Have an original WW2 photo featuring a vehicle? Post it here!

[iron bender]

Here's one I've had a long time. Found it in a junk store in Lubbock appx 1995. Reverse has all the names hand written and California Desert, Sept 15, 1942.

[General Apathy]

7 hours ago, GWS said:

Thanks for the kind words General!  I didn't really  know what make/model Jeep it was so I really appreciate your information on it. He would have been 18 or 19 years old at that time. Does the hand painted "B C car" on it mean anything to you? He was in a tank destroyer unit at that time.  Any idea on the other Jeep? Thank you so much.

 

 

                             Steve

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Hi Steve,

 

thanks for the reply, as a long time Jeepster the Jeep that your father is sat in is possibly one of the holy grails of Jeep collecting, less than 2,000 made.    Do you have any further images of either of the two Jeeps even ANY partial sections of the Jeep can be informative.

 

The Bantam that your father is sat in was possibly a left over camp hack, as it had already been superseded by the later model you have also shown. The Bantam BRC along with Willys MA and  Ford GP models were tested against one-another to see which the army considered the best. Sadly for Bantam it was realised that they didn't have the scale of production for the numbers the army intended procuring, and no further Bantams were made. The contract was given to Willys and the Bantam company were offered the lesser opportunity to produce Jeep trailers.

 

The Bantam your father is sat in still has the earlier chevron style tires which it probably had from factory fitting. 

 

The second Jeep it would have been very helpful if the front grille could have been seen.  I am surmising it's an early Willy's MB ( slat grille ) which replaced the MA used in the first trials. I say slat grille MB as it has no wing blackout lamp, no windscreen rifle bracket, a black steering wheel, no Jerrycan appearing over the rear panel, the fuel sump shield under the driver has been damaged so it's difficult to define whether it's the early square shape or the later rounded shape. ????.  However it could be an MB on the cusp of change over from the Willys style slat grille to the Ford style pressed grille. ( so if you have any further images showing the front grille or the dash area that would define the model ) . The Ford GP used in the trials was also superseded by the Ford GPW. 

 

as I say possibly on the cusp as it has been painted with the later white stars on the hood and rear quarter and a vacuum pipe added post factory modification to the windshield wiper and it has standardised bar-tread tires.  

 

I would say that they were both camp run-arounds, really great images especially as it records your fathers early life. 

 

regards lewis.

 

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[earlymb]

The other jeep is a slatgrill Willys MB jeep, with a good dent in the tank well 🤭

[GWS]

Sorry but those are the only two photos of the Jeeps. I need to find that box of photos as I remember a few other photos of his squad of men in the field. I don't remember any other photos showing vehicles, but I'll look for them anyway. Thanks for the additional information on each of the photos. I wish he was still here so I could ask more questions about that time, but he passed in 2022, at age 97.  I'll look for the other photos and post them if there are any vehicles. Thanks again!

 

                           Steve

[GWS]

No other photos with vehicles were found, the two Jeep photos are all there is.

 

 

Steve

[General Apathy]

On 2/27/2024 at 11:52 PM, GWS said:

Sorry but those are the only two photos of the Jeeps. I need to find that box of photos as I remember a few other photos of his squad of men in the field. I don't remember any other photos showing vehicles, but I'll look for them anyway. Thanks for the additional information on each of the photos. I wish he was still here so I could ask more questions about that time, but he passed in 2022, at age 97.  I'll look for the other photos and post them if there are any vehicles. Thanks again!

 

                           Steve

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Hi Steve,

 

Thats pretty swell that he survived WWII and lived to be 97,  If you would care to share some shots of his clothing and equipment I would be very interested in that especially his earlier stuff either by PM or maybe to the thread I have running,  either way I would be keen to see any of it.  

 

 

 

regards lewis.  

 

...

 

[jmd62]

Hey guys,

 

Here are three of my Dad's photos taken in April 1945 in Germany. Unfortunately, the 2nd pic of the Halftrack is only a partial, as is the case with a few others of his. The 3rd one in the field showing the half track, actually shows some soldiers running and a few tanks, but it has to be blown up a bit to see them. These are small sized photos. 

 

Thanks,

James

 

[GWS]

JMD62--Those are really nice shots, especially the 2nd one--looks like either "party time" or "the war is over time". Which one is your dad? I love these old photos that were taken by rank amateurs with cheap little cameras but captured a very special moment in time! So glad someone did that. Truly amazing.  Thanks.

 

 

   Steve

[General Apathy]

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Screen grab of President Roosevelt visiting US troops . . . . . . 

 

Note that the doorway on the Jeep has been especially deepened to enable Mr Roosevelt easier access due to his inability to walk and climb aboard.

 

 

regards lewis.

 

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[General Apathy]

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regards lewis.

 

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[jmd62]

2 hours ago, GWS said:

JMD62--Those are really nice shots, especially the 2nd one--looks like either "party time" or "the war is over time". Which one is your dad? I love these old photos that were taken by rank amateurs with cheap little cameras but captured a very special moment in time! So glad someone did that. Truly amazing.  Thanks.

 

 

   Steve

 

Hey Steve, Thanks! It was actually prior to the end of the war, they had just found some wine and had a few chugs. They did a few things that weren't exactly by the rules, the photos being one of lesser of them :D  The squad "found" a camera and took a few photos. My Dad was one of the guys behind the guy chugging. He has a last day of the war squad photo and a couple after that when they finally got to bathe in a lake after not doing so for 6 months. 

I spoke on the phone with a guy from his platoon, from a mortar squad, and when I asked him about taking photos he said they didn't because it was forbidden. The same thing with alcohol. forbidden. I guess each Squad Leader was a bit different? :D 

 

[GWS]

1 hour ago, General Apathy said:

.

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Screen grab of President Roosevelt visiting US troops . . . . . . 

 

Note that the doorway on the Jeep has been especially deepened to enable Mr Roosevelt easier access due to his inability to walk and climb aboard.

 

 

regards lewis.

 

...  Very keen eye you have Lewis--Thanks.

                                                                Steve

26 minutes ago, jmd62 said:

 

Hey Steve, Thanks! It was actually prior to the end of the war, they had just found some wine and had a few chugs. They did a few things that weren't exactly by the rules, the photos being one of lesser of them :D  The squad "found" a camera and took a few photos. My Dad was one of the guys behind the guy chugging. He has a last day of the war squad photo and a couple after that when they finally got to bathe in a lake after not doing so for 6 months. 

I spoke on the phone with a guy from his platoon, from a mortar squad, and when I asked him about taking photos he said they didn't because it was forbidden. The same thing with alcohol. forbidden. I guess each Squad Leader was a bit different? :D 

 

          Good for them about "breaking the rules"!  My Dad did the same on several occasions. It occurred to me that my Dad may have been about 20,000 feet above your Dad at about the same time as he ended up in a B-17 for the last 6 months of the war! Thanks for the response and preserve those photos forever.

 

                                        Steve

 

[jmd62]

10 minutes ago, GWS said:

 

That's awesome Steve about your Dad! Wow, 6 months in a B-17 was a very long time, I'm glad he made it out ok 👍

[GWS]

2 hours ago, jmd62 said:

That's awesome Steve about your Dad! Wow, 6 months in a B-17 was a very long time, I'm glad he made it out ok 👍

 

   I'd say it was actually 5 months during the war and the "chowhound" food drops were technically after the war, but he said the 1st one was scary because they flew as low as 200ft. and they were not at all sure that all the German AAA gunners on the ground knew it was over.* I'm glad your Dad made it back ok too, otherwise neither of us would be today!

 

* They did a belly landing in either Belgium or Holland, I can't remember which one during the war.

 

  Steve

[jmd62]

Hey Steve,

 

 

Ha! We're lucky :D  That's pretty cool about your Dad, he must have had great stories. Dang, a belly landing even, scary stuff!  I've met many infantrymen, but not a single flyer : )

 

Thanks!

James

 

[General Apathy]

On 7/29/2023 at 9:03 PM, Salvage Sailor said:

"Carbon Dioxide Fire Truck"

RG 1325-003-206 Delaware in World War II

Official Air Force photo

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Hi Salvage,

 

I found another shot of the same type of vehicle you have shown,  I think your shot might be WWII and notice on the large tank USAF can be made out, so my photo is a post war shot.  

 

 

regards lewis.

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