US 2 1/2-ton, 6x6 Trucks in WW II

Most people call them Duece and a 1/2 but in WWII, these trucks were the workhorse of the war. They typically hauled medical supplies, troops, and ammunition. They were made by GMC in 1941 and nearly 800,000 were made. There were other manufacturers but GMC was noted to have the best design and capabilities. The original design was powered by gasoline but in later years was converted to diesel truck.
The duece and 1/2 was also used in the Korean War, Vietnam, and some use in Afghanistan. The trucks that were used in Vietnam were under daily attacks by the Vietcong guerillas so they mounted armoured plates and armed the trucks with 2 x M60 7.62mm machine guns. This allowed the soldiers to get supplies to the fronts. In the first photo, The U.S. Ninth Army GMC CCKW truck, just after crossing the Rhine River, March 1945.

The second photo is another duece and 1/2 that is used at Canyon de Chelly National Monument. Thunderbird tour company uses these trucks to do tours in the canyon and the Canyon de Chelly maintenance uses them to run supplies into the canyon. These little stray kitties were sunning themselves on the hood of the truck last week.


www.olive-drab.com/idphoto/id_photos_cckw.php3
Tess