U S Army Signal Corps Vehicles 1941 45

Includes hundreds of period photos covering all the details of the trucks, vans and trailers vital to maintain the communications of the U.S. Army in WWII. The Signal Corps was at the forefront of the technological development of communications throughout World War II. Tasked with coordinating all American military activities, the Signal Corps initially had to rely on a communications landline network covering some 1 300 000 km. This network together with radio communications provided President Roosevelt with a global overview of military operations down to battalion level updated hourly for nearly five years. Technological evolution was so rapid that radio communications soon took over from the landline network, however adaptation remained a priority within the US Army Signal Corps for when landline networks were unavailable or radio silence had to be observed; signallers also maintained older communications methods including homing pigeons. Almost every large piece of Signal Corps equipment required wheeled transport. Early in the war the Model “K” vehicles, designed for the Signal Corps’ needs, quickly proliferated with 84 variants being produced. After that designation was abandoned the Signal Corps would catalogue a further 62 models of vehicles and trailers, most of them were associated with a particular radio or radar installation. This comprehensive and fully illustrated account covers radar, radio vehicles, plus specialized vehicles such as telephone repair trucks, mobile telephone switchboards and homing pigeon units, all described in technical detail and illustrated by hundreds of period photos.

A comprehensive and fully illustrated account of specialized vehicles used by U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War II.

A detailed summary of all the types of Diamond T vehicles used by the US Army during World War II, packed full of period photos and diagrams. Between 1940 and 1945, Diamond T Motor Car Company supplied just over 50,000 vehicles to the US military, and also to the Allies. Of this, just over 30,000 were heavy 4-ton 6x6 trucks of varying types: cargo, tow truck, pontoon carrier, engineer, cartographic, etc. The "Diamond" would serve in all theaters of operations, wherever its robustness and reliability were necessary to complete the mission. Due to its expertise, Diamond T also produced the famous half-track, with more than 10,000 manufactured. All of these models are described in this work by Didier Andres, an expert in the subject. The text is illustrated throughout using archival and period photographs and diagrams.