Post War Commercial Civil Defense Trucks

[Jes Andersen]

Its actually buried in the early Deuce Forum on Steelsoldiers. A number of the members here drop in over there but here is the link. Its Edmonton centric and if anyone can add to the information, I'm sure it would be appreciated.
I know there are other sites across the country and links to their information would be welcome. I'm not directly associated with this but still find it interesting.



http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthr...cles-and-Items

This is their web site: http://civildefencemuseum.ca Lots of interesting stuff and links to other sites.

[maple_leaf_eh]

In the 70s my Militia unit had an International Carryall truck-type station wagon. Hard to call it an SUV, because it was 2WD. Hard to call it a truck, because it was a full body with a back seat.

If International was selling to the CF in the 70s, you can bet they had been in that business a long time. So long that "Carryall" was a universal code on 404s for what is now called an SUV.

[Jes Andersen]

The International 2 tons were long before my time. I recall '66? Dodge 3 ton stake trucks as well as those International Travelalls fitted for 5 passengers and driver. The trucks of interest would have been in service in the '50s likely before the deuces went into service. In addition to those vehicles we had Dodge 3/4t 4x4 pickups that were later changed out for the 5/4T. 5 tonners were promised but hadn't materialized by the time I packed it in.

The interest is in similar Civil Defense vehicles and any pictures that may be around of them. I have several old photos as RCASC trucks but can't find the pictures right now.

[Ian Johns]

Here's some photos of a truck from my landlord collection

[Dave D.]

Originally Posted by Ian Johns

Here's some photos of a truck from my landlord collection

I really like that GMC and finally found some time to get on board to share some pictures of my own.

Jes was very kind to get a thread started so I'm going to follow-up to see what other info you folks have that I can learn.

I currently belong to the new and growing Canadian Civil Defence Museum Association. We're digging up stories about Civil Defence and realize that the topic base is as big as the country. From the early nuke research, FIFO kids watching the skies, aircraft development, the transition from CD to EMO (Emergency Measures Organization), the take-over to military evacuation/ rescue planning, hidden hospitals, the NDFRS (nuclear detonation and fall-out recording system) civilian commercial vehicles/ military vehicles used for CD purposes and on and on and on.

Keeping true to the title of this thread, I'll take any pictures, stories, info, experiences, history about CD vehicles. We don't need to stick to just commercial units so include any Cold War related info you want to include.

The Mercury in the picture is one item we'd like to find and restore to its former glory. The 51' suburban is already in the barn but we don't really know if her duties were CD related or what job she had in service.

Any info that you can add is greatly appreciated.

[Dave D.]

Here are a few more samples of CD trucks that would have been used in the early days of CD preparedness. One of the most interesting is the Commer firetruck that would be worthy to find and restore.

The early days of CD preparedness included the standardization of fire hose couplings across Canada so hoses could be transported and used anywhere.

If anyone finds more photos of CD specific vehicles, we'd love to see them.
Check out our facebook page and website for more info. So far, all the costs of running the sites have been privately funded by its members and all we ask is if you like what you see, let us know with the like button.

http://civildefencemuseum.ca/ Volume warning notice
https://www.facebook.com/CanadianCiv...umAssociation/

[Dave D.]

In the early 1960's a decision was made to add the military into the Civil Defence planning. This was in part due to the recognition that target cities may need to deal with a "No Warning" nuclear threat. Rescue crews and equipment were decentralized and trained in rescue operations.
Reception towns were prepared and a bunker system was continued across the Country.
Some of the military vehicles that are documented to be ready for a nuclear strike were the M37, M135 and the 20-ton crane.