The name BLITZ

Tim Berry · #1 29-01-06, 04:20

Lang might know the answer for this. I have always wondered where the name BLITZ came from. Australia seems to be the only country to call CMP's this.

Any ideas?

Keith Webb · #2 29-01-06, 05:27

That's a bit of a long story... the word blitz of course is German for lightning and was applied to a number of things during the war with typical allied irreverence... the first use I've seen came from the Western desert where the cab 12s were called Blitz Buggies or Desert Blitz, and it seems to have stuck.
There was a good thread on the old forum which I'm sure Hanno can find for us which covered some of the names they have in other countries such as puddle jumpers in NZ for the C8AX...

Lang · #3 29-01-06, 10:13

Tim,

Just talked to my old Dad about this.

His angle is : When he went to the Middle East early on he recalls the term Blitz Buggy or just Blitz were used by the British to refer to the Morrix C8s and the other small British trucks of that style. The Australians of course just continued the tradition. He thinks they may have got their name from their early France and Dunkirk heritage.

He says when he went to Palestine and Syria with the 7th Division they were still calling the small British trucks Blitz Buggies and the CMP's Chevs or Fords. Apparently the name just went across by osmosis when they gave back their British vehicles and were almost entirely replaced by CMP. He thinks the two wheel drive vehicles (conventional cab) did not get branded as well for they were considered "civilian" types and not conducive to nick-names.

Another thing he has mentioned many times in the past is that the 15cwt CMPs were not commonly referred to as Blitz. This name was attached to the heavier CMP,s. The 15cwt was referred to as a four-by-four.

He thinks it was sheer weight of common usage and the fact most people could not tell the difference between a 15cwt and a 60cwt that by the end of the war every CMP was a Blitz.

Probably lost in the sands of time like JEEP but that is the old boy's two cents worth.

Regards

Lang

Richard Farrant · #4 29-01-06, 11:25

To throw another slant on the term "blitz buggies". In an official publication by the UK Ministry of Supply, Data Book of Wheeled Vehicles, a publication which was issued during the war period and constantly updated as new vehicles came along, a section dated 22/12/41, describing the American Bantam and Ford GP 1/4 ton light reconnaissance vehices, names them as Blitz Buggies.

A personel theory about the Australians naming their CMP's as Blitzs, could eminate from North Africa and their introduction to the German Opel Blitz truck, which was closely related to the Chev in engine design alone.

Richard

Hanno Spoelstra · #5 29-01-06, 17:24

Quote:

Originally posted by Keith Webb
There was a good thread on the old forum which I'm sure Hanno can find for us which covered some of the names they have in other countries such as puddle jumpers in NZ for the C8AX...

Here you go, sir: CMP coloquial names.

H.

Keith Webb · #6 29-01-06, 20:07

Thanks, Hanno - it's still a good resource and I'm glad it's still online.

It would be worth putting some of the best stuff on a separate website such as MLU, don't you think?

Hanno Spoelstra · #7 29-01-06, 21:27

Quote:

Originally posted by Keith Webb
It would be worth putting some of the best stuff on a separate website such as MLU, don't you think?

Keith, Geoff, helped by some forum members backed up the whole network54.com forum, and put it online ... but I have to admit I can't find the link right now ...

H.

David_Hayward (RIP) · #8 31-01-06, 15:10

The Opel Blitz (Lightning of course) was introduced in 1932 and so named because it had a German-made version of the Buick-based Marquette 6-cylinder engine suposedly affording speed. The name was of course used throughout the war on Opel military trucks, and I have a photo of a 'Bedford Blitz', i.e. Bedford TM tractor unit showing that the name lived on into the Seventies.
However round here the 'Blitz' is always remembered as something else entirely. Southampton was bombed very badly and an old ruined church inthe city centre remains as a memorial.

Keith Webb · #9 31-01-06, 19:40

From the 60s, the replacement vehicle range for CMP, built by International Harvester are sometimes called "ACCO Blitz" To explain the name, It started as Australian Army Cab-Over (AACO); when they were commercially built they became Australian Commercial Cab-Over (ACCO) and that's become the designation.

Hanno Spoelstra · #10 05-02-06, 21:16

Quote:

Originally posted by Hanno Spoelstra
Keith, Geoff, helped by some forum members backed up the whole network54.com forum, and put it online ... but I have to admit I can't find the link right now ...

Found it! MLU Forum Archives.

H.

Hanno Spoelstra · #11 05-02-06, 21:24

Quote:

Originally posted by Hanno Spoelstra
Here you go, sir: CMP coloquial names.

Also see "BLITZ".

H.