Victory in Europe Day (75th Anniversary!)

This is a WWII GMC model DUCW, a 2.5-ton 6×6 amphibious vehicle that used six wheels on land and a propeller when in the water.  Essentially sea-going trucks, they were crucial for ferrying supplies from ship to shore.  The vehicles were naturally nicknamed Ducks, and Canadian war correspondent Dick Sanborn reported this incident in 1943:

During the invasion of Italy, when hundreds of ducks plied their way back and forth carrying anti-tank guns, mortars and ammunition across the Messina straits, a British destroyer raced cockily past one group.  From the bridge twinkled a signal lamp in Morse.  Deeply offended, the officer in charge of the ducks translated the message:  “Quack, quack.”

This DUCW can be found at the Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles in Lexington, Nebraska.

Sources:

Sanborn, Dick. “Amphibian Wins Spurs in New Canadian Push.” The Winnipeg Tribune, 11 December 1943, p. 1.