DND versus CMP ?

[Brian Gough]

Hi Mike,

Good question - I have never seen anything that says the name change came on a specified date.


William Gregg in "Blueprint for Victory" wrote

" The combination of Ford - General Motors trucks was first known as the "DND Pattern" (Department of National Defence), but later when users other than the Canadian Army began to order in large quantities, it was changed to "CMP" (Canadian Military Pattern) and, under that name, distributed throughout the world. This line of trucks represented the highest degree of inter-company parts interchangeability ever achieved in any vehicle except the Jeep, which was not produced until the war had been in progress for some time. "

I think you are safe to call your C8 a real CMP.

Cheers,

Brian

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

I am having a surfeit of Lampreys I think at the moment (which killed King John) over the CMP development story that I am precising for ROADSCENE magazine.

A quick check showed that in 1936 the DND talked of 'War Office pattern wheeled vehicles', and 'War Office pattern' was in use in 1939. Civlian-style vehicles were at the time 'commercial pattern', and that lasted into 1941 I think.

By 1940, the reference was to 'DND-pattern', and of course the first British orders were placed in late June 1940, with the first Australian enquiries. Quoting from DND papers, the British deliveries in August 1940 were 'special DND pattern', and in response to an earlier enquiry:

Colonel Carr had also been informed by G.M. of Canada that they had received an inquiry from Australia for 1,900 4 x 4 'National Defence specification' and was asked what reply G.M. should give. He claimed he was at a loss to give any constructive advice. This approach plus the British order emphasised the need to “get into maximum production as soon as possible and maintain peak production until the tap is turned off

I have no proof as to when 'CMP' came in, but suggest 1941, as in that year the Ministry of Supply had placed orders for CMPs for Commonwealth deliveries. Perhaps the handbooks which were re-released and updated can confirm?

On another note, when did 'F30S' and 'C30S' get dropped? It would appear by 1941 when it was obvious that there was to be no lwb versions.