Can't get no respect- the G749

[Ed Storey]

These SMP vehicles at Hagersville in the 1950s are up on blocks.

IMG0091 M135CDN copy.jpg

[rob love]

Holy Christmas....that is a lot of wheel cylinders in that picture!!! (that is what a mechanic sees).



Those are the nicest roofs and hoods I have ever seen on an old deuce. It's as if nobody ever walked on them. It is also a good reminder that I need to tape up the exhaust pipe on my deuce.

[Dave D.]

Originally Posted by Ed Storey

These SMP vehicles at Hagersville in the 1950s are up on blocks.

Attachment 116759

Hamilton would have been the City these M135's were dispatched to after a nuclear exchange. Thank you so much for that photo. Can we use your deuce pictures for future stories over at www.civildefence.ca?

In the 1960 Survival Operations Handbook, the 2 1/2 ton would have been used to transport wounded civilian Canadians to 'reception towns' around target cities.

The trucks would pull up in front of a federal building with a surgical ward set up in the basement, offload patients and treatment would begin. In Alberta, 19 underground hospitals were set up through the 50's with some stock still stored today. Old's near Calgary and Wetaskiwin near Edmonton would have had similar stockpiles of deuces. Wainwright also housed a fleet of EMO equipment.

The other support cities were Holyrood, Windsor, Camp Gagetown, St Jerome, Almonte, Newmarket, Welland, Centralia, Chatham, Portage la Praire, Chilliwack and Duncan.....if we're looking for stockpile pics.

[Ed Storey]

This image shows a M135CDN that has been converted to carry casualties by strapping in approximately 16 stretchers. This configuration was not only employed for Civil Defence casualty transportation but also in the late 1950s and early 1960s by RCAMC Field Ambulance and Hospital units.

M135CDN Civil Defence Vehicle - Stretcher Modification copy.jpg

[chris vickery]

Here’s a pic of mine, always wanted one now I have one.
M35 is next...

[rob love]

That one should be very economical to drive, since it looks like it is on a 90° slope.

Here is a photo of mine from a few years ago. The paint has since faded a bit, but it was a nice clean truck that spent most of it's life in war reserve storage.

[Bob Phillips]

I thought I would resurrect this thread because I found another flyer from Levy's, advertising G749 trucks. This flyer IS from the time I was buying there in the 1980s and as some others have suggested my first and original posting is probably from an earlier time..say the 1970s. And back in the day when I was buying CMPs for 1-2 or 3 hundred dollars, $2995 was a lot of cash!

G749Levy1980.jpg G749Levy1981.jpg

[chris vickery]

And they really haven’t gone up much in value since then.
Take a look around and most crapped out M135 trucks are about $3000 these days. Finding good clean runners now is almost a miracle.

[Jon Skagfeld]

Originally Posted by Ed Storey

These SMP vehicles at Hagersville in the 1950s are up on blocks.

Attachment 116759

While training at Camp Borden, I often passed by 43 COR (Central Ordnance Railhead) where many deuces were up on blocks.

[Perry Kitson]

Just west of London is situated a wrecking yard that ended up with about 200 M135's that were disposed of in the early 80's. Quite a number ended going south of the border to farmers and had bins replace the cargo beds.

[Ed Storey]

This photograph taken at CFB Petawawa in 1984 shows a large number of G749 vehicles that have been earmarked as range targets.

89-16 copy.jpg

[Darrell Zinck]

Hi

Nice photo, Ed.

In 1985/86 I was occasionally tasked with towing them from behind the Range Control bldg out to the various ranges. Usually Juliet/Hussars Tower Range for direct fire destruction but sometimes to way out in the back 40 for the Engineers to blow sky high.

The task was for x2 Troopers to use a Lynx from Recce Sqn 8CH. Every time I did it was an adventure since all we had were x2 tow cables. In many cases, one of us would drive the track and one would be in the cab to keep it on the road. They didn't like us "dragging" them around the trg area roads!!

Good times.

regards
Darrell

[rob love]

I have a message in the file cabinet somewhere that was talking about the various fleets, and mentioned the sales of the old deuces. In the beginning, they were fetching a good price that the army was happy with. But, in this area at least, prices had dropped to around $600-700 towards the end. I, and a few friends, moved a batch of 12 or so out to the surplus guy's yard. He even sold one while it was still in the supply lot. It was to an Indian band, and he had to go pick up a cheque from the Department of Regional Economic Expansion downtown for the payment. The $635 dollar deuce had turned into a $3250 deuce with no real work done to it.

The majority sold over the years, but he still has a short lineup of them for sale at his yard. Two of them left last year for a Halloween display. There remain several M135s, a couple of the shop vans, and an M211 with the flat cargo box. The amazing thing is that with some work on the fuel system, they will still run after all these decades.

[m606paz]

The first time I paid attention to this truck, it was in the movie Rambo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__QyvnqBW-c