Maple Leaf Chevrolet remains in the Egyptian desert

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Late last year Fliegel Jezerniczky Expeditions came across the remains of a Maple Leaf Chevrolet in the Wadi Sora region, Egypt. This wrecked truck once served in the SDF Kufra convoys. Although it has been picked clean of any usable parts, the remains are in remarkable condition. Some find, eh?!?

H.




Source: http://www.fjexpeditions.com

[Pete Ashby]

Hanno

is that a standard GMC type rear cargo body I can see ?

There is a chance my work may take me to Libya, I’ve been dreading it up till now but finds like this make it look more promising

Pete

[Phil Waterman]

Chevy parts just released from long term out door storage in a dry climate. All parts pre-sandblasted and ready to paint.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally posted by Pete Ashby
is that a standard GMC type rear cargo body I can see ?

Pete, it's the type of body fitted to early MCP trucks (see Ford C098TFS shown below). Clearly related to the standard US cargo body as used on Chevrolet, GMC and other US trucks.

H.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally posted by Pete Ashby
There is a chance my work may take me to Libya, I’ve been dreading it up till now but finds like this make it look more promising

Chance in a lifetime, mate! Make sure to make the right contacts, I would not set off into the desert on my own. If not wandering into a minefield, some of Khadafy's soldiers might not be amused by a Brit poking around. I'm sure there's people who know where to look and how to go about it. Try http://www.afrika-korps.de/forum/, apart from our forum friend Kuno there's at least another knowledgeable chap around (and he's British to boot!).

Let us know about your finds

Hanno

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Basically Maple Leaf was a Chevrolet-engined or Chevrolet-based -engined version of the Canadian GMC. This all started back on July 1 1930 with Chevrolet Heavy Duty, or Extra Fort en Francais! By 1933 it was Maple Leaf.

[sapper740]

Originally posted by Pete Ashby
There is a chance my work may take me to Libya, I’ve been dreading it up till now but finds like this make it look more promising

Pete, you can bring me back a pair of tow eyes for for CMP...looks like a good set on that truck

If you go to Libya remember these two most important words: La Shukran!


CHIMO!

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally posted by David_Hayward
Basically Maple Leaf was a Chevrolet-engined or Chevrolet-based -engined version of the Canadian GMC. This all started back on July 1 1930 with Chevrolet Heavy Duty, or Extra Fort en Francais! By 1933 it was Maple Leaf.

David, is there any more you can tell about the type and/or designation of the truck remains?

Possibly a period picture?

Thanks,
Hanno

[cliff]

Originally posted by Hanno Spoelstra
David, is there any more you can tell about the type and/or designation of the truck remains?

Possibly a period picture?

Hanno it is a 1940 model. I have the pic below of a 1941 GMC from Kingaroy which is almost the same truck.

Cheers
Cliff

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

I knew I was going to be asked that! I might have a GM of Canada photo somewhere of a similar truck. However if anyone can guesstimate the wheelbase from the photo here is the definitive list of all in theory available Canadian Chevrolet and GMC trucks.

CANADIAN CHEVROLET AND GMC SCHEDULE

The GMC pictured is a 1941 Model...note similarity to the 1941 Chevrolet though not all US GMCs had that grille...some had a '40 style to 1942. I am sure that the desert truck is a '41 Model.

Note ML and Chevrolet shared the same grille more-or-less but ML had 'MAPLE LEAF [LEAF MOTIF] TRUCK' instead of 'GENERAL MOTORS TRUCK' and a Maple Leaf hood badge. In reality they were clones of GMCs although equipped with Chevrolet engines or the 224 Chevy-based Canadian Pontiac unit with one notable exception: in 1940 Model Year only an imported 248.4 cu in GMC six was used in ML and GMC. Then in August 1940 for about a year Windsor Plant produced an indigenous 248 although not used in any ML trucks. As you know there was a 1939 discussion about using the 248 in military Chevrolets vice the 216.

[Tony Smith]

Originally posted by Hanno Spoelstra
Pete, it's the type of body fitted to early MCP trucks. Clearly related to the standard US cargo body as used on Chevrolet, GMC and other US trucks.

And note the brackets on the side of the body on the FJExpedition find. Brackets for the sand channels?

Linked from Unusual desert ( INDIAN ? ) Chev

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

On checking my records I think the Maple Leaf is a 1600 series, 2 1/2 -tonner as for instance used as airfield gas refuellers. That would make it a model 1663, 1673 or 1683 Chassis-Cab depending on the wheelbase.

I also found out something that I had not noticed before: there was a GMC model 9543 equivalent of the CC60L 1543 and 1543x1/x2/x3. These would be basically the same trucks as the ubiquitous Chevy but with Canadian 'Pontiac 224' 224 cu in engine. This equated to the Opel Blitz engine.

[cliff]

Here is an AWM photo of the Australian rear bodied Maple Leaf. Only difference between the two trucks is the GS body.

Cheers
Cliff

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally posted by Tony Smith
And note the brackets on the side of the body on the FJExpedition find. Brackets for the sand channels?

Yes, you must be right!

This came up on the Historic Military Vehicle Forum:

This extract from "The Long Range Desert Group" by Bill Kennedy Shaw may be of interest to some:

In the western desert during the war thousands of Army cars carried slung alongside them a pair of these perforated steel channels yet probably not one man in as many thousands knew their origin, so for sake of history I record it here.

In the spring of 1926 Bagnold ( Major R.A.) had been up in Jerusalem,........After unsuccessful experiments with corrugated iron beaten into channels Bader discovered, by nosing round among the old-iron shops of Cairo, a stock of strong rolled-steel troughing designed in the war for roofing dug-outs. We bought a couple of these, five foot long, to carry with us.

Then in 1929, in the eastern edge of the sand Sea near 'Ain Dalla:

Every few miles one or other of the two lorries would get stuck in the soft ground........ If it had not been for these old steel channels we must have given up......They were the salvation of the expedition.


Taken from: Middle East General Order No 108 4:2:1944

INVENTIONS:

In accordance with para 3 Standing Orders for War M.E.F. it is recorded that (now) Brig R.A. Bagnold developed, in collaboration with other officers as stated below, the following inventions or applications of existing principles to military purposes:

(a) Sand Channels

Devised in 1929 and subsequently adopted, with modifications, as standard desert equipment.

(b) Sand Mats

Devised in 1929 in collaboration with Major P.A.Clayton in the form of rope ladders with bamboo rungs, subsequently modified by the substitution of canvas for rope, and adopted as standard desert equipment

The pictures which appear in this 1945 publication shows sand channels in use and clearly shows FIVE rows of holes.

[Stony Smith]

and well sand blasted!

-Not sure if this has been posted before -cool pics


http://www.fjexpeditions.com/frameset/convoys.htm

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Stony Smith

-Not sure if this has been posted before -cool pics

It was so I merged threads. Thanks for bringing this up again, IIRC there some some new pics to trigger the imagination.

H.