[David_Hayward (RIP)]

A [British] Col. Butler went to see Colonel N.O. Carr, the DND Director of Mechanization and Artillery in Ottawa on 27 June and advised that the British Mission were definitely placing an order in Canada for 7,000 15-cwt. 4 x 2 trucks, 3,00 30 cwt. 4 x 4 trucks and 10,000 3-Ton trucks. The first two orders were to be in accordance with Departmental specifications and the latter the same specification but with standard 10.50 x 16 tyres instead of Run-Flat type. Butler stated that the Mission would like to have priority on production over the then current orders for the Canadian 3rd Division and ancillary troops! Carr said that he had no power to give such a decision, but in his opinion as both countries were fighting an Empire war the British order should be merged with the Canadian’s and divided between G.M. and Ford to take full advantage of industrial capacity, and that a decision should be made as soon as possible as to who was to receive priority of delivery....

...Carr had also been informed by G.M. of Canada that they had received an inquiry from Australia for 1,900 4 x 4 “National Defence specification” [ie Canadian Military Pattern”] and was asked what reply GM should give. He claimed he was at a loss to give any constructive advice. This approach plus the British order emphasised the need to get into maximum production as soon as possible and maintain peak production until the tap was turned off....

....On 30 July, John Eaton, Director of Purchases in Ottawa on behalf of the British Government wrote to Colonel Dewar, Director of Clothing, Equipment & Manufacturing Establishments, Department of National Defence, setting out the procedures to be adopted in shipping to British orders. The manufacturers were to notify the D. of P. by telegram of the car numbers and details of shipments as they left the factory. This information was then to be relayed to Ordnance Transit Officers [“O.T.O.”] in St. John, N.B., Halifax, N.S., and Montreal, P.Q.. The O.T.O. was to then collaborate with the Transit Controllers Office [“T.O.”] in the Department of Transport, Ottawa, in the allocation of carloads in relation to cargo space available on ships, and were to then prepare Bills of Lading. One copy of the packing slip was given to the ship’s purser to be handed over to the representatives of the Ministry of Supply at the port of disembarkation. When the report of sailing was received, the D. of P. was to cable the M. of S. and two copies of the packing notes would follow by mail ...

.... Colonel NO Carr wrote to Mr Sargent, the Chairman of newly founded The Steel Body Manufacturers’ Association in Toronto on 12 July 1940, concerning pilot models of bodies for the 15- and 30-cwt. British order trucks. The Inspection Committee confirmed 29 July that the bodies would be forwarded to Toronto as soon as possible for inspection before the various body builders arranged production. All the manufacturers had been asked to submit suggested specifications covering the types of body that they manufactured for the benefit of the DMA....

...The manufacturers were responsible for the internal freighting to ports in Canada, and then the M of S were responsible for shipping charges on a “collect” basis on delivery. GM. Products of Canada arranged shipment through the Oshawa Railway Company, which was part of the Canadian National Railway. Ford at Windsor probably also used the CNR which ran right into their Plant. The freight cars were then railed to Montreal in the St. Lawrence Seaway season, and/or St John, and Halifax. Shipping space had to be booked by the Transport Controller: for example Cunard White Star Limited, but the Canadian Government Merchant Marine would handle locally. Each truck [or car] shipped conformed to weight and size calculations because they had to be packed into holds with varying capacity. It was also required that trucks be railed to the coastal ports as well as Montreal in order to take advantage of shipping space as it became available. .... British orders were all boxed by the manufacturers, and completely assembled except for superstructure, canvas covers, and the upper half of the cab so that on arrival the trucks could be removed from the crates and driven from the dockside: in this respect they differed from Canadian orders which required assembly including installation of engines. Each crate was duly marked, and trucks were declared for customs purposes when shipped as follows:

FORD
15 cwt $942.70
30 cwt. $1,445.40
3-Ton 4 x 2 $1,484.27

CHEVROLET
15 cwt $942.70
30 cwt. $1,445.40
3-Ton 4 x 2 $1,451.42

The initial 20,000 units for the Ministry of Supply were intended to be supplied as follows:

FORD:
3,500 15-cwt. 4 x 2
1,500 30-cwt. 4 x 4
6,000 3-Ton 4 x 2

CHEVROLET:
3,500 15-cwt. 4 x 2
1,500 30-cwt. 4 x 4
4,000 3-Ton 4 x 2

in lots of 100 units, plus spare parts. However, the last lot was to consist of 50 Ford 3-Ton and 10 Chevrolet 3-Ton trucks. The extra 1,000 units may have consisted of spare parts representing 1,000 complete trucks...

...The 3-Tonners were probably MCP “Modified Conventional Pattern” trucks, whereas the others were CMP units. However, in September approval was given to the shipment of the 6,000 Ford 158-in wheelbase 3-Ton trucks in open crates...

....To illustrate the urgency of the demand for Canadian trucks, reference is made to the Ministry of Supply Demands [contracts]: Supply/Mechanical [“SM” or “S/M”] 2002 to 2006 which were placed in June 1940 in Ottawa:

S/M 2002 was intended to cover 3,500 15 cwt. Fords for Bombay, and the same number of Chevrolets for England [this consisted of Ford 15 cwt C101WF and Chevrolet C15 GS body CMP trucks];

S/M 2003 1,500 30 cwt. Fords for Bombay and 1,500 Chevrolets for England [Ford F30S and Chevrolet C30S 30 cwt GS CMP trucks];

S/M 2004 was for 3-Tonners, 5,742 Ford trucks, 66 Ford Stores, 86 Wreckers and 86 Machinery for England [Ford C098T 3-Ton MCP];

S/M 2005 [Bombay] and 2006 [England] covered 4,787 Chevrolet trucks split 3,829 for Bombay and 958 for England, with 57 Stores, Wreckers and Machinery for Bombay and 14 of each for England [Chevrolet Model 1543X2 MCP].

Bodies and chassis were to be boxed separately and marked accordingly after the case number: one body and one chassis were meant to be shipped together to form one unit.

By 28 August, this had all changed:

S/M 2002 required 3,000 Ford 15 cwt for Egypt, 500 for Mombasa, and 3,500 Chevrolets for England;

S/M 2003 became 1,200 30 cwt. Fords for Egypt and 300 for Mombasa, with 1,500 Chevrolets for England;

S/M 2004 was for 5,742 3-Ton Ford trucks plus 86 of each of Stores, Wreckers and Machinery;

S/M 2005 became 4,787 Chevrolet 3-Ton trucks split 3,150 for Egypt, 670 for Mombasa and 967 for England, with 71 Stores, Wreckers and Machinery split 50 for Egypt, 10 for Mombasa and 11 for England in each case.

[The War Department Census shows that under S/M 2006 Census Numbers were issued for 4 x 2 GS trucks, totalling 193 units. These we know were assembled by GM Ltd in Bamber Bridge, Preston, and the remainder must therefore have been diverted and shipped to Egypt. I discount assembly here and then shipment to Egypt].

The domestic theatre Census shows that S/M 2002 totalled 3,211 Chevrolet units registered and 1,500 Chevrolets under S/M 2003...


...Problems then arose as output in Oshawa and Windsor fell short of expectations, and this then had a knock-on effect as shipping space had been booked and had to be released. However, the British orders varied slightly from the Canadian specifications. Carr had to reprove Col. Butler of the British Mission because a request had been made for tyre chains etc. to be shipped without rust protection which demonstrated lack of ignorance of Canadian practice. Experience had shown that metal corroded rapidly without the application of the Degas coating which was applied on C.A.S.F. vehicles. There were slight differences between what were supposed to be identical vehicles, e.g. gas tank filler necks, but it would be advantageous to share information for mutual benefit: could any changes in specification please be routed through his office in future?....

....Lt. Colonel J.H. Smith, Technical Liaison Officer at the United Kingdom Technical Mission, 58 Lyon Street, Ottawa, wrote to the Chief Ordnance Mechanical Engineer [COME], Colonel N.C. Sherman, on 5 November 1940 and placed on record his sincere appreciation of the co-operation by his department in enabling the equipment being provided to supply equipment by various contractors to Ford and GM. Sherman then advised generally that the work referred to coincided with details of work for the Army Field Workshops for the DND, and the amount of money involved in the British orders was C$1,120,000; the saving effected over previous contract prices was $234,000, which would be further augmented by a saving of another $140,000 on contracts then being placed for the DND by the Department of Munitions and Supply

Obviously the reference to the Egypt deliveries, ie to Alexandria, will be relvant in due course as the Australian papers refer to quantities on order.