2-Pounder Portees
The 2-Pounder Portees which had the # 42 Cab, were of course broadly similar to the MCC version...which was rated at???? They were rated at 30-cwt. officially it seems as A/Tank Portees. Now, we know that some were handed over to the NZEF in the Mid-East and they then ended up in NZ...did any get loaned to the AIF? Those survivors that we know about were converted as with MCC versions to 17-pounder tractors. I do not know of any G/S conversions but who knows! The 6-pounder C60L trucks were converted to 3-ton G/S trucks, and not tractors so far as I can see. There is a photo of a 17-pounder tractor conversion in WHEELS & TRACKS...a nice shot!
I have been thinking about Windsor's development of the CMPs for some time now, and have been trying to find any clues as which models were designed first, and then the order in which the other models werte designed by Stan Ellis and Sid Swallow's team. I am certain that the F15 was first, followed by the F15A in prototype form. The F15 was transmuted into about 50? 1940 Model G/S 15-cwt trucks for the Canadian DND that preceded CMP production proper. The toss-up is then between the F60H and the FGT although arguably because of the import of the Guy and MCC GT drawings in the Autumn of 1939 which provided the answer to the British WO cab requirements, namely the #11 Cab, it is probable that the FGT preceded the F60H. I believe that the 30-cwt and 3-tonners followed and then the F15A was the final variant. On that basis the FGT was begat of the F15, and may in fact have been the first production 4 x 4 [even prototyped by Oshawa] and it was the F15A that used the FGT chassis rails rather than the other way around. To this was added heavy-duty components that were also adopted for the 3-tonners.
This is an over-simplified suggestion because in practice Oshawa had a serious input and it is possible that GM of Canada were responsible for the 4 x 4 drive system through their McKinnons subsidiary. There is a photo of a/the pilot GT in Dr Gregg's book towing the limber at the General's funeral.
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