Vintage US Army Trio

Vintage US Army Trio

Standing in the temporary US Army encampment at Beamish Museum is this fine collection of restored, and now UK-based, World War 2 fighting machines!

On the left is one of the iconic American army GMC CCKW trucks, a 1944 model (now UK registered SFF 371) carrying the army designation 4096475-S.

These 2.5-ton 6x6 trucks were built in several versions of a standard design for the US Army between 1941 and 1945. One commentator suggests that there were almost half a million of these trucks, in their many forms, built by the General Motors Corporation by the end of the production run.

In the middle is a 1944 Federal tractor unit (now UK registered YVL 407), carrying the army designation 5855380. The mobile operations unit, hauled by this tractor, is standing behind the trio of vehicles.

The Federal Motor Truck Company of Detroit, Michigan was established in 1918 and is little known in the UK. They built vehicles for U.S. forces from 1933 until 1945 and ceased making vehicles altogether in 1959.

Finally, on the right, is an early 1940's M3A1 half-track, carrying the army designation 402686. These vehicles were built from 1941 by the White Motor Corporation of Cleveland, Ohio. By the end of production over 40,000 units had been made.

All of these vehicles were at the museum as part of their "Dig for Victory" event at the beginning of September 2021.

Notes by Terry Pinnegar