68AutoBug wrote:I have never seen any of the allies using tracked trucks etc..
all wheeled vehicles...
The French were the pioneers of the "Halftrack"
Kegresse a mechanic & overseer to the Russian Czar's Garage invented a halftrack system for the Czar's use in the winter & spring months as early as 1910
Kegresse & Citroen then combined ideas on futher developing the halftrack system in the 1920's
By 1923 the Citoen-Kegresse halftracks had been successfully trialed & demonstrated in extreme endurance tests in Africa & asia.
Many Half track designs were used by the US Between 1925 and 1930 based on the Citroen-Kegresse half track. In 1930 a license to build them was purchased. The James Cunningham auto company and the US Army Rock Island auto engineering division combined to design half tracks. They had designed several "adapters" by 1935 that could be installed in place of the rear wheels on a conventional auto chassis. In 1939 the Army took a M3 Scout Car and added one of these "adapters" to it. It proved to be successful. In 1941 the Army standardized on the M2 Half Track Car and M3 Half Track Personnel Carrier.
The Citroen-kegresse "unarmoured" haltracks were in service by numerous European countries,These included the:
Citroen-Kegresse Hinstin
Unic Kegresse P 107
Tracteur Somua MCL
Somua MCG (heavy)
When the Germans occupied these countries they naturally commandeered the vehicle stocks & included them in their own formations, figures vary but it is known that 3000 unarmourd haftrack trucks fell into German hands from France alone, by 1943 the Germans converted the remaining vehicles with "Armoured" bodies to augment their PanzerGrenadier Regiments since Domestic German production could never meet demands,These vehicle were converted & look very similar to contemporary German Halftracks, it's possible that the untrained eye would never even see the Difference.
Yes the Germans did build a bewildering array of vehicles, but it's also true that they captured a bewildering array of vehicles & were forced to adapt & utilize them.
The Allies on the other hand,having found themselves under prepared at wars start were forced to catch up & surpass the Germans in vehicle production if victory was to be assurd,England & Russia were just as hap hazard in Vehicle design as the Germans, by the time the US could supply enough vehicles for all their allies they had decided to stick with a simple rugged design & mass produce it.
Citroen-Kegresse in Aus
