.
Canadian Military Pattern trucks not only motorized the militaries of Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, but were also sent to the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
after the Nazi invasion, as part of Canada's Gift and Mutual Aid program to the Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
, comparable to the U.S. Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...
Act.
During the War, CMP trucks saw service around the world in the North African campaign, the Allied invasion of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...
, the Italian Campaign, the Eastern Front, the Burma campaign, the Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, the liberation of Northwest Europe, and the Western Allied invasion of Germany
The Western Allied invasion of Germany was coordinated by the Allies of World War II, Western Allies during the final months of hostilities in the European theatre of World War II, European theatre of World War II. In preparation for the Allied ...
. CMP trucks also served in post-war conflicts in Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...
, and the Portuguese colonies in Africa.
The United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
's official ''History of the Second World War
The ''History of the Second World War'' is the official history of the British contribution to the Second World War and was published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO). The immense project was sub-divided into areas to ease publication, ...
'' called Canada's war-time production of soft-skinned trucks, including the CMP class, 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
As the number of German troops committed to the North African Campaign of World War II grew from the initial commitment of a small corps, the Germans developed a more elaborate command structure and placed the enlarged ''Afrika Korps'', with I ...
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 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.][
]
History
The rise to power in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
of Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
and the Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
party in 1933 led to discussions in the mid-1930s between the British War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...
and the Canadian Army
The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...
concerning the possible production of military vehicles in Canada. During the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
Canadian land forces had participated as a corps
Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...
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
Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited ( French: ''Ford du Canada Limitée'') was founded on August 17, 1904, for the purpose of manufacturing and selling Ford automobiles in Canada and the British Empire. It was originally known as the Walkerville ...
and General Motors of Canada Ltd
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
were each invited by the Canadian Department of National Defence to produce a Canadian prototype of a 15-hundredweight
The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and US customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the US and British imperial systems. The two values are distingu ...
(cwt) ¾-ton U.S.) payload rating, light infantry truck similar to the Morris CS8
The Morris Commercial CS8, also known as the "Morris 15 cwt" was a British light military truck of the Second World War.
Introduced in 1934 it was the most numerous vehicle of that size in the British Army at the start of the war but was replace ...
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
An artillery tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, is a specialized heavy-duty form of tractor unit used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights and calibres. It may be 6x6, wheeled, continuous track, tracked, or half-tracked.
Trac ...
derived from the British 6x4 Scammell Pioneer
The Scammell Pioneer was a British 6×4 tractor unit used in World War II as an artillery tractor, recovery vehicle and tank transporter.
Development
Designed as a 6×4 off-road vehicle for use in Britain's colonies where sealed roads were s ...
. 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, 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
The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...
in the spring of 1940 succeeded in rescuing close to 340,000 Allied soldiers who had been encircled by the invading German army, the British Expeditionary Force had been required to abandon most of its military vehicles in France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. It then became an urgent need to replace those losses and to provide new vehicles to equip the rapidly expanding armed forces of the Commonwealth. CMP vehicles, based on the British specification and with large manufacturing capacity, were the logical answer.
Production
Canadian factories produced around 850,000 vehicles in World War II, including some 50,000 armoured vehicles, self-propelled guns and tanks. But the greatest significance had the vast majority – 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 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 the Canadian ]Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
division of General Motors, and Ford Motor Company of Canada. The two manufacturers were able to quickly ramp up their Canadian production, by utilizing their large amounts of reserve production capacity that had remained idle ever since the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, and through an unusual act of collaboration between the two rival companies, including the use of interchangeable components. A smaller number of CMP trucks were assembled from Canadian-made chassis
A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...
and parts, typically first built on Canadian production lines, then broken (knocked) down, crated, and shipped overseas, and then to be re-assembled in Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
, Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
(2,600), India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
(9,500), Italy and Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
.[ Following British convention, CMP trucks had ]right hand drive
Left-hand traffic (LHT) and right-hand traffic (RHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow, and are sometimes referred to ...
even though most of them were built in Canada, which primarily used left-hand drive vehicles. The CMP specification proved versatile, and it formed 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 vehicles.[ 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 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 to also be used in the CMP role,[ although they conformed to the CMP pattern to a much lesser extent, being fitted with standard Dodge control cabins, on -longer wheelbases, and mostly being two-wheel drive. Furthermore, roughly 9,500 4x4 CMP chassis were made, mainly to be used to build 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 the Second World War
The ''History of the Second World War'' is the official history of the British contribution to the Second World War and was published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO). The immense project was sub-divided into areas to ease publication, ...
'' (the United Kingdom's official history An official history is a work of history which is sponsored, authorised or endorsed by its subject. The term is most commonly used for histories which are produced for a government. The term also applies to commissions from non-state bodies includin ...
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 Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an armies (e.g. the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
, Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
, Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
), and around the world (e.g., South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
, Malaya). CMP trucks were adapted after the war for a variety of civilian roles including forestry, grain transport, fire-fighting, and snowploughs. In Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, after the Malayan Emergency
The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...
, many CMP trucks were converted to log transporters or off-road trucks in construction site with upgraded brake system and powerful engines.
Canadian Military Pattern types
The Ford-built CMP trucks used a , Ford V8 Flathead engine while most of the Chevrolet-built CMP trucks had a , straight-6
The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine bal ...
overhead-valve
An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located bel ...
engine. An American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
-made GMC straight-6 engine powered the C60X 3-ton truck.
The Ford and Chevrolet trucks shared a standard cab design, which evolved over 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 type were similar, the main difference being a two-part radiator grille in 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 the end of the war, had the two flat panes of the windscreen
The windshield (North American English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from the elements. Mo ...
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
The term cab forward refers to various rail and road vehicle designs that place the driver's compartment substantially farther towards the front than is common practice.
Rail locomotives
In steam locomotive design, a cab forward design will ...
" configuration that gave CMP trucks their distinctive pug
The Pug is a breed of dog originally from China, with physically distinctive features of a wrinkly, short-muzzled face and curled tail. The breed has a fine, glossy coat that comes in a variety of colors, most often light brown (fawn) or blac ...
-nosed profile. This design was required to meet the original British specifications for 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 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 was subcontracted out to smaller companies in Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
and Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
, organized into the wartime "Steel Body Manufacturers Association" by the Department of Munitions and Supply
The Department of Munitions and Supply was the Canadian federal government ministry responsible for co-ordinating domestic industry during World War II. It was created by the ''Department of Munitions and Supply Act'' with C.D. Howe as its Ministe ...
. The wide variety of truck body designs included general service (GS) / troop carrier, fuel / water tanker, vehicle recovery (tow truck
A tow truck (also called a wrecker, a breakdown truck, recovery vehicle or a breakdown lorry) is a truck used to move disabled, improperly parked, impounded, or otherwise indisposed motor vehicles. This may involve recovering a vehicle damaged ...
), field ambulance, dental clinic
A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...
, mobile laundry
Laundry refers to the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with t ...
, wireless house (radio HQ), machinery (machine shop
A machine shop or engineering workshop (UK) is a room, building, or company where machining, a form of subtractive manufacturing, is done. In a machine shop, machinists use machine tools and cutting tools to make parts, usually of metal or plast ...
/ welding station), folding boat transport, artillery tractor, and anti-tank gun portee.[
In 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
An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearing ...
.[This restriction could have several possible benefits. First, a standard axle length would simplify the use of standard loading ramps, partial bridge decks, and bridge decks in which the road bearing ]girders
A girder () is a support beam used in construction. It is the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams. Girders often have an I-beam cross section composed of two load-bearing ''flanges'' separated by a stabilizing ...
protrude above the road surface on the top side. Second, the load of trucks of a standard axle length is more directly and safely transmitted down to the longitudinal spans supporting the bridge under the bridge deck by positioning the spans apart to match the standard axle length. Third, allowing only one wheel at each end of an axle would ensure that all wheels would be fast to change. Finally, minimizing the tread width would very slightly reduce a vehicle's vulnerability in minefields while following other vehicles of the same standard axle length. The British standard load capacities of 8 cwt (400 kg), 15 cwt (760 kg), 30 cwt (1,525 kg) and 60 cwt (3050 kg) correspond roughly to the American loads of 1/2, 3/4 ton, 1.5, and 3 short tons
The short ton (symbol tn) is a measurement unit equal to . It is commonly used in the United States, where it is known simply as a ton,
although the term is ambiguous, the single word being variously used for short, long, and metric ton.
The vari ...
, respectively. The 60-cwt CMP trucks were usually called 3-ton lorries or trucks (60 cwt being 3 long tons).
Chevrolet, General Motors
*Chevrolet C8 (4x2, 101-inch wheelbase, 8 cwt)
*Chevrolet C8A Heavy Utility Truck (4x4, 101 inch wheelbase, 8 cwt)
Produced in Wireless (HUW), Ambulance
An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport.
Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...
(HUA), Personnel (HUP), Machinery ZL (mobile radio repair shop) and Computer (accounting, payroll) configurations
*Chevrolet C15 (4x2, 101-inch wheelbase, 15 cwt)
*Chevrolet C15A (4x4, 101-inch wheelbase, 15 cwt)
*Chevrolet C15TA Armoured Truck
The C15TA Armoured Truck was an armoured load carrier produced by Canada during the Second World War.
It was developed from the Otter Light Reconnaissance Car.
Development
The C15TA Armoured Truck was developed by General Motors Canada along a co ...
(4x4, 101 inch wheelbase, 15 cwt)
*Chevrolet C30 (4x4, 134 inch wheelbase, 30 cwt)
*Chevrolet C60S (4x4, 134 inch wheelbase, 3 ton)
*Chevrolet C60L (4x4, 158 inch wheelbase, 3 ton)
*Chevrolet C60X – C60 chassis with 6x6 drive, 160 inch +52 inch wheelbase, 3 ton, 270 cu. in. GMC straight-6 engine)
* Chevrolet CGT Field Artillery tractor (4x4, 101 inch wheelbase)
As well as trucks, CMP chassis were used for the Fox Armoured Car
The Fox Armoured Car was a wheeled armoured fighting vehicle produced by Canada in the Second World War.
History
Built by General Motors, Canada, based on a construction of the British Humber Armoured Car Mk III, adapted to a Canadian Militar ...
, the design of the British Humber Armoured Car adapted for production by GM.
General Motors Canada built 1761 Otter Light Reconnaissance Cars, which was an adaption of the Humber Light Reconnaissance Car Mark III for a C15 chassis
Ford
The Ford Lynx Scout Car, also known as ""Car, Scout, Ford Mark I", (4x4, 101 inch wheelbase), was the hull of Daimler Dingo on a CMP chassis.
Dodge (Chrysler Canada)
Chrysler of Canada built about 180,000 Dodge military trucks from 1939 to 1945, most of which for CMP role, and following the same naming convention – three quarters of which were 3ton models of various D60 (Dodge T-110) types.
To achieve a quick increase in output of trucks that provided 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. But although regular Dodge cabs were fitted, they were right hand drive (except for those for Canadian domestic use.[) and had 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 a high and low-range rear axle. Only the 3,000 Dodge WC series#1941 G505, Dodge based D8As, and 11,750 units of the ('Air Portable'; ), Canadian-built versions of the ton were equipped with four-wheel drive.
All Dodges were powered by the Chrysler flathead engine#Straight-6, Chrysler straight-six flathead gasoline engines – the D60 models' engine delivered at 3,600 rpm.][
The initial 60 cwt (3-ton) Dodge types (engineering codes T110L-S, T110L-3, T110L-4, as well as the later T110L-14) were not formally D60.][ leaving 124,961, or 91% of the 3ton trucks with a CMP-type name-code (based on serial nrs.); or including the D8As and D15 units, a total of 156,829 (or 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 series#1942 45 G502, Dodge WC-52, but was powered by a long engine-block, like the 3tonners, rated at . The first batch of 5,000][(serial nrs. 91,151,283 to 91,156,282)] were wide, but this proved an issue with their "air-portability", so the second batch of 6,750[{serial nrs. 91,166,034 to 91,172,783)] were built with narrower beds wide. Winch capacity of the D3/4 was
The first, wider batch were also referred to as 2M1A, and the second, narrower series as the 2M2A.
Outside Canada
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 the top half of the cab superstructure and exterior components stowed to allow the vehicles to fit in the hold of transport aircraft, which 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 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 CMP chassis made in Canada. 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.
*Ruskin Motor Bodies Pty Ltd and Ford Motor Company of Australia Rover Light Armoured Car (4x4, 134.25-inch and 158.25-inch wheelbases) – built on Ford 3-ton CMP chassis
*Holden, General Motors Holden Ltd Rhino Heavy Armoured Car (4x4, 101-inch wheelbase) – prototype only
*General Motors Holden Ltd 6x6 Heavy Armoured Car (6x6, 158-inch wheelbase)
*Indian Railways Armoured Carrier Wheeled Indian Pattern (ACV-IP) (4x4, 101"? wheelbase) – most used CMP chassis
*South African Reconnaissance Car, also called the Marmon-Herrington Armoured Car (4x4, various wheelbases)
*Beaverette NZ, the New Zealand version of the British Standard Beaverette armoured car
*C8AX "Puddlejumper" (4x4, 101-inch wheelbase, 8 cwt), variant created in New Zealand based on the C8A chassis
A number of Indian Pattern vehicles also had armoured bodies built, creating armoured trucks.
See also
*List of military equipment of the Canadian Army during the Second World War
*CMP FAT
*Morris C8 Field Artillery Tractor
*Military history of Canada during the Second World War
Footnotes
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
*Gregg, William, (ed.), ''Blueprint for Victory: The story of military vehicle design and production in Canada from 1937–45'', The Canadian Military Historical Society, Rockwood, Ontario, 1981, .
*
External links
Maple Leaf Up's extensive website on CMP Trucks
CMP Trucks at the War&Peace Show 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canadian Military Pattern Truck
Military trucks of Canada
World War II military equipment of Canada
World War II vehicles of the United Kingdom
Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944