Universal carrier

[Gunner]

although Canada did manufacture quit a number of these units under licience from Ford

Hi Fred:

Your quote above reminded me of the relationship between Ford and Ford Canada during the war:

Ford Canada was a completely independent company and when the war broke out in 1939 was already working on many Canadian/UK designs. One of these was the Universal Carrier. There was no "licence" from Ford as the carriers were unheard of in the US at the time. When Ford (in the US) started building the T16s it was at the request of the British government. I imagine Canadian engineers and a Canadian example were shipped across the river from Windsor to Dearborn for study and would love to learn more about that part of the process... hopefully the new books by Nigel Watson will shed some light on the topic.

In typical US fashion, the T16 had a lot of product improvement including a differential that allowed for tiller bar steering.

The inter-relationship between the US and Canadian governments and manufacturers (quietly at first due to the isolationist attitudes in many quarters in the US and eventually full blast as we partnered in lend-lease for the rest of the allies as the US became more openly involved in the war) could be the subject of several fat books.

All the best in your research, and, should it prove that the USMC didn't use T16s, then you can always paint it up as a Canadian one

Mike