Military Soft Skinned Vehicles (SSV) on display in the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, Ontario

Canadian War Museum, Soft Skinned Vehicles (SSV)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3392822)

Canadian Army Service Corps (CASC) truck with seats for transporting troops, Shirley's Bay, Ontario, 1928.

(Author Photo)

Canadian Army Serice Corps four wheel drive truck.

(Author Photo)

American Dodge WC-18 Ambulance (Serial No. T23929S). Late in 1940, Dodge began to produce trucks to a military pattern. These were based on their civilian models, but had redesigned running gear and were constructed using heavier gauge sheet metal. The letters WC and a numerical suffix (for example, WC-18) designated the particular combination of engine, winch and body style. The various models included a command car, ambulance, weapons carrier, pickup, and panel trucks. The CWM artefact is the 4x4 WC-18 ambulance (without winch). Some of these vehicles were delivered to the British under the Lend-Lease program, and were in action before the United States entered the Second World War. It was widely used by the American army for many years. CWM 19970113-009.

Personnel of 2nd Canadian Infantry Division Signals with Personnel of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals (RCCS), 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, examining a Ford three-ton truck which sank into a ditch on the Beveland Causeway, Netherlands, 27 October 1944.  (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3201518)

(City of Vancouver Archives Photo, AM1545-S3-: CVA 586-2745)

Canadian Military Pattern truck, part of a convoy in Alberta, 1944.

(Author Photos)

Canadian Military Pattern Ford Signals Truck, (Serial No. CZ4205159).

(Author Photos)

Canadian Military Pattern 15-cwt Cargo Truck, General Service.

(City of Vancouver Archives Photo, AM1545-S3-: CVA 586-2766)

Chevrolet C8 CMP truck with Type 11 cab, Bigmouth Creek, British Columbia, 1944.

(Author Photo)

CMP truck, Victoria Rifles.

(Author Photo)

Canadian Military Pattern Cargo Truck, General Service, CZ4002671. This early version, the 4x2 Chevrolet 8-hundredweight(cwt) General Service truck model 8420, was widely used in Canada, but only in limited numbers overseas. Although more than 9,800 were built (including Ford production), its two-wheel drive limited the vehicle to good roads. This truck is fitted with a No. 19 Wireless Set(radio), with its batteries and aerial. A light “chorehorse” battery-charging generator is mounted between the cab and the body. Two men and an artillery board (a plotting device) are carried in the back of the vehicle. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photos)

Diamond T Breakdown Truck.  Recovery teams from the RCEME and RCOC used this vehicle’s two booms which could lift five short tons each, allowing for quicker vehicle recovery in wartime conditions. The Model 969 Recovery Vehicle (Wrecker) was a version of the American Diamond T 4-ton 6x6 Model 967 cargo truck, which was in production from 1941 until the end of the Second World War. The vehicle was equipped with a Holmes 45 twin-boom recovery kit. Each boom had a capacity of 4,545 kg (10,000 lb); more using blocks and pulleys. The booms could be used together to provide a combined pull at the rear of the vehicle, or one boom could be used to stabilise the truck while the other was used for recovery. In Northwest Europe during the Second World War, the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RCEME), and the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps (RCASC), used the Diamond T for recovery and towing vehicle casualties to a workshop for repair. CWM 19970113-013.

(Author Photo)

Diamond T Field Shop Truck, 43-01276. The Type “M” Machinery Lorry was a version of the American Diamond T 4-ton 6x6 Model 967 cargo truck. The Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps workshops used the vehicle to repair automotive components and parts. On-board equipment normally included a bench lathe, paint sprayer, valve grinder and refacer, pinhole grinder, bench grinder, brake re-liner, and battery charger. In 1994, the CWM artefact was restored by 202 Base Workshop in Montreal as an automotive machine shop.

(Author Photos)

Ford Canada C11 ADF Staff Car, Field Marshal H.R.L.G. Alexander. The type C11ADF was based on the 1941-42 Ford wood-bodied station wagon. It was issued inlimited numbers to army headquarters for use in terrain where a lighter staff car was unsuitable. The vehicle had space for five passengers and a hard top with four doors plus the rear door, but a number were subsequently modified in the Royal Ordnance Corps or Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers workshops for special purposes (such as general’s command cars or for the Special Air Service). The vehicle can be identified by its 9.00x13-inch flotation tires.This car was originally built in Canada. The number on the hood is a restoration error and should read M1308323.

Sir Harold George Alexander, Field Marshal Viscount Alexander of Tunis, used it when he was in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy during the Second World War. When he became Governor-General of Canada in 1946, he brought the car to Canada with him, but found it unsuitable for the climate, and traded it to Ford of Canada for an enclosed car. Ford later donated the car to the CWM. The car reputedly had the same driver while in Alexander’s service, travelled 180,000 miles (288,000 km), had four engine changes, and many overhauls. The vehicle is fitted for operations in the desert, with a radiator condenser, water cans and rear windshield. The doors were welded shut to add strength to the body when the roof was removed. CWM 19490003-001.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3544526)

General McNaughton's Car Light (Sedan 4x2) staff car, c1940s.

(Author Photo)

General H.D.G. Crerar's Command Post caravan. General H.D.G. Crerar was appointed commander of the First Canadian Army in February 1944. He immediately ordered a new caravan mounted on a Diamond T 975 truck chassis and an office trailer. This caravan included his quarters – including a bedroom, wash area and personal office. This could be expanded using a tent on the side of the truck. The truck, caravan and trailer came to Canada after the war, but were disposed of without Crerar’s knowledge. The truck has since disappeared, but William Gregg purchased the caravan body itself and it forms part of the Gregg Collection at the RCA museum in Shilo. The Brockhouse Victoria Works manufactured the office trailer. It was presented to the CWM in1959 and is in excellent condition. General Crerar used it as an office and conference room. It was the site of meetings between Crerar, Field Marshall Montgomery, General Eisenhower, and General Bradley. King George VI and Winston Churchill are also recorded as visitors to thetrailer. (From “Wheels and Tracks” magazine, No 7.) CWM 19590017-001.

(Author Photo)

Bombardier Penguin Mk III Armoured Snowmobile, 1943. The Bombardier Military Snowmobile was designed to transport personnel and cargo over snow covered terrain. Production started in 1942, and was based on Bombardier's existing eight passenger commercial snowmobile bus. A total of 129 vehicles were produced, and used in Canada, Scotland, and the Soviet Union. While the vehicle performed reasonably well in snow, the skis were never completely satisfactory. They had a short life, were easily damaged, and under certain snow conditions, could make the vehicle difficult to control. No. 18 Company of the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps used this snowmobile until the late 1950s. CWM 19740305-001.

‍