Canadian radar tracking - Fort Bliss 1947 set 1/2

[Jon McGrath]

Originally Posted by alamotex

Interesting that you have your father's photos dated 1947. I have a photocopy of a Library and Archives ( Ottawa) memorandum "Visit, Ft Bliss 17,18,July 1951 written by Lt Col J.A. Stairs which describes the trials on the Radar AA No 4 Mk 6/1. His para 2 states quote... The MZPI is performing extremely well and US officers are impressed... unquote. It was being directly compared to the US surveillance radar of the T-33 FCS, which was the forerunner of the M-33 FCS, which Canada later purchased for use with 90 mm AA guns.

I don't know about the 1951 contingent to Fort Bliss, but I know this contingent was definitely prior to 1948. There might well have been multiple testings and contingents. I'm out of town right now but, when I get home later this week, I will check a Ft. Bliss NCO club card that was issued to my dad. Jon

[Frank v R]

does the CCKW shop truck have CDN above the hood number?

[Alex van de Wetering]

Interesting pictures Jon. It´s always fascinating to see the post/war action of V2 rockets.

I have no information on the tracked vehicle, I assume it is US.

Interesting vehicle indeed. I seems to be based on Stuart bogies, tracks and sprockets, but uses 3 in stead of two bogies. The transmission cover/doors looks like M24 Chaffee.....and the overall look of the front and layout of the hatches also looks similar in design to the M24.
It almost looks like a mock-up or prototype which eventually led to the M19A1???

Alex

[Jon McGrath]

"Alamotex": I've checked my father's notes and the Fort Bliss NCO card fro his time there. It was 1946 not 1947. The contingent trained in Kingston prior to departure for Fort Bliss in March 1946, returning in September1946.

"Frank": The original photo is quite small and even with a magnifying glass, I can't make out the numbers on the hood. Interesting, the insignia / markings on the door appear to be painted over with a plain square.

"Alex": I have more photos of the V2's - on the launch pad and in flight. I can post, if you're interested, albeit those photos are not about CMP's or "post war" vehicles. As an aside, I note that you're interested in Abarths. Very cool! There are a few here in Vancouver that get displayed occasionally. I love Italian cars from the 40's to the 70's - Abarth, Lancia, Alfa, et al. As of me, no CMP's or 40's-70's Italian cars, but I do have a Ferrari 328GTS and had a Maserati 4200 Spyder GT (PM me about Italian cars, if you wish).

Jon

[alamotex]

Jon Your father most likely had a role to play in those first V-2 rocket launching trials carried out at the White Sands Proving Grounds in April 1946. The fact that the Canadian MZPI (Radar AA No 4 Mk 6) was on the site at the time of these trials raises some very interesting questions for researchers.

Check out the item National Historic Landmarks on this link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Sands_Missile_Range

[Jon McGrath]

Originally Posted by alamotex

Jon Your father most likely had a role to play in those first V-2 rocket launching trials carried out at the White Sands Proving Grounds in April 1946. The fact that the Canadian MZPI (Radar AA No 4 Mk 6) was on the site at the time of these trials raises some very interesting questions for researchers.

Check out the item National Historic Landmarks on this link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Sands_Missile_Range

Any role would have been minor, possibly transport. Although my dad had been a gun sergeant on 3.7" guns earlier, I believe that he was a bombardier at the time of this Fort Bliss / WSPG venture and, as far as I know, had no special training in radar. As mentioned there are other small format photos of the the V2, static and in launch. What sort of "interesting questions" might researchers have? Jon

[alamotex]

Jon Suggest you contact me via PM if you are interested in this topic.

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by Alex van de Wetering

...

Interesting vehicle indeed. I seems to be based on Stuart bogies, tracks and sprockets, but uses 3 in stead of two bogies. The transmission cover/doors looks like M24 Chaffee.....and the overall look of the front and layout of the hatches also looks similar in design to the M24.

It almost looks like a mock-up or prototype which eventually led to the M19A1???

Alex

I saw the same things, but without the model numbers. It is old and new technology at the same time. How about a T-65 self-propelled AA chassis, without the gun. http://ww2photo.se/tanks/usa/ligh/m5/m5.htm

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by maple_leaf_eh

I saw the same things, but without the model numbers. It is old and new technology at the same time. How about a T-65 self-propelled AA chassis, without the gun. http://ww2photo.se/tanks/usa/ligh/m5/m5.htm

Alex, Terry,

I'd vote for it being a T65 40mm Gun Motor Carriage. This was not taken in production but further developed into the M19 MGMC. I can imagine a prototype being kept at this range for testing other concepts or even as a means of transportation.

H.

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[David Dunlop]

Interesting topic here.

The attached photo is of a British Radar vehicle from the book "Half -Tracks". edited by Bart Vanderveen.

The interesting thing about this photo is that the same radar equipment sat for many years in the Princess Auto yard in Winnipeg, except rather than being installed in an International Half-Track, the Princess vehicle was an Autocar. There was no trailer that I was ever aware of, but a nearby grass fire eventually scorched the exterior of the vehicle. It was apparently purchased by somebody in the north end of Winnipeg, somewhere on or near McPhillips, who's plan was to restore it, but that was the last I heard about it.

Curious now as to what type of radar it was. The electronics racks were set up down the side behind the driver. The right hand side was partially set up with equipment racks and a desk or work bench. There was a large gear assembly on the roof, but no sign of a drive motor having survived.

David

[alamotex]

David The British radar you describe is very likely Radar FA No1 Mk1 or Mk 2 which was based on the coast artillery Radar CA No 1 Mk 4 and was developed at the end of the war for ground observation and mortar location. They were mounted on heavily overloaded US Army half-track vehicles which led to suspension failures. Refer to article "Radar in the Service of the Royal Artillery" by Lt Col David Wilcox. Counter mortar radar trials were carried out at RCA Camp Shilo, Man, in the late 1950's and the Winnipeg half track may have been part of those trials before being sold as surplus.

Brian