Tag: jeep

Jeep

The Willys MB and the Ford GPW, both formally called the U.S. Army Truck, ​1⁄4-ton, 4×4, Command Reconnaissance, commonly known as the Jeep.

At the Imperial War Museum there are a fair few Jeeps on display, which show the varying uses which were made of this useful and ubiquitous vehicles by the allies during the second world war and later.

Jeep – Willys M38
Ford GPW Jeep at Montgomery’s Headquarters

The jeep became the primary light wheeled transport vehicle of the United States Military and its Allies in World War II, as well as the postwar period, with President Eisenhower once calling it, “one of three decisive weapons the U.S. had during WWII.”

Ford GPW 4X4 Jeep

Red Cross Ford GPW 4X4 Jeep on display at the Imperial War Museum London.

Red Cross Ford GPW 4X4 Jeep

Donated to the Red Cross Home for Officers in Sorrento, Italy in Autumn 1943 on the orders of General Mark Clark (who had been struck by the Homes lack of transport during an official visit.) Later the Jeep was used by the Red Cross Homes in La Selva and Cuvia, Italy and Klagenfurt, Austria. It was also used for delivering supplies to Casualty Clearing Stations in this theatre. At the end of the war the Jeep was written off and The Red Cross were told they could keep it. In 1946 the Jeep and trailer were driven to England by the donor. The Red Cross showed no interest in keeping the vehicle so it passed into the possession of its former driver, Joan Whittington, who had driven it back from Austria.