Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed Storey
John Marchant in the UK owned a Canadian HUW that he had purchased after the war. His vehicle had seen service with the Toronto Scottish in NWE and was still pretty much in its original camouflage. Here is an image of the HUW after a run to Normandy in 1984.
Attachment 95971 |
Nice pic Ed, there's a lot of helpful detail in it.
A couple of thoughts: it is an early HUW as indicated by the rad overflow can and would most likely have been factory No.3 khaki, as it appears to be. It has been repainted as the CZ number, WT and bridge class sign are just slightly off size and location. I follows that these were applied after the whole truck got a spruce up paint job. The pattern of the cam looks like it was meant to duplicate the original (I hope!!).
Also it's interesting to hear it served with the Toronto Scottish. They were the machine gun battalion for the Canadian 2nd Infantry Division. Up to now I've been under the impression HUW's were more often issued to signals and artillery regiments and this opens up many more marking options. What I think may have happened is that towards the end of the war HUW's were being replaced by better, roomier wireless trucks. The surplus HUW's were then issued to alternate users as general purpose vans. One example is a HUW used by a chaplain and now possibly this Toronto Scottish one.