To meet her urgent need for motor transport the UK turned to the Commonwealth for a degree of support, the major supplier to the UK from the Commonwealth being Canada. Canada herself, once on a war footing, had urgent need to supply her own armies with equipment as every transport vehicle then in service was of civil origin. During early 1937 Ford of Canada had been approached to produce 15-cwt trucks based on similar lines to those of British design. General Motors of Canada also participated. Ford’s experimental vehicle was produced in no great haste at the Windsor plant, the pilot model being built up around a Ford V-8 chassis with wheels and tyres imported from England. When completed in 1937 the vehicle was tested at the then small army testing ground at Camp Petawawa, near Ottawa. On arrival it was discovered that the specification had changed to a four-wheel drive application. Nevertheless, the type gave a good account of itself, and the Canadian Military Pattern Chassis formed the basis of many 15-cwt and 8-cwt trucks. During early 1940 the standard pattern of Canadian truck began to emerge with four-wheel drive, and in July of 1940, after Dunkirk, the UK placed a preliminary order for 7,000 vehicles. By 1941 Canada was the Empire’s main supplier of light and medium trucks. Standardization was again of the utmost importance within a range of trucks including 8-cwt, 15-cwt, 30-cwt and 3-ton 4x4, 3-ton 6x4 and 3-ton 6x6 vehicles. Various Canadian cabs were produced through the different stages of development: the number 11 cab was identifiable by the radiator externally mounted to the bonnet; the number 12 cab had the radiator mounted inside the bonnet; the number 13 cab was a complete revision in design to allow more cab interior space and better placing of the foot pedals, and also had a forward sloping windscreen; and the number 43 was basically a number 13 with a soft top. A1940 Chevrolet WA is seen in the configuration developed by the LRDC for their operations in North Africa. The vehicle illustrated carries a Lewis gun behind the cab and a Browning .30 cal M1919 with AA barrel above the dashboard. The 3-ton 4x4 became the mainstay of Canadian production, and was a reliable vehicle produced by both Ford and Chevrolet. The body variations were enormous and can only be touched briefly within this text. All models were produced in the general service role, some with timber and some with all-pressed-steel bodies, and other types included water and petrol tankers, mobile gun carriages, wireless house bodies, machinery vehicles (various types from 15-cwt mounted welding units to 6x6 fully equipped workshops), office bodies, ambulances and other medical requirement vehicles, and breakdown and recovery vehicles. Canada also supplied many conventional types from all the large manufacturers, fitted with military tyres/wheels and bodies. Over 900,000 Canadian vehicles were produced within the five-year period. The Australian commitment was not on so grand a scale, the majority of production trucks being in the light range. Most of the medium to heavy trucks were supplied in kit or chassis and cab form, usually from Canada, to which locally-built bodies were added. Some of the conventional trucks supplied were used in halftrack conversions, but this never progressed beyond the experimental stage. All Canadian Fords were reassembled at the Ford subsidiary plant at Geelong, in Victoria State some 48 km (30 miles) west of Melbourne. The Chevrolet C60L CS truck became the mainstay of Canadian production and was built in a bewildering variety of different models including water and petrol tankers, ambulances and recovery vehicles. Specification: Ford F60 Powerplant: one 70.8-kW (95-bhp) Ford V-8 petrol engine Dimensions: length 6.20 m (20 ft 4 in); width2.29 m (7 ft 6 in); height 3.05 m (10 ft O in) Performance: max speed 80 km/h (50 mph); range 270 km (168 miles)
Chevrolet WB (30 CWT) The very first trucks which was used as a Standard patroling vehicles. Specifications: Engine: 216 CI 6 Cylinder inline. Gears: 4 forward x 1 reverse Steering: Left Hand Fuel Capacity: a single 20 gallon tank MPG: about 12 Wheelbase 134 inches Tires: 10.50X16 Payload: 3,000 pounds Max range on a single tank of fuel: @240 Miles
