Tag: World War II

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Camp Polk License Plate Topper

Nebraska Junk Jaunt 2020 was crazy and glorious.  One small town, Ravenna, reported visitors from more than 250 other Nebraska communities and 30 other states.  It was definitely a fun, carnival-like atmosphere all along the 350-mile trail as treasure hunters enthusiastically dug through piles of junk. This is one of my favorite finds:

This is a World War II era license plate topper from Camp Polk in Louisiana, an army training facility and German POW camp.  License plates or license plate toppers like mine were used by military bases as a means of identifying vehicles authorized to enter the base.  This one has obviously been repainted, which is a shame, but it is still a rare find.

By the way, Nebraska was also home to a number of German POW camps.  One of them, Camp Atlanta, was located not far from where I grew up.  There is a fantastic exhibit on the camp at the Nebraska Prairie Museum, and this lonely chimney still stands at the site of this camp on the plains:

 

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WW2 Studebaker Ads

During World War II, Studebaker hired a well-known illustrator and advertising artist by the name of Robert Oliver Skemp to illustrate some advertisements featuring Studebaker employees and their children who were serving in the American armed forces. You may have seen these before as they were very well done and there are still many copies floating around.

This one spotlighted what the ad referred to as “lieutenant, corporal and craftsman,” with the craftsman being Studebaker employee Tom Hinkle who built Cyclone engines for the Boeing Flying Fortress . His son, George, was an air force lieutenant stationed in India and another son, Bill, was a Coast Artillery Corporal stationed in the Fijis.

This advertisement starred Studebaker employee Joe Balaban, who was also wrenching on the Cyclone engines, and his son, Seabee Mike Balaban.

This ad campaign was based on actual people and not just the imagination of some copywriter. In 1944, the Tipton Daily Tribune published a story letting the people of Tipton know that this ad featuring local heroes, the Hinkles, was scheduled to appear in the inside front cover of the June issue of Life Magazine. It noted that Tom had been with Studebaker for 23 years and that both sons had also worked for the company before joining the service. In 1945, the South Bend Tribune likewise included an article on the Balabans. Joe was a 26-year veteran of Studebaker and also had two other children in the service. A daughter, Mary, was a WAVE parachute rigger first class and another son, Eli, was a chief shipfitter in the navy. Because of this ad, a publication of the 99th battalion called Mike Balaban one of the most publicized seabees in the world.

This was a great advertising campaign featuring real people, beautiful artwork and Studbaker’s contribution to the war effort. In addition to the Cyclone engines, Studebaker also built military trucks and and the M-29/M29C Weasel, a tracked personnel and supply carrier like this one at the Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles in Lexington, Nebraska:

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GMC Model CCKW Trucks

Fortunately for the world, America was the birthplace of the automotive industry. Having such a vast supply of cars and trucks close at hand enabled the United States Army to become the first military organization in the world to be fully motorized and to respond accordingly when advancing Allied forces needed supplies during World War II. The Allies were able to get thousands of tons of supplies where they were needed daily by developing a massive convoy of supply trucks known as the Red Ball Express.

“Corporal Charles H. Johnson of the 783rd Military Police Battalion, waves on a `Red Ball Express’ motor convoy rushing priority materiel to the forward areas, near Alenon, France.” Bowen, September 5, 1944. 111-SC-195512. National Archives Identifier: 535970

The Red Ball Express operated around the clock. According to the National World War II Museum, there were, on average, 900 “deuce-and-a-half” trucks operating on the Red Ball Express highway at any one time.  “Deuce-and-a-half” is just one of the nicknames for GMC model CCKW cargo trucks like this one, located at the Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles in Lexington Nebraska.

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Also referred to as the Two and a Half, the Jimmy and the 6×6, these trucks are on my mind because I found this 1941 maintenance manual under a pile of junk in a dusty old antique store the other day:

The CCKW was a six-wheel-drive vehicle with a payload of two and a half tons.  It was approximately 7 feet tall and 7 feet wide.  The model 353 had a longer wheel base of 21 feet, while the 352 was shorter at 19 feet.   The engine was a 6 cylinder 270 with a max speed of 45 mph.

Driver’s view:

Tool kit:

Amazingly, this old War Department memo is still stuck in the front cover:

As you can see, the memo was issued by order of General George Catlett Marshall, the man Winston Churchill called the true architect of victory in the West European arena.  He was a great American, and he did it, in part, with this great American truck.

KODAK Digital Still Camera