I hope this will shed some light on the "Jeep in a crate" myth:
The company I work for purchased the Raritan Arsenal in Edison, NJ, in
1965. Raritan was one of the major shipping points for military
equipment in WWI, WWII through Korea.
Along with the land we aquired lots of documentation and photographs
of the operation at the Arsenal. I also had a chance to talk with the
Chief Engineer from the ASO stationed there from 1940-1965.
I can tell you that Raritan NEVER crated jeeps for shipment or
storage. EVER. Self powered vehicles arrived on freight cars, were
parked in lots or stored on racks in a warehouse, and loaded by crane
onto boats and tied down. Everything from Mighty-Mites to main battle
tanks and DUKWs.
I have one photo of 7 acres of Jeeps parked out in a lot, ready for
shipment, not a crate in sight. Imagine the labor involved in crating
600+ jeeps for shipment.
Some motorcycles were crated, but aside from that the only things
that were crated were non self-powered items like big guns and
generators. These went to the ships on flat bed rail cars, and were
loaded with the same 75 ton crane.
I can't say for other arsenals, but I expect it was the same there. So
if you hear of a Jeep "new in the crate" I would expect someone is
pulling your leg.
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