The ubiquitous Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) vehicles.
Many of you may already know this but for some it will come as a surprise that factories in Canada stepped up and supplied some 850,000 lorries in numerous patterns and types to the British Commonwealth countries, Russia, and even the U.S. was a recipient of some CMP's. Dodge, Ford, and Chevrolet produced half, three quarter, one and a half, and three ton capacity vehicles which were known by their British nomenclature as 8, 15, 30, and 60 cwt (hundred weight). While Dodge produced their vehicles in a militarized version of their civilian vehicles, Ford and Chevrolet produced Canadian designed Cab 11, Cab 12, and Cab 13 trucks which utilized many simple flat components which were simpler to produce than the rounded compound curves seen in civilian trucks. The CMPs were were used in a myriad roles from simple lorries to wireless trucks, artillery tractors, wreckers, shop vehicles, AT and AA portees, and AFV's just to name a few. The drivetrains came in 4X2, 4X4, 6X4, and 6X6 combinations and used inline 6 216 and 270 cu. in. Chevrolet motors or Ford flathead V8's. Over the weeks and months I'll post pics of the various types which I hope all y'all will enjoy.
My first pic is for Cinders which is a picture of a Cab 11 60 cwt anti-tank portee carrying a 2 pounder gun in the rear and a bunch of Aussies taken near Darwin. Picture provided courtesy of the Australian War Memorial.
CMP's were very common here as farm trucks, hunting wagons, etc. when they were sold off after the war, both Fords and Chevs. The Chevs stood the test of time better than the Ford V8's, but now they are only seen in restored condition at MV shows. For serious off-road use the short wheelbase Chevs were the preferred choice as they had good ground clearance and better fording ability than the Fords, and were not so prone to overheating. The V8 Fords were common in many NZ Forest Service depots as fire engines and water tankers up until the 1980's.
Nothing at all but aesthetics here: do you think it would have been possible to create an uglier vehicle if they tried? I mean, we have a winnah! It is the "guitar face" of military vehicles!
Bob
"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' "
Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring
do you think it would have been possible to create an uglier vehicle if they tried?
I always assumed that the Canadian made vehicles "borrowed" or took the design for the front end from Morris Commercial military vehicles. Unfortunately we had to leave large numbers in France in 1940.
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, 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 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.
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 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.
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).
As early as 1935, the British government had begun to make inquiries as to Canada's potential as a manufacturing base for a wide variety of war-related goods. By 1937, Ford of Canada was working on developing a 15 cwt truck for military service, based on a very loose set of design parameters furnished through government channels by the British. A year later the program had accelerated, and General Motors of Canada was now also heavily involved. War was on the horizon, and all parties were desperate to standardize a new series of military vehicles which would be acceptable in British service, but designed for Canadian manufacturing processes.
Not much resemblance to Morris CS8 which was a 2WD and mostly a civilian pattern. So presumably the purported "strict British specifications" didn't apply to UK production?
“There are invisible rulers who control the destinies of millions. It is not generally realized to what extent the words and actions of our most influential public men are dictated by shrewd persons operating behind the scenes.”
My first picture posted was of an AT portee. Here's a pic taken at the John Inglis factory in Toronto, Canada of a quad Polsten 20mm AA portee based on a Cab 13 Ford F60X lorry. The Polsten was chosen over the Oerlikon 20mm autocannon due to its greater simplicity, reliability and lower cost and were made in the thousands by Inglis. John Inglis Co. made some 500 of these quad AA portees which saw limited use during WWII.
Some CMPs were actually used as lorries. The 'L' in the vehicle number denotes 'lorry'. If this lorry was issued to the Canadian Army it would have a CL in front of the vehicle number and the American 'Star' would not have been painted vertically. Canadians in particular chafed at painting the white star of the 'Johnny-come-lately' Americans as a recognition symbol and showed their displeasure by rarely painting the star vertically. This is a well restored example of a Ford F60 CMP save for the American NDT tires on the vehicle. True reproductions of the as-issued directionally treaded tires are hard to come by.
Here's a great example of an early Canadian issued CMP with the Cab 11 "Baboon Face' cab design. I posted this picture to show specifically the correct tire pattern, the 'CL' prefix of the vehicle number and the upside down recognition star. Many units kept their roundels on their vehicles long after orders were sent out to remove them.
Woodsy is right about CMP vehicles in NZ. All of our large twin boom and smaller single boom recovery vehicles in NZ were CMP types except with the odd one or two Bedford RL light recovery vehicles. The RNZEME junior ranks were exempt other tedious duties because we had a recovery rota. I don't know how I would have managed with a Canadian wartime vehicle after having been brought up using the old Scammel recovery tractors and Before lights
stepped up and supplied some 850,000 lorries in numerous patterns and types to the British
PM
I mean, we have a winnah! It is the "guitar face" of military vehicles!
Originally Posted by Bob Womack
