Ford Military Four-Wheel Drives

	Bill Spear sends these from the Yukon, apparently there are many old 4x4's lying around up there, left over from the Alaska Highway construction.
These are Canadian Fords. a '40 and a '41..V8 flathead, forward control or cab-over RHD of all things [ah, the empire] one in CRAF livery the other, non-descript. Nice thing about the Yukon is how cold and dry it is - rust doesn't get too bad.
	And surprise, surprise, they look just like the Chev trucks.

It is correct that they are right hand drive used for training military personel to get the feel for the European part of the war. The 1300 and 1500 I understand is to indicate half ton or three quarter ton? not sure. My grandfather was RCEME in WW II, I was in pimary reserves for 4 1/2 years as EME ,vehicle tech. Arte et Marte.
Jamie Stevens [4/1998]

1940's truck

These Ford's and its mate the Chevrolet came in two versions, 3ton. & 15cwt., plus a Chevy staff-car were common with Aussy, Brits and of course Canadian forces. In the desert-war you could remove the roof and wind-screen, lovely. They were a good machine in their day. The Fords depicted came into being early 1943. The 1940 Chev's looked something like a Morris front-end. A peculiar thing about them was the position of the foot-controls. The foot-brake and clutch were in the expected position while the accelerator pedal was below, centre of the two. The later versions had more room between engine and side-wall. Both Ford and Chev' came in 2WD and 4WD. Variants were 3ton, 15cwt, staff-car, and a Quad. It should be mentioned that only 3ton & 15cwt. were made by Ford. It is worth adding that the design was a joint Canadian/British effort. Built in Canada and made the rounds to Commonwealth forces. They got back to Australia when Prime-Minister Curtin ordered Aussy troops back home in 1943. A lovely thing about the Chevrolet was the ohv engine. The Bedford and Opel were easily dropped under the bonnet. The Ford's were side-valve V8; although a higher top speed than Chevy, the motor was not up to the times.
- Mike Read [4/1998]

A 1941 Ford V8 4x2 truck in the Anzac Day parade.

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