Post War Commercial Civil Defense Trucks

[Jes Andersen]

On another forum, there is a discussion about Canadian Civil Defense stuff and a picture of an International truck was posted. I recall a few pictures taken of International stake trucks, with tarps that were assigned to 155 Coy RCASC, a militia unit in Victoria at the time. I'm curious if these same stake trucks were used for Civil Defense units around the country and if there are any pictures of them available. Anyone have anything to contribute?

[Robin Craig]

where is the other forum?

I would like to go see and read about this

[Jes Andersen]

Its actually buried in the early Deuce Forum on Steelsoldiers. A number of the members here drop in over there but here is the link. Its Edmonton centric and if anyone can add to the information, I'm sure it would be appreciated.
I know there are other sites across the country and links to their information would be welcome. I'm not directly associated with this but still find it interesting.



http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthr...cles-and-Items

This is their web site: http://civildefencemuseum.ca Lots of interesting stuff and links to other sites.

[maple_leaf_eh]

In the 70s my Militia unit had an International Carryall truck-type station wagon. Hard to call it an SUV, because it was 2WD. Hard to call it a truck, because it was a full body with a back seat.

If International was selling to the CF in the 70s, you can bet they had been in that business a long time. So long that "Carryall" was a universal code on 404s for what is now called an SUV.

[Jes Andersen]

The International 2 tons were long before my time. I recall '66? Dodge 3 ton stake trucks as well as those International Travelalls fitted for 5 passengers and driver. The trucks of interest would have been in service in the '50s likely before the deuces went into service. In addition to those vehicles we had Dodge 3/4t 4x4 pickups that were later changed out for the 5/4T. 5 tonners were promised but hadn't materialized by the time I packed it in.

The interest is in similar Civil Defense vehicles and any pictures that may be around of them. I have several old photos as RCASC trucks but can't find the pictures right now.

[Ian Johns]

Here's some photos of a truck from my landlord collection

[Dave D.]

Originally Posted by Ian Johns

Here's some photos of a truck from my landlord collection

I really like that GMC and finally found some time to get on board to share some pictures of my own.

Jes was very kind to get a thread started so I'm going to follow-up to see what other info you folks have that I can learn.

I currently belong to the new and growing Canadian Civil Defence Museum Association. We're digging up stories about Civil Defence and realize that the topic base is as big as the country. From the early nuke research, FIFO kids watching the skies, aircraft development, the transition from CD to EMO (Emergency Measures Organization), the take-over to military evacuation/ rescue planning, hidden hospitals, the NDFRS (nuclear detonation and fall-out recording system) civilian commercial vehicles/ military vehicles used for CD purposes and on and on and on.

Keeping true to the title of this thread, I'll take any pictures, stories, info, experiences, history about CD vehicles. We don't need to stick to just commercial units so include any Cold War related info you want to include.

The Mercury in the picture is one item we'd like to find and restore to its former glory. The 51' suburban is already in the barn but we don't really know if her duties were CD related or what job she had in service.

Any info that you can add is greatly appreciated.

[Dave D.]

Here are a few more samples of CD trucks that would have been used in the early days of CD preparedness. One of the most interesting is the Commer firetruck that would be worthy to find and restore.

The early days of CD preparedness included the standardization of fire hose couplings across Canada so hoses could be transported and used anywhere.

If anyone finds more photos of CD specific vehicles, we'd love to see them.
Check out our facebook page and website for more info. So far, all the costs of running the sites have been privately funded by its members and all we ask is if you like what you see, let us know with the like button.

http://civildefencemuseum.ca/ Volume warning notice
https://www.facebook.com/CanadianCiv...umAssociation/

[Dave D.]

In the early 1960's a decision was made to add the military into the Civil Defence planning. This was in part due to the recognition that target cities may need to deal with a "No Warning" nuclear threat. Rescue crews and equipment were decentralized and trained in rescue operations.
Reception towns were prepared and a bunker system was continued across the Country.
Some of the military vehicles that are documented to be ready for a nuclear strike were the M37, M135 and the 20-ton crane.

[charlie fitton]

When I joined, we used to have training manuals around that focused on 'National Survival"

Rescue stuff, ropework, tunnelling to find victims..

Any of these manuals in your collection?

[Ed Storey]

Here is a manual from 1999.

[chris vickery]

I have some CD decals at home. I will get some pics on the weekend.
If memory serves, they indicate that the vehicle they are affixed to is registered with CD for use in a time of emergency.
I suppose back in the cold war days that there must have been some type of National program which encouraged citizens to volunteer there services and vehicles when and if required.

[rob love]

The stake truck shown in post 8 would appear to be a DND vehicle as opposed to a Civil Defense vehicle, judging from the CAR number on the door.

[charlie fitton]

More like this...

[Ed Storey]

Here is a classic from the era.

[Dave D.]

Originally Posted by charlie fitton

More like this...

Originally Posted by Ed Storey

Here is a classic from the era.

Attachment 87020

Originally Posted by charlie fitton

When I joined, we used to have training manuals around that focused on 'National Survival"

Rescue stuff, ropework, tunnelling to find victims..

Any of these manuals in your collection?

We have not seen any of those manuals. The closest one we have is the Demonstration of Survival Operations dated March of 1960. The older version Ed posted is even earlier than the Sept. 1959 date when the army initiated the National Survival Attack Warning System.

Very cool stuff Gentlemen! The general population doesn't even know any of the planning existed so we're pushing to get more of the info rendered and available for education.

Tried to post some bunker engine photos last night but got some sort of error code so we'll give it another shot. Thanks much for the input guys.

[derk derin]

I had a collection of Civil Defense Canada items that all went to the Civil Defense Museum Fred Armbruster has been working on. I believe he had a vehicle in the collection. Here is the MLU forum link to the stuff I had as well as Fred's link to his museum.
http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...=civil+defence
Regards,Derk

[Dave D.]

Trying to get pictures of the displays up here Derk but I keep getting a failed message.

Sent a note to admin but does anyone know how I can fix this?

"""""""Your submission could not be processed because a security token was missing.

If this occurred unexpectedly, please inform the administrator and describe the action you performed before you received this error."""""""

Posted a pic on the 2 1/2 ton GMC thread and that worked but can't get my head around what I might be doing wrong here.

You'd be real proud of Fred! He's taken the collection on the road, shared it at two airshows last year, acquired a bus so he can expand the exposure and has stood in front of high school classes shouting the praises of our Cold War heroes.

He still has that Canadian made CLM siren mounted in the back of his truck and hooked up a schkookum PA system to play 50's tunes while on static.

You don't need to be a member of facebook to look at the pictures so click on the link to see a bit of the collection.
https://www.facebook.com/CanadianCiv...umAssociation/

Once we figure out the picture posting challenges we'll bring some more pics over to this amazing website at Maple Leaf Up.

[Dave D.]

Originally Posted by rob love

The stake truck shown in post 8 would appear to be a DND vehicle as opposed to a Civil Defense vehicle, judging from the CAR number on the door.

Do you have any info Rob about the DND duration of use with the old stake trucks?

The CD trucks look like a mix of Mercury and International so I'm wondering how many Stake Trucks got passed down to CD?

It is known that at some point DND used the Deuce to pull supplies and re-supply the military bunker system. What I'm still curious about are photos and memories of those that helped supply the "Municipal, Provincial and Federal" bunkers we keep finding around the country. Here is the link to 'one' buried hospital in Medicine hat.
http://civildefencemuseum.ca/secrets...round-hospital


We do have some documentation on the Canada Health purchase of "new" trucks but we're still pinning down a more complete CD fleet.

[hrpearce]

Originally Posted by Dave D.

"""""""Your submission could not be processed because a security token was missing..

Usually means the pictures are too large and need resizing.

[Dave D.]

Thank you sir, I learned a new skill today, re-sizing pictures....so we'll try this and see if the sassy dodge and the Mobile Archive Delivery System show up.
(MADS)

[Dave D.]

I saved this photo in paint, shrunk it down to 50% and saved it as a jpeg so looks like that works.

This is our 67' Calgary Fire Department bus we hope to use for static display for the 150th Canadian anniversary. She has a Toro-flow GM engine in it and seems to run real nice. It will be filled with all the Civil Defence gear we have collected and folks will be able to walk through to see the collection.

[Dave D.]

A shot of the Edmonton Airshow display and another picture of a stake truck we'd like to find out more about.

[chris vickery]

A Civil Defence period decal Can't remember where I bought these but they are kind of neat.

[Dave D.]

That sticker is going to drive our director nuts. Part of the original planning in the 50's included utilizing civilian vehicles for the evacuation planning in cities across Canada. As seen on our dispersal plan, cities were divided into sections, automobiles in those sections inventoried and labels handed out to individuals who would help evacuate those without vehicles.

Great label, thanks for sharing!

One very interesting part of the planning were the many 'shelters' that were built throughout Canada, in businesses, homes and various levels of Government buildings. One survey conducted by Lt. T. Newcomen in downtown Edmonton suggested there was ample 'shelter housing' to house 29,900 individuals in the downtown area in case of a nuclear strike. A 'fallout shelter', at the time was defined as a structure that was designed with a main floor above a basement area that could support the weight of the structure above it in the event of a collapse.

Many of the shelters still exist and if we're lucky we'll be able to continue to get pictures or video of the efforts Canadians made to prepare themselves in the event of a nuclear war.

One aspect that still gets me going was the Uninterrupted Power Supply Generators UPS that still exist in a few of the shelters that we have visited.

This Chrysler flat-head engine which still sits within the abandoned Edmonton bunker and a Ford diesel in an unnamed facility are my favorites. Not sure how these pictures will turn out but lets give it a shot.

[Dave D.]

That Chrysler pic didn't turn out very good so we'll try another one and give up a link to the rest of the bunker photos.

The Edmonton bunker was the first known/documented Civil Defence nuclear fall-out shelters in Canada.

http://civildefencemuseum.ca/edmonton-bunker-2

[chris vickery]

My Fallout shelter, aka beer drinking shed. Not much protection here when things go to hell in a hand basket.
Considering the strategic target that North Bay was during the Cold War with the Bunker on the hill and the Bomarc missile battery up the road...
Still ticked that the Lefties and Peaceniks convinced the City of North Bay to remove the Bomarc that was on display. I would have gladly donated the space to put it on my front lawn!