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American military vehicles in Normandy, 2012


Sabrejet
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I think this has been pressed into US service. Note the stars.

Oh, I love this! You really wouldn't have seen a captured vehicle in the service of such a unit for very long at all (even Ernie Pyle didn't get to keep his Kubelwagen for very long), but it sure is plausible. I'd love to see more photos of this display area if they were further set up for a photo unit! :thumbsup:

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Hi Lee, we had fun two years ago looking at an E. Co. 506 Chevrolet bomb loading crane.

 

This year we were much amused at the multitude of Jeeps with canvas shovel covers attached to the side mounted shovels :w00t: , JEEP CANVAS SHOVEL COVERS, SOMETHING WHICH NEVER EXISTED IN WWII. :lol:

 

ken

You are right Ken, I saw this one some years ago in Belgium with 101st AB markings also.

It was nicely restored (OD is too dark at my taste). So sad the owner/restorer did'nt find an original picture of such a vehicle with air force markings :crying: Even the registration number is wrong as it should start with 00.

Or perhaps was it the mega-rare airportable version of this M6 Chevrolet... :w00t:

Laurent

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I think the ambulance of the previous post is an english restauration.

The second one is a nice jeep in USN colors.

Ian, have you seen and photographed a Chevrolet M6 bomb truck with its trailer in Normandy this year? One of my friend saw one on the road and I would be delighted to see a picture of this vehicle if you have one, thanks in advance,

Laurent M.

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And we dont even speak about the many "M201 hotchkiss jeeps"

About 90% of the jeeps present in Normandy were French made in the 60' ( some with US parts but most of them Wyllis Overland France or WOF)

I have even seen à early model completely faked ( No slat grill, Glove box, wrong gas tank, wrong steering wheel, bolted wheels etc...)

Anyway, we were running a nice R75 BMW instead

jh4i35.jpg

T

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Johan Willaert
Ian, have you seen and photographed a Chevrolet M6 bomb truck with its trailer in Normandy this year? One of my friend saw one on the road and I would be delighted to see a picture of this vehicle if you have one, thanks in advance

 

I saw it a couple of times on the Normandy roads and I must admit it was nice seeing the set loaded with bombs on the road...

But sorry to say, I didn't take any pictures of it...

 

Johan

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And we dont even speak about the many "M201 hotchkiss jeeps"

About 90% of the jeeps present in Normandy were French made in the 60'

That is one thing us in the US really don't have to worry about much. I doubt there are many 201s on this side of the pond at all, and have never heard of one over here.

A lot of the books about Jeeps publiched out of the UK/EU spend a lot of time on the 201, and most of us in the US usually just pass over those pages. I wanted to buy a Jeep book until i saw it and found that almost half of it was about the whole MB-GPW v/s 201 issue, so I didn't buy it because that info is largely useless to me as any Jeep you encounter in the US is extremely unlikely to be a 201.

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You're right Lee...the M201 issue is a predominantly a European thing simply because they are "here" and relatively easy to come by. Purists of course will stick exclusively to original US made Jeeps and parts!

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Johan Willaert

While of course a Hotchkiss M201 will never be a true WW2 Jeep, I don't see any harm in using the odd WOF part to restore a WW2 model...

 

After all I prefer a genuine WOF part that has the correct looks over a modern day Phillipine replica...

 

I know a lot of the parts available nowadays are of a very high quality and after some use cannot be distinguished from real WW2 parts, but back in the 1980s when restoring WW2 vehicles really took off in Europe, you had to make do with either original Willys or Ford parts (if you could find them) or French WOF parts which were readily available...

And some of the French parts are actually better quality than the originals...

A friend is currently restoring a September 1943 MB which came from the French Army back in 1980, and which had been overhauled by the French many years ago...

The original T84 gearbox was replaced by a WOF one and I actually advised him to keep it in there... It is much stronger than a WW2 model and it shifts so much better. Unless you crawl under the vehicle you cannot see it is a French one...

So he got an original T84 box on the shelve but kept the WOF box for use..

 

Furthermore what is an original Jeep???

People tend to ask me if my GPW is original, so I tell them, yes it is..... well except for the paint, windows, upholstery, tires, brakes, body floor and side panels, wiring, straps, battery, top, oil, .... etc.... etc....

 

There are some very original Jeeps out there (just look at the one our member Jon recently picked up...) but once you start restoring and driving them, bit by bit you take that originality away...

But then again, they were made for driving!

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Johan Willaert
Here's a Hotchkiss M201...essentially a license-built Willys...old-style British plates.

 

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And it has a WW2 GPW style front bumper... :lol:

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When was the last NATO country use of a WW2-pattern Jeep, to include 201s? I always thought I saw one being used in 1988 in Holland once, by the modern Dutch military.

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And we dont even speak about the many "M201 hotchkiss jeeps"

About 90% of the jeeps present in Normandy were French made in the 60' ( some with US parts but most of them Wyllis Overland France or WOF)

I have even seen à early model completely faked ( No slat grill, Glove box, wrong gas tank, wrong steering wheel, bolted wheels etc...)

Anyway, we were running a nice R75 BMW instead

jh4i35.jpg

T

 

Hello

the final model of slatgrill in february and march are equipped with glove box and wheels bolted ;)

Mat

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