What do you know about the second world war? Have you seen movies about D-days, have you seen or heard about the vehicles the veterans used during the war? Or are you a veteran? Here are some of the top 7 most used military vehicles in WW2.
Before we jump right into the list let us remember that some of these vehicles are now considered antique and some are classic collectibles, Detailed Vehicle History provides support for classic vehicles, providing both classic vehicle history reports and classic build sheets.
FORD F 15
This vehicle was designed between 1940-1945. The Ford F15 was a Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) truck.
CMP trucks were mutually coherent ranges of trucks made in large numbers and several classes by Canada and the US.
The Ford F15 originated from General Motors of Canada Limited, Ford, and Chrysler Canada. There were over 500,000 that were built alongside 3298 service flags for employees of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Did you know? For the greater success of the nation, at the beginning of the second world war rival automakers would come together to design and build tough vehicles to support the nation’s military campaigns, a good example is the Ford F-15 which was manufactured by Chevrolet and Ford at Oshawa.
The Ram Tank
This was a cruiser tank that was designed and manufactured in Canada. The chassis of the Ram tank was based on the US M3 medium tank chassis.
Due to standardizations and other requirements this tank was mainly utilized for training purposes and did not see actual combat.
The Ram tank was manufactured by the Montreal Locomotive Works, there were 2032 Ram Tanks made after the design was completed in 1941, and the production spanned from November 1941-July 1943.
Did you know? During the early stages of the Ram Tank production, Canada relied heavily on the US and Britain. The prototype was completed in June 1941 while the general production began in November of the same year.
C15TA Armored Truck
The C15TA armored truck served as an armored load carrier utilized by Canada during the second world war and was inspired by the Otter Light Reconnaissance Car.
This armored carrier was manufactured by General Motors Canada and was built on the chassis of the Chevrolet C15. This armored car was built between 1943 and 1945 and a total of 3961 units were built in Oshawa, Ontario. While the armored hulls were supplied by the Hamilton Bridge Company.
The Kangaroo
By Hunter (Sgt), No 2 Army Film & Photographic Unit – This is photograph NA 24043 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 4700-39), Public Domain
This vehicle is also an armored personnel carrier, which was designed in 1944 by Guy Simonds, and will later go on to have over 4 variants which include, Ram Kangaroo, Priest Kangaroo, Churchhill Kangaroo, and the flame tank also known as the Kangaroo Badger.
The variant priest found its major application during “Operation Totalize” on August 8 1944 south of Caen and was handy to supplement the half-tracks already available.
On record, the first operation carried out by the Kangaroo was Operation Astonia, an assault on Le Havre 10-12 September 1944, and the last operation was when the British 7th armored division marched into and captured Hamburg on 3 May 1945.
The Lynx
The Lynx was used in service between 1940-1974 by the British Commonwealth and associated foreign units in the Second World War and even after the war.
This car was designed by Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA) a group of businesses manufacturing military and sporting firearms.
It was manufactured by Daimler (Dingo) and Ford Canada (Lynx) the two variants were built between 1939-1945(Dingo) and 1942-1945 (Lynx)
Did you know? The Dingo was considered one of the finest armored fighting vehicles built in Britain during the war!
The Otter Light Reconnaissance Car
The Otter Light Reconnaissance Car
This car is also known as the British car, or the Light Reconnaissance Canadian GM (RAC), it was an armored car produced in Canada during the second world war for the British and the Commonwealth.
Inspired by the Chevrolet C 15 Canadian Military Pattern Truck chassis, this armored vehicle has a crew capacity of three, and the commander is seated in the vehicle front, while the gunner occupied the turret position at the rear.
This fighting vehicle is armed Bren light machine gun in a small open-topped turret. This beast will go on to hunt tankers with its Boys’ anti-tank rifle.
The production of this vehicle began around 1942 and 1945, and over 1761 units were produced in Oshawa, Ontario.
The Fox Armored Car
This vehicle was also made in Canada, by General Motors as inspired by the British Humber Armored Car MK III and then adapted to the Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) truck.
The vehicle has a four-man crew, consisting of the commander, the driver, the gunner, and a wireless operator. Over 1,506 vehicles were manufactured.
By AlfvanBeem – Own work, CC0
This car was predominantly used in Italy, UK, and India. With a top speed of 71km/h(44 mph) the car was also used during the Second World War and the Portuguese Colonial War.
Are these your top most used military vehicles of the Second World War? Most of these vehicles are still outstanding and a beauty to behold. They are still tough, resilient, and yet graceful.
Are you a Veteran? Did you use any of these vehicles?
