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Episode
1 - FRANKEN-Tractor
: Episode 2 - 1953 Jubilee : Episode
3 - 1946 2N
Episode 4 - "A Chicken in Every Pot"
- 1956 Ford 650 : Episode 5 - RANTOUL
or BUST!!
American
Tractor
visits
Worthington Military Museum
A
rainy day in May is a good time to go on a road trip! Too wet
to sandblast and bugs were unbearable.
We
decided to visit the Military museum at CFB Borden. The purpose
was to visit the Worthington Tank Museum. Why the tank museum?
I had heard that a lot of tractor parts and technology were used
in military vehicles in WW2. ( I also like tanks...)
We
found the facility to be outstanding and exhibits well done. The
vehicles well displayed and an interesting cross section of history.
What
we found and fell in love with was the Ford CMP. A WW2 vehicle
produced by Ford of Canada. What a truck! It has Ford tractor
DNA all over it (it was built just across the river from Ford’s
Detroit tractor factories), right down to the Ford Flathead engine.
Some
info on the CMP (from www.Mapleleafup.org)
From
a standing start in 1939,Canada produced an incredible collection
of unique and endurable softskin vehicles known as 'CMP', or Canadian
Military Pattern. These vehicles served every Commonwealth army
in every theater of war, and in many cases, went on to provide
yeoman service to dozens of nations in every corner of the globe
for decades after. That so many examples have survived to this
day is a testament to the engineering excellence incorporated
in their design and manufacture.
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Why
the tank museum? I had heard that a lot of tractor parts
and technology were used in military vehicles in WW2
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The
CMP story really began in the middle thirties, when it looked
as if Great Britain and her Commonwealth might have to once again
take up arms against the rising tide of German nationalism.
As
early as 1935, the British government had begun to make inquiries
as to Canada's potential as a manufacturing base for a wide variety
of war-related goods. By 1937, Ford of Canada was working on developing
a 15 cwt truck for military service, based on a very loose set
of design parameters furnished through government channels by
the British. A year later the program had accelerated, and General
Motors of Canada was now also heavily involved. War was on the
horizon, and all parties were desperate to standardize a new series
of military vehicles which would be acceptable in British service,
but designed for Canadian manufacturing processes.
The
result of these desperate (and unusual!) collaborative efforts
was the Canadian Military Pattern truck. Prototypes were undergoing
rigorous testing by 1939, and all-out production by 1940.
By
September 1st, 1945, Canada had produced almost 410,000 CMP vehicles
alone, together with 306,000 modified conventional types, over
50,000 armored vehicles, and over 91,000 civilian vehicles modified
for military service.
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