Wwii usa vehicle markings

[Little Jo]

Hi All

I am looking at different photographs of markings on WWII vehicles and am seeking advice as to which type of star and lettering I have on my 1942 MB Willys Jeep bonnet. I wish to know if mine is the, " Invasion Star ", or the "Factory Star". And is the lettering, Factory or Field Lettering. I have attached photos to assist in the identification.

Cheers

Little Jo

[Lang]

Tony,

Just had a look at AR 850-5 (Army Regulations - Marking of Clothing, Equipment, Vehicles and Property) August 1942

Your jeep has non-regulation markings "done in the field". This is nothing to get excited about because there were as many marking styles as there were jeeps and almost ANYTHING is historically correct so long as it has the vehicle number on the bonnet. The thing to do when doing a restoration is to mark it in the style you like.

For information if you wanted to make your jeep into a factory delivery concourse vehicle it would have arrived in the depot marked like this.

On the bonnet a 5 pointed star (no circle) 15 inches in diameter. The top point against the windscreen 1 1/2 inches from the screen - not in the middle of the bonnet! The colour of the star is white, if it was a really early jeep the star may have a red circle in the middle. There is a note saying the reason for this position on the jeep is so the star can be seen from above windscreen up or down.

On the side of the bonnet 2 inch then later changed to 3 inch high vehicle number. The letters USA can be in line with the numbers or above. The colour of the registration is lustreless blue-drab, not white! This is why many vehicles in black and white photos appear to have no numbers, the drab blue does not show up very well in photos. If the vehicle has radio suppression the letter "S" is to be added to the numbers with a space separating it.

On the rear quarter side of vehicle (in line with back seat) a 6 inch white star

On rear panel, if space available a 12 inch white star. When jerry cans became standard fitting this star was eliminated as that was where the star went. Trucks kept it on their tailgates.

As well as this there are the unit markings. These are listed in the manual and comprise 2 inch blue-drab letters and symbols placed on front bumper bar and rear bumpers. They are quite long groups of letters, numbers and symbols and had to be put on in two rows or half of the set on each rear bumper.

Factory numbers were solid (not with the stencil cut-outs in the letters)

The letters were plain straight font right through the war, with all the changes. The more fancy style you have was a local mod.

The most obvious change made was to go to all white letters in 1943.

All the various star and number size and font designs were the result of local instructions (local may mean theatre of operations) and of course were subject to the artistic bent, painting skill and just plain interest of the painters. They were not the result of an army-wide instruction. I have seen a photo of outrageous vandalism of ground crew painting the three big invasion stripes on DC3's with 20 litre cans of white paint and BROOMS!

Basically the further back from the front line, the more stars, letters and twirly do-dads the vehicles had. The Pacific theatre is very conspicuous for its plain unadorned vehicles.

Lang

[Lang]

Here is a factory photo of a Dodge being painted. The stencils are sticky backed brown paper and the "joiner bars" across the letters are removed before spraying. This must be one of the last 1/2 ton Dodges because the letters have gone from 2 inch to 3 inch (then again could be a later period rebuild - all the manufacturers had contracts through the war to rebuild vehicles for reissue)


Also a photo of a luxury most units did not have - a professional sign writer!

Lang

[Little Jo]

Lang

Very much appreciated, thank you for clearing this up for me, this certainly helps me as I move along with the project, which I hope to have ready for Corowa this year.

From what you have advised there seems to be a lot of poetic licence taken by various units. I am not going concourse, I just like to do it right. The second photo of the sign writer looks like they could be in the desert.

I am going desert coloured with my Jeep and I have attached a photo of the current stage of my Jeep restoration taken today. Thanks again for the very informative reply.

Cheers

Little Jo

[ozm29c]

Tony,
Looking good What is the Chassis number for your MB?
Cheers
John W.

[Lang]

Tony,

You have a desert colour jeep in Australia, that belonged to the Australian army, it has Australian equipment on it - what has this got to do with the Americans?

I have mentioned this before but I can't understand Australians painting their vehicles in American colours when the American forces never owned that particular vehicle. What's wrong with preserving our history and not somebody elses?

If you want I can give you the correct markings for a jeep operated by Australians in the desert. You can choose whatever unit you want and I will give you their markings also.

regards

Lang