CMP trucks used by US Forces

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Seeing these photos begs the question why the USAAF was using CMP trucks in North Africa.

From the photo captions above we learn that Lloyd Anthony "Frenchie" Rogers (born on 16 May 1914 at Patterson, Louisiana) was assigned to the 434th Bombardment Squadron where he served as a crew chief on North American B-25 Mitchell bombers. He served in North Africa throughout the battle of El Alamein, Sicily, Italy, and the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater of Operations.

From August 1942 to June 1943, the 434th supported the British Eighth Army as they advanced into Tunisia and later participated in the invasion of Sicily and Italy. The list of stations where the 434th served from in North Africa shows they were more often than not co-located on RAF bases.

Possibly, supporting the 8th Army and doing joint operations with the British, it could be they used their infrastructure much like in the UK? That could explain they got a number of CMP trucks assigned to them.

PS: the official listing of the 12 Operations Group (AETC) on the US Air Force Historical Research Agency does not show much more light on this matter: https://www.afhra.af.mil/About-Us/Fa...ns-group-aetc/