If anyone is SERIOUSLY interested in the government reasons for destroying
MUTTs, I have copies of some official Canadian government documents obtained
by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) from the Department of
National Defence under the Freedom of Information Act. I obtained these from
Ian Newby.
The big issue that showed up in the documents as I recall was the
government's paranoid fear of lawsuits - a spill over from the USA.
Logical? Of course not.
For example our Canadian government routinely sells surplus vehicles but
DESTROYS the information on them. Given that the federal govenrment is
hiding and destroying information regarding accidents that may have happened
to a vehicle (e.g. a staff car) and ironically that governments insist that
we as private owners have to disclose major damage when selling a vehicle!
Thus one could buy a surplus government vehicle with twisted frame and be
killed or injured due to ignorance due to government destruction of the
vehicle's history of that massive prior damage. An exception was one M43CDN
Dodge ambulance (c.1954) that had an army warning stencilled inside the door
that this vehicle was unsafe to drive and was only for mechanical training -
but the civilian owner was repairing it for the road anyway. A friend bought
a surplus M38A1CDN2 with original winch and snow tires. He found out his
local base still had the records, but they would not release them to him
until I wrote the base a formal letter (I'm a Captain in our reserves)
explaining that he had the vehicle and the government had sold them all off,
so there was nothing secret here!
The British are much more civilized about vehicle records (dare I say "Of
course, old chap!") and keep the vehicle record cards and now collectors can
access them (for a fee).
Air forces have always been better at this sort of thing than the army. It
is wonderful how one can trace the history of so many aircraft back to the
day they left the factory. After spending 22 years researching military
vehicles - I know how so many MV owners don't even know the basic history
about their vehicle such as serial number, army number (USA #, WD #, DND #,
CAR, CFR etc.), user units, where it served etc. We have to search for clues
by scraping down the paint layers. All too rarely we will find a document or
pouch of documents left under a seat with some information. One M38A1CDN2
had its story written inside the glove box (by the same Major Ian Newby
above, when he drove it in the army). It also had UN decals under the
camouflage and three Cypriot coins in the gas tank well which indicates it
was used by UNFICYPin Cyprus.
The Canadian government sold M38 and M38A1 jeeps surplus, but basically
refused to release the much safer M151A2 MUTTs (which had a roll cage,
shoulder seatbelts, turn-signals, better wipers etc.) because they were
copying the Amrerican government stance. The lawsuits really dealt with the
earlier MUTTs (M151) which did have a rollover problem (I have a copy of a
US cartoon manual page warning US Army drivers of this.) For those who
don't know - the special suspension allowed the wheels to stay on the ground
longer when cornering BUT that you did NOT have the warning feel of the
wheels lifting a bit ... by the time you felt the wheels start to lift, it
was roll over time. This was basically corrected in the M151A1 and M151A2.
The approximately 950 Canadian M151A2 MUTTs were retrofitted with a Canadian
designed roll cage (not the same as the US ROPS - Roll Over Protection kit).
Canada had used a few M151 early MUTTs in the Sinai in the UNEF. Those did
not have roll cages.
I cannot recall any mention in the documents of protecting modern vehicle
manufacturers from competition by surplus cheap vehicles re: releasing the
MUTTs in Canada. HOWEVER, at the end of WWII there were apparently such
agreements to protect companies such as Caterpillar and Diamond T. The
Canadian Army actually was ordered to NOT bring back big American type
trucks such as Diamond T and MACK. Our top General (Harry Crerar) who
commanded the First Canadian Army 1944-45 which included the US 82 and 101st
Airborne Divisions for awhile -- Crerar was to Canada what Monty was to the
Brits and Ike to the Yanks -- though with far less charisma -- and like
Rodney Dangerfield he just didn't get any respect!) actually got in trouble
for shipping his Diamond T caravan back to Canada. It was offered to the
Canadian War Museum but they turned it down so it was sold surplus out of
London. ON. The caravan was removed from the truck and bought for $75 by a
Canadian tobacco farmer to use for his workers. It sat unused, but rotting
until rescued by Dr.William Gregg. It has since been restored and placed on
a Diamond T Breakdown truck which had the wrecking gear removed and the
chassis lengthened by the RCA Museum at Shilo, Manitoba instead of looking
for the right model cab & chassis. The cab and chassis disappeared. We are
still looking for them.
Bottom line: US & Canadian Government fear about lawsuits was the main
motivator in destroying the MUTTs.
Colin Macgregor Stevens
MVPA Member 954 (since 1977)
& member B Coy 1 Canadian Parachute Battalion (Living History)
Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, Canada
E-mail: colin@pacdat.net
Personal web site: http://bcoy1cpb.pacdat.net
1944 Willys MB
1942 BSA airborne bicycles (2)
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Jan 05 2000 - 22:42:06 PST