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Eugene

From a particularly short period of time during the Normandy bridgehead, scout cars served a pragmatic purpose. After DDay and before the Canadians and British were able to break out later that summer, the troops were squeezed in between the sea and the Germans. After a few weeks, one regiment issued orders that no travel was to be conducted except in armoured vehicles. No motor cycles, no staff cars or personnel carriers, no CMP trucks and no Jeeps. The loses of couriers, liaison officers and others was getting noticeable, and the variety of small scout cars was sufficient to protect those who needed to get around to do their jobs. The exceptions of course were the echelon vehicles needed to move up closer to the line held by the tanks, in order to fix, fuel and feed the crews.