Lex Anteinternet: T16 Universal Carrier. National Museum of Museum of Military Vehicles.

Lex Anteinternet: World War Two Naval Warfare. National Museum of M...:   

Lex Anteinternet: German Light Transportation. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Lex Anteinternet: German Light Transportation. National Museum of M...:  

German Light Transportation. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

 

Last edition

Two wheeled transportation. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1930s, 1939, 1940s, German Wehrmacht, Motorcycles, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Red Army, World War Two, Wyoming (Dubois)

Lex Anteinternet: Two wheeled transportation. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Lex Anteinternet: Two wheeled transportation. National Museum of Mi...:

Two wheeled transportation. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Russian motorcycle with sidecar.

German motorcycles with sidecars and MG42s

Bad photo of another German motorcycle.

Last edition:

British and Commonwealth WWII Vehicles, National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Lex Anteinternet: Afrika Korps display, National Museum of Military ...

Lex Anteinternet: Afrika Korps display, National Museum of Military ...:   

Last edition:

Dodge WC Command Car. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1940s, 4x4, Automobiles, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Transportation, World War Two

Lex Anteinternet: Dodge WC Command Car. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Lex Anteinternet: Dodge WC Command Car. National Museum of Military...:  

Dodge WC Command Car. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

 Produced early in WWII, the 1/2 ton Dodge WC command car. The father of the SUV.

Last edition:

Tank engines. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1940s, National Museum of Military Vehicles, technology, Tracked vehicles, World War Two, Wyoming (Dubois)

Lex Anteinternet: Half Tracks. National Museum of Military History.

Lex Anteinternet: Half Tracks. National Museum of Military History.:   

Half Tracks. National Museum of Military History.

 

Last edition:

Tank Retrievers, National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1940s, Armor, Military, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Tracked vehicles, Weapons, World War Two, Wyoming (Dubois)

Lex Anteinternet: Artillery and Prime Movers. National Museum of Military Vehicles

Lex Anteinternet: Artillery and Prime Movers. National Museum of Mi...:  

Artillery and Prime Movers. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

 Last edition:

SPW 152 "Iron Pig" (BTR 152). National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Location: 6419 US-26, Dubois, WY 82513, USA

Lex Anteinternet: Allis Chalmers M7 Snow Tractor. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Lex Anteinternet: Allis Chalmers M7 Snow Tractor. National Museum o...:  

Allis Chalmers M7 Snow Tractor. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

 An oddity from World War Two, this tracked vehicle went from being adopted in 1943 to being a limited standard in 1944.  About 290 were built.

Last edition:

M7 Self Propelled Gun. US Armored Vehicle Central Display. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1940s, 1950s, Army, Artillery, Korean War, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Tracked vehicles, World War Two

Lex Anteinternet: Early Jeeps: National Museum of Military Vehicles Dubois Wyoming.

Lex Anteinternet: Early Jeeps: National Museum of Military Vehicles ...:

Early Jeeps: National Museum of Military Vehicles Dubois Wyoming.

There are a lot of Jeeps depicted in this series of posts, with a fair number being World War Two Willys and Ford Jeeps.  This museum, however, has a collection of the very early Jeeps that preceded the Willys MB patter standariation.

The request for a 1/4 ton truck came out just before World War Two and one of the company's that responded was Bantam, a vehicle manufacturer which specialized in small cars.  Their introduction was very much like what the MB would become, except it was lighter.

Bantam always felt cheated by the military for not securing the contact, which they really couldn't fulfill.  The company ceased to exist in 1956.

Willys Overland specialized in in "overland" vehicles to start with, and  came up with what was really the best design for the competition, although it was submitted later than Bantam's.

Ford also competed, putting in an entry that was much like Willy's.

Last edition:

World War Two U.S. Motorcycles: National Museum of Military Vehicles Dubois Wyoming.

Labels: 1940s, Dubois Wyoming, Military, Motorcycles, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Transportation, World War Two, Wyoming (Dubois)

Lex Anteinternet: World War Two U.S. Motorcycles: National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Lex Anteinternet: World War Two U.S. Motorcycles: National Museum of...: 

World War Two U.S. Motorcycles: National Museum of Military Vehicles Dubois Wyoming.

At one time, decades ago, I know a lot about motorcycle, but that's no longer the case, so I can't really comment that much.

World War Two was the golden age of the US military motorcycle.  Other armies made very extensive use of motorcycles in World War One and World War Two, with the Germans being particularly notable.  The US experimented with motorcycles early on, but they never took off in U.S. use they did in other armies.  The military continues to experiment with them off and on today.

Depicted above is a Harley Davidson WLA.  A Harley Davidson with  a side car is just to its right, but I failed to get a photo of it.

I unfortunately didn't get the data on all three of these motorcycles.  The one on the far right is an Indian, and the one in the middle might be as well.

Last edition:

World War Two U.S. Vehicle Livery: National Museum of Military Vehicles Dubois Wyoming.

Labels: 1940s, 4x4, 6x6, Automobiles, Dubois Wyoming, Jeep, Military, Trucks, United States, wepaons, World War Two, Wyoming (Dubois)

Improvising.

 

Service truck made stateside on base from Dodge WC. April 12, 1944.

Caterpillar Crew.

 

"When the "caterpillar" crew go out to clear road of snow, they live right on the spot. T/5 Floyd R. Worendorff, Vendrick, Idaho, relaxes in his house on wheels. Truck is fitted with bunks and stove, and supplies living quarters for six men. 4 April, 1944. Camilatella, Italy."

Scary thing is, I've done the same thing, over 40 years later.

Lex Anteinternet: Wednesday, March 22, 1944. Rationing

Lex Anteinternet: Wednesday, March 22, 1944. German defeat in the B...: 

Wednesday, March 22, 1944. German defeat in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Sarah Sundin's excellent blog on daily events in World War Two, whose feed updates are no longer working, notes this item:

In US, “A” gas rationing cards (basic passenger car ration) are cut from three gallons per week to two gallons. 

Two gallons per week.

Could you get by on two gallons per week?  Most days I drive a 1/4 ton Utility Truck, which is better known as a Jeep, and while it's small, it gets terrible mileage.  I know that I use more than two gallons per week, but I would if I was driving my fuel efficient diesel truck as well.  If I was limited to two gallons per week, I'd have to make major life changes.

Should I be pondering this as Congress, through the neglect of Ukraine, pushes us ever closer to a war with Russia, should she invade the Balkans?

During World War Two I know that my grandfather had a different class of ration ticket as his vehicle was used for business.  His car was a "business coupe", which is about all I know about it.

I know it had a gasoline personnel heater, which probably provides a clue, but I still don't know who made it.

I had a 1954 Chevrolet at one time, and it got really good mileage.  Interestingly, a 1973 Mercury Comet, with a really powerful V8 engine we had, also did.  According to one site about older cars, the business couple should be something like this:

My '38 gets around 17-18 MPG @ 50 MPH. It drops to around 12-14 @ 60. She just doesn't like being pushed that hard.

My 54, and the 73, got much better mileage than that.

Whatever mileage the business coupé got, my father sort of brushed gasoline rationing off when I asked him about it, due to the other category of ticket.  I don't know what that really meant, however.

Of course, for most long travel of any kind, people took the train.  Something that we might want to consider as potentially being something that may very well return.  High speed rail, for that matter, may be coming to Wyoming.

Last prior edition:

Tuesday, March 21, 1944. Dear John.

1940s, 1944, Aircraft, Churches, Continuation War, Kamikaze, Miles City Montana, New Guinea, Operation Margarethe, Operation U-Go, The relationship between men and women, The written word, World War Two

Lex Anteinternet: Wednesday, December 29, 1943. Rationing Bicycles

Lex Anteinternet: Wednesday, December 29, 1943. Rationing Bicycles: 

Wednesday, December 29, 1943. Rationing Bicycles

F.F. Calkin, of Cadillac, Michigan, and J. Ferber, of Camden, New Jersey, using British bicycles for transportation in England, 1943.

Today In Wyoming's History: December 29: 1943  Wartime quotas of new adult bicycles for January cut in half, with 40 being allotted to Wyoming.Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

Bicycles at high school in Texas, 1943.

This was no small matter.  Bicycles had increased enormously in importance due to the war.  The National Park Service notes:

The government rationed bicycles from July 1942 to September 1945. The goal was to reduce the amount of wartime materials used for bicycles, but also to ensure that those who rode instead of drove could get one (thereby saving on car tires and gasoline).[10]

Shortly after the December 1941 Japanese attacks, the government took over control of the bicycle industry. They halted the bicycle trade entirely, and forbade bicycles from leaving “a factory, a jobber, a wholesaler, or a retailer’s place of business after 11:59 tonight” (April 3, 1942). They hoped this would prevent hoarding, and also gave them the opportunity to evaluate supply and demand.

The government issued specifications for what became known as Victory bicycles. These were designed and built only for adults; bikes for children were not manufactured during the war. Victory bikes were lightweight, weighing no more than 31 pounds (lighter by about a third than pre-war). They were made of steel only with no copper or nickel parts, and a minimum of chrome plating. Paint was used instead on handlebars and wheel rims. Accessories like chain guards, bells, and whitewall tires were removed, and a maximum tire width of 1-3/8" was set.[12] Behind the scenes, there were disagreements between the OPA and the Wartime Production Board (WPB) about the necessity of bicycle rationing – were bicycles a luxury? Was the rubber needed to make bicycle tires better used for other war needs while people continued to put wear on the car tires they already owned? This debate was eventually resolved, and Victory bikes went into production.[13]

When rationing began in July 1942, the OPA had 150,000 Victory bicycles and 90,000 pre-war bicycles to divide up. To get a bicycle, you had to apply at the local rationing board and prove you needed a bicycle. For example, your job was too far to walk to, and there was no good public transportation. By August 1942, access to bicycles was further limited to health care workers, school teachers, fire fighters, and others in critical occupations. New and used bicycles became much in demand, as thousands used them to get to their war jobs.[14] Despite this, the numbers of bicycles made and allocated by rationing boards never met the actual demand.[15]

Sailors who had bicycled to Arlington Farms, a residence for women who worked in the U.S. government for the duration of the war, from Washington in search of a date, 1943.