CMP vehicles in service with the Royal Netherlands Army

[Alex van de Wetering]

C30 LAAT with Dutch census 32910:

Sometimes the background is just as interesting as the foreground.....A Staghound AA and carrier on the right and a Standard Beaverette on the left, which has possibly been cut down(?)

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

Here is another fascinating picture from the NIMH archives. According to the description it shows a Ford CMP, in which case it would be a rare F60H......but on closer inspection, it looks more like a GM C60X, judging from the brush guard, prop shafts and brake booster fittings. The truck has been fitted with an engine and winch to control moving targets on the Vliehors firing range. Any ideas on the engine ???......possibly a 6-71 Detroit diesel....or half of a GM diesel Sherman M4A2 power pack??

Alex

source:https://nimh-beeldbank.defensie.nl/f...a-4b0b1dd58a6a

[David Herbert]

Alex,
Yes I think you are right about the engine mounted on the CMP. I am certain that it is a GM 6-71 out of a Sherman or M10. They have even mounted the radiator as it would be in the tank installation so that the pipes could be re used. The generator mounting is the same too.
It looks as if the engine is mounted well off centre on the truck which might suggest that this is a complete 6046 twin set but I don't think that I see the transfer box that joins the two engines, though it may have been removed to get at the clutches, quite a common job if the engines are not properly synchronized.
I think that that is a M41 light tank behind it on the left of the photo.
I am puzzled about why a moving target range needed its power unit to be mobile, usually they are in a protected bunker at one end of the target track.

David

[Alex van de Wetering]

I am certain that it is a GM 6-71 out of a Sherman or M10.

Hi David,

Thanks for your confirmation on the GM Diesel! That's quite the engine to sit on the back of a CMP!

I am puzzled about why a moving target range needed its power unit to be mobile, usually they are in a protected bunker at one end of the target track.

There was no further explanation on this with the photo in the archive.....the only reason I can think of is the fact that the Vliehors range is at a beach and the range might change with high-low tides, making a mobile unit a better choice (?)
According to the picture description the tank in the background is an M24 (and probably another standing in front of it), which sounds logical as the Dutch army did have M24's, but no M41's that I know of.

Alex

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Derrick truck, captioned as "'Bokauto', Ford, F60S, 3 ton, 4x4".
In use with the Royal Netherlands Army, 1955.

AKL046271.jpg
Source

And some snaphots from Mr. Leen Boshuizen who drove these when he was serving as a conscript in 1946:

118539889_3370640526356258_9145246856297454403_o.jpg