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GMC CCKW 353 (G-508 / Jimmy / Deuce-and-a-Half)

1941 COLD WAR KOREAN WAR WORLD WAR 2

History

Before the United States entered World War II in late 1941, the U.S. Army sent a request to interested U.S. manufacturers that they needed a new transport vehicle to meet certain immediate specifications. The new vehicle must be easy for manufacturers to build, capable of self-transportation on existing Navy vehicles, and able to be built in a short period of time.

GMC won the Army contract in 1941, and the company's facilities were ramped up to production. By the end of the story, approximately 562,750 CCKW 353 trucks were eventually produced, making the CCKW 353 a vital part of the Allied military industry.

The vehicle has proven reliable, robust and portable on many fronts in global conflicts. Production ended in 1945, after which the CCKW entered service in Europe and the Pacific.

The design is purposeful to the core and is intended to use a minimum of moving parts, so it is relatively easy to service in the field. This also gives the vehicle good configuration and versatility. The panel-side cab is located behind the engine case, which is pulled in along the front fascia through a grille part. The front wheels are steerable and covered with high-mounted fenders. The rear is supported by a set of four bogies.

The truck sits high for navigating rough terrain, water and mud. Passenger areas can be covered with tarpaulins (a cheap measure compared to using expensive sheet metal), supported by spanning ribs or open to the elements. Access to the passenger compartment is usually from the rear of the vehicle.

A folding wood frame that serves as a passenger seat is included on the side of the truck bed. The driver and gunner use traditional car-style doors on either side of the cab. The front of the truck features a large bumper system and a protective cover that protects the engine and integrated headlights from debris and small arms fires. Fuel tanks are usually mounted on the sides of the truck, just behind each door step.

While early CCKW 353 cabs were covered with sheet metal, from July 1943 later cabs used tarpaulin or tarpaulin coverings as a further economical and weight saving measure in construction.

In addition to passenger handling, the cargo area can accommodate radio communication bunkers, field medical stations and engineered runway bridges, up to 750 gallons of water or fuel, and US Army Air Corps ordnance. Such is the versatility of this beautiful machine.

Power is provided by a home-built 6-cylinder 4,417cc GMC 270 Series engine that delivers up to 104 hp at 2,750 rpm. Top road speed is listed at about 45 mph, and the range is even closer to 240 miles. As a 6-wheel drive system, the CCKW theoretically maintains the same amount of traction no matter which direction the tires are driven in. The curb weight is 2,500 kg. CCKW 353 is 6.5 meters long, 2.24 meters wide and 2.8 meters high.

Standard operators include the driver and co-pilot/gunner. The passenger compartment includes seating for up to 10 combat readiness personnel, although this can be expanded depending on the situation. Self-defense is a single Browning. 50 machine guns are located at a ring height above the crew compartment, offset to the right - as well as all the weapons of the passengers on board.

The machine gunner can use the machine gun simply by standing on the surrounding ring stand.

With so many CCKW 353s in circulation at the end of the war, the truck is still in service with the U.S. Army and its European allies decades after its peak usage. The vehicle continued to perform well throughout the Cold War, and even during the Korean conflict, and some militaries continued to use the type in the 1990s. The GMC CCKW 353 retired from service with the U.S.

Army in 1956.

CCKW 353 has particularly proven itself in support of ongoing operations while participating in the U.S. Army's "Red Ball Express," a convoy tasked with flooding the French countryside with parts, fuel, supplies, troops and ammunition to match George S. Patton The general's fast-moving Third Army.

After the Normandy beachhead was established, between August 1944 and November 1944, nearly 6,000 vehicles delivered 12,442 tons of supplies to locations within Francethe majority of the drivers were young African-Americans who initially The characters were considered "non-critical" to the overall war effort - because then they could be recruited for secular work. The rest are "abandoned" soldiers who may have had some trouble with the commander and faced this "punishment".

Drivers on the Red Ball Express have specific instructions to follow: maintain a speed of 35 miles per hour, drive 60 feet apart from each truck in the convoy, and only in convoys of five or more trucks drive. Each truck will be marked in numerical order - this number appears prominently on either side of the truck - and must maintain its unique position in the fleet line.

The logistical route starts at the Normandy bridgehead and technically ends in the French city of Chartres. The Red Ball Express proved to be extremely important in securing a swift attack on German-held areas. The driver wore about 50,000 tires during the operation.

The CCKW designation is as follows: "C" designates the year of production 1941, while the second "C" designates "Standard Cab". "K" means front-wheel drive and "W" means rear-wheel drive. CCKW 353 is also known as "Jimmy" or "Deuce and a Half". "Half" refers to how much the vehicle can carry (2.5 tons), and does not represent the weight of the vehicle.

The name was coined by the American Infantry and simply means "2.5".