WW2 Canadian Jeep Puzzle

[David Dunlop]

Thought I would toss something out to the general membership for comment as there are perhaps several different things at play, that I cannot pull together to come up with an answer.

During the war, Canada placed 5 (I think) orders with Willys for MB Jeeps. Not sure the exact dates for these orders, but a portion of these vehicles were designated for use in Canada and I believe the majority were shipped overseas for use there.

On the surface, it would appear Canada fulfilled it's needs for the jeep at the end of their last contract, whenever that took place. Where the puzzle starts to show up is that at least here in Western Canada, Ford GPW jeeps keep popping up from time to time and they all seem to be dated 1943 and none of them have yet turned up with Canadian Contract information on the data plates. It would seem that for some reason Canada suddenly found itself short of Jeeps, possibly during 1943 and maybe these Ford GPW's filled that shortage.

Now I wonder, why was there a shortage in Canada? Two possibilities come to mind, but maybe there are other reasons. I can see perhaps the expansion of the Canadian military exceeded initial expectations by 1943 and GPW's were purchased to fill the gap. Another possibility that comes to mind is that between late 1940 until sometime in 1943, the Battle of the North Atlantic was peaking. Perhaps, enough of the MB's destined for overseas were lost as sunk cargo that Canada was forced to make up the difference from existing Canadian stocks and replaced those stocks with available GPW's from the USA.

Just some thoughts for you to play with now.


David