Re: [MV] Post WWII jeeps

From: Henry & Kate Cubillan (cubillan@earthlink.net)
Date: Tue Jun 06 2000 - 18:03:37 PDT


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KBDewey 42GPW wrote:
>
> Did Willy's produce new Military versions of the MB right after the end
> of WWII like in 46 thru 49?

(SNIP)

> I would think that with the amount of
> surplus the Army wouldn't need any new ones until the Korea conflict. K

I think that the massive de-armament that occurred after the end of WWII
ended most military contracts, which is probably why so many of the
companies that supplied war material and equipment either switched very
rapidly back to civilian production or went out of business. I know that
Willys had planned for the release of the civilian jeep during the last
few years of the war, probably not expecting many orders from the
military after the war.

There are two main reasons why most of the WWII war surplus never made
it back to the US:
1. Massive cost of moving billions of tons of
equipment/vehicles/materials back to the US
2. Economic pressures; with millions of GI's returning home, inflation
artificially controlled, and the country's industrial might humming,
many industries wanted to continue production and viewed massive amounts
of surplus as a threat (automotive industry, for example).

Korea caught the US by surprise, and there are many stories of US
soldiers sent into battle at the beginning of the conflict with outdated
supplies and things like magazines still loaded with cartridges from
WWII, often in poor condition. In fact, so bad was the need for vehicles
during the conflict that an order for a 4x4 vehicle, built to US-specs,
was received by the Toyoda company, directly from the US Army. It was
the birth of the Toyota Land Cruiser, and there is *some* evidence that
a few of these vehicles were used by US Forces (MP's, mostly) and
actually saw action in Korea.

Henry C.



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