ID needed for US vehicle and unit in Holland, 1945

[lynx42]

I agree with Alex, definitely a Chev. Here in Australia we call them the Lend-Lease Chevs. The bumper bar dates it from 1942 on and the placement of the headlights and the shape of the windscreen confirm it.

It is unusual having a chrome or silver painted grill.

It may be one of the smaller 1 tonners but it looks to have the 17" wheels of the 1.5 ton trucks.

Regards Rick.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Thanks Alex & Rick,

Yes, Chevrolet, but which one? Attached goes a picture of the Truck, Carryall, 1/2 Ton, 4x2 Chevrolet, based on the 1941 Chevrolet Suburban. This does not have the seam above the windshield:
Chevrolet Carryall 0,5 t 1941.jpg

Combined with your remarks about it being a 1.5 ton truck, it triggered my memory about a picture I had seen before in a book titled Dordrecht 1939-1945 - deel 4. It shows a large woody wagon-bodied vehicle based on a Chevrolet truck chassis on the Town Hall Square in Dordrecht, May 1945:
1945 Dordrecht_woody wagon-bodied staff car on 1.5-ton Chevrolet truck chassis_resized.jpg

From the book Professional Cars: Ambulances, Hearses and Flower Cars, by Greg Merksamer I learned "Eureka constructed field ambulances and woody wagon-bodied Navy staff cars on the 1.5-ton Chevrolet truck chassis”. Could this be the type of vehicle in question?

If so, riddle solved? Possibly, yes, but what about the OWI? According to the article Preparing for Victory. The U.S. Office of War Information Overseas Branch’s illustrated magazines in the Netherlands and the foundations for the American Century, 1944-1945 they were active in the Netherlands.

Judging from these two photos they were somehow taking part in the liberation of at least two towns. Strange, for a non-combattant unit? Laying the foundation to today's general public perception that "Holland was liberated by the Americans", that's for sure...

Hanno

Edited to add pdf version of report linked above: ejas-9629.pdf

[cletrac (RIP)]

The Chevs with the vertical grille bars don't have that heavy piece of chrome going across the top of the grille.

[motto]

They look to me to be 20" wheels. The bumper is also the heavy truck type as used on military/government contract vehicles.
The cab has a join above the windscreen which to me means that the manufacturer supplied the vehicle with front end sheet metal finishing at that point. The body work aft of the join would have quite possibly been built 'in theatre'.
What appears to be 'a heavy piece of chrome bar going across the top of the grill' is simply light reflection off wet body work. The front end is standard for the 1-1/2 ton truck.

David

[motto]

Not specific to this vehicle but rereading this thread i remembered a comment made to me by a fellow I met many years ago.

I had been driving past a Lend/Lease Chev in a factory yard on my way to and from my job for quite a while when I noticed it standing over to one side with the body gone. I went in and enquired and sure enough the truck was at the end of its life and was to be disposed of. I purchased it for the scrap price and when I went to pick it up one of the workmen came over to me and said, 'Be kind to that old truck. I was in Holland right through the war and the first Allied vehicle I saw was one of those.'
You never know what memories or connections these old vehicles are likely to bring out.

David

[Alex van de Wetering]

I saved this picture from the web some time ago, but now I can't remember where I found it. I think it came from one of the many albums on the WW2radio facebook page.

Alex

[motto]

The truck backed up to the aircraft definitely came from the same stable as the one pictured in post #4 lower but they don't appear to have the join line above the windscreen as is so obvious in the post #1 photo.
The aircraft is a C87 Liberator Express the not so well known cargo version of the B24 Liberator bomber.

David

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

...but what about the OWI? According to the article Preparing for Victory. The U.S. Office of War Information Overseas Branch’s illustrated magazines in the Netherlands and the foundations for the American Century, 1944-1945 they were active in the Netherlands.

Judging from these two photos they were somehow taking part in the liberation of at least two towns. Strange, for a non-combattant unit? Laying the foundation to today's general public perception that "Holland was liberated by the Americans", that's for sure...

Triggered by a picture sent to me by Alex, I searched and came across this picture taken during the liberation of Amsterdam, 8 May 1945.

Take a close look and tell me what you see.... are these OWI people again?!?

48198974612_6bfa529425_o.jpg
Source: https://flic.kr/p/2grbkVE

[Ed Storey]

I believe it is a Dodge Command Reconnaissance Truck; and after studying the uniform, I don't believe the driver of the vehicle in the photograph is Canadian.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Ed Storey

I believe it is a Dodge Command Reconnaissance Truck; and after studying the uniform, I don't believe the driver of the vehicle in the photograph is Canadian.

Dodge Command Car with an American driver, that's what I see also.

What were they doing in Amsterdam on 8 May? Can't think of anything else like that OWI unit or something comparable.

[David Dunlop]

A little wild and crazy perhaps, Hanno, but at that point in time, could the Americans have been moving teams into possible exit routes to be on the lookout for known, missing, high ranking German Military and Government officials? Maybe there is more to these OWI Teams than we know.

David

[Ed Storey]

There are any number of potential reasons why an American would be photographed caught up in the Amsterdam VE-Day Celebrations; and these range from a media team covering the events to a liaison officer from one of the Allied formations taking in the celebrations to an Op Eclipse Team carrying out their assigned task. Could be as simple as someone on a joy-ride.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

Combined with your remarks about it being a 1.5 ton truck, it triggered my memory about a picture I had seen before in a book titled Dordrecht 1939-1945 - deel 4. It shows a large woody wagon-bodied vehicle based on a Chevrolet truck chassis on the Town Hall Square in Dordrecht, May 1945:

Spotted again on 7 May 1945 in Utrecht:

X101015 - 92_resized.jpg X101015 - 92_cropped.jpg
Source: https://hetutrechtsarchief.nl/beeld/...538F04000A3B44