[Robert Bergeron]

David,

Strange that they would use metal tool bins on an aluminium body that was devised to save weight ? But if they were standard on Chev trucks , standard goes a long way in production savings.

11- Blackout kill switch. On modern trucks there are kill switches that dim or shut off the interior lights when the access door is opened when in blackout mode . That was to prevent lighthing up the night and revealing your position to the ennemy .Was that in use in the 2K1 body ?

That pretty much sums it up for me. 2K1 bodies are pretty much the same i imagine as M-152 trucks of the 50's and CUCV radio trucks of the 70's and 80's for the routine of operation by personel. Shifts , maintenance, filling the generators, extending the aerials , telephone wire.

Then there is camouflage of the unit , remote antennae in order to prevent homing on the transmitter, command post , CO, and getting direct artillery hits.Sentinels, guard duty around the bivouac and shell trenches have to be dug.

I do not think that a single shovel and pick axe in the front of the body would be sufficent for those purposes . That is why i think that there was a lot of stuff carried on top of the box strapped to the rails. Camouflage nets ( a necessity in war ) , extra shovels , picks , buckets for water ( firefighting in the bivouac.)

You should see the amount of equipment carried by a modern signals unit to sustain itself in a campaign.

Q. What would our beloved canadian soldiers have used for heat in the box ?

There was winter in NWE during the 44-45 campaign.