T-boned by a CMP

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Grant Bowker

In immediate post-war Europe, my impression is that there was not a lot of cash floating around to buy replacement tires, many other priorities for the money that was about, few replacement tires to be had, fewer regulations about minimum tread depth and a less lawsuit oriented society. As a result I suspect that more than a few trucks of the era ran on similar tires, both in Europe and elsewhere.

You're right, even if someone had the cash, tyres and other replacement parts were very hard to come by!
The ex-Canadian Army trucks were released to civilian operators, those with public/priority functions came first.

Please bear in mind Europe was absolutely ransacked after WW2; the Gemans had taken anything of value and then the fighting damaged what was left.
My grandfather returned to Holland in 1945, after living through a Japanese internment camp in Indonesia, broke but alive! His first job was to reposess Dutch assets from Germany, ranging from machinery to an elephant (which was taken from a zoo). He was given a Captain's rank and uniform, plus a driver in a VW Beetle. But I digress....

H.

[Bill Murray]

Dear Hanno and others...........

Please do not take my posting of my photos as representing any sort of criticism of Dutch owners of CMP or any other ex WWII vehicles in the immediate post war period.

I do fully understand the deprivation that existed at the time. It involved food, fuel, rubber, building materiels and infrastructure in general.

I was not trying to make a joke, just telling how it was then.

Bill

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Bill Murray

Dear Hanno and others...........

Please do not take my posting of my photos as representing any sort of criticism of Dutch owners of CMP or any other ex WWII vehicles in the immediate post war period.

I do fully understand the deprivation that existed at the time. It involved food, fuel, rubber, building materiels and infrastructure in general.

I was not trying to make a joke, just telling how it was then.

Bill,

Surely not! I was just wiseguying trying to put the bald/mismatched tyres in context...

Hanno

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

My grandfather returned to Holland in 1945, after living through a Japanese internment camp in Indonesia, broke but alive! His first job was to reposess Dutch assets from Germany, ranging from machinery to an elephant (which was taken from a zoo). He was given a Captain's rank and uniform, plus a driver in a VW Beetle. But I digress....

Hi Hanno

Would love to hear more of the story - please feel free to digress away (or do it in a new thread). I recently interviewed a 96 year old Dutchman who was with KLM in the years before the war in the Dutch East Indies. He escaped on the last flight out to Australia - a very dramatic story!

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

Would love to hear more of the story - please feel free to digress away (or do it in a new thread).

Really need to sit down and talk with my dad and take notes.... Here's another part of my family history from my mother's side: Officier-vlieger J. Blok

H.

[Tim Lovelock]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

You're right, even if someone had the cash, tyres and other replacement parts were very hard to come by!
The ex-Canadian Army trucks were released to civilian operators, those with public/priority functions came first.

Please bear in mind Europe was absolutely ransacked after WW2; the Gemans had taken anything of value and then the fighting damaged what was left.
My grandfather returned to Holland in 1945, after living through a Japanese internment camp in Indonesia, broke but alive! His first job was to reposess Dutch assets from Germany, ranging from machinery to an elephant (which was taken from a zoo). He was given a Captain's rank and uniform, plus a driver in a VW Beetle. But I digress..

Hi Hanno, I'm with Keith, digress away. A Dutch friend of mine had three uncles, during the war one was in the Dutch Army, one in the Dutch resistance and the third in the German Army. All survived the war, I'm sure their histories made for interesting discussion at a family gathering.
Cheers Tim

[Dianaa]

There is some interesting coachwork on this Chev, even has wind up windows.

[Tony Wheeler]

Some of the Australian coachbuilt cabs were pretty fancy too.

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[Alex van de Wetering]

during the war one was in the Dutch Army, one in the Dutch resistance and the third in the German Army. All survived the war, I'm sure their histories made for interesting discussion at a family gathering.

Tim....I wonder if they ever talked about it in the post-war years.
It seems it wasn't uncommon that people didn't talk about the war in post-war years, even if family members chose opposite sides during the war. For a lot of people it was a closed book, it was painful to talke about it and everyone focussed on rebuilding the country and returning to everyday life.

There was a good documentary on Dutch TV recently about the immediate post-war years....it must have been a very "strange" period.....for instance ...survivors from the camps returned to their homes only to find someone else living there and all their possessions being stolen.

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

I do fully understand the deprivation that existed at the time. It involved food, fuel, rubber, building materiels and infrastructure in general

Definitely. Worn tyres were no exception.....but also overloading of vehicles and sadly also accidents....some a result of ex-army right hand drive vehicles in busy left hand drive streets...sometimes with trams. There are several pics of Fordsons and CMP's involved in accidents with trams in Amsterdam.

Regarding overloading of vehicles; I have heard that Ford CMP's and GMC CCKWs were sometimes fitted with Chev axles, because you could overload these even more

[Tim Lovelock]

Originally Posted by Alex van de Wetering

Tim....I wonder if they ever talked about it in the post-war years.
It seems it wasn't uncommon that people didn't talk about the war in post-war years, even if family members chose opposite sides during the war. For a lot of people it was a closed book, it was painful to talke about it and everyone focussed on rebuilding the country and returning to everyday life.

There was a good documentary on Dutch TV recently about the immediate post-war years....it must have been a very "strange" period.....for instance ...survivors from the camps returned to their homes only to find someone else living there and all their possessions being stolen.

Hi Alex, you are right, I can't even begin to imagine the depravation and heartache experienced. I have another friend from Holland who at 14 left home and basically spent the war with other kids scavenging to survive, trading everything from discarded cigarette butts to potatoes... I'm lucky to have lived and raised a family under completely different circumstances...

[Tony Wheeler]

There's certainly hardship written on these faces here, except for one guy who seems to find it all very amusing!

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I get the impression CMPs were somewhat prone to accidents in civilian hands, which wouldn't be surprising. They're considerably heavier than commercial pattern trucks, with a lot more rotational momentum in the drive train, and as Alex suggests they're capable of being drastically overloaded. Nor were they intended for high mileage and constant braking in suburban traffic. They'd probably chew through brake linings quite rapidly so you'd need to adjust them regularly, and the tyres aren't designed for road use, esp. in the wet.

Some time ago I searched under 'blitz truck' on the NLA Trove site, which has millions of digitized newspaper articles dating back to the 19th century. I was surprised to find a high proportion of hits related to accidents, some of them very tragic, others quite amusing. I tried it again just now and got 21,533 hits, the very first one being the following article in the Brisbane Courier-Mail on Tuesday 30th March 1948:

BLITZ TRUCK OVERDID IT

Pursued by a police wireless patrol car, a blitz waggon, driven by Herbert Ernest Gallichan, 23, truck driver, caused a stir at South Brisbane on Saturday. According to Police Court evidence yesterday, it broke off a tramway pole to ground level; caused two cars to leave the road and drive along the foot path; narrowly missed a stationary taxi, and truck; and struck a telegraph pole. After which Gallichan fell to the road when police opened his truck door.
'Very sorry, sir,' Gallichan told Mr. J.E. Landy, S.M., when he pleaded guilty to having been found 'under the influence' while in charge of a truck. 'I'll never drink again,' he promised.
Mr Landy: If I had anything to do with you I would suspend your license.
Gallichan was fined £15 or two months gaol.

Evidently the courts were rather more lenient in those days!