CMP's from Moose Jaw

[Spurrat]

These are pictures from a trip to Saskatchewan a few years ago.

Enjoy!

[Spurrat]

2

[Spurrat]

3

[Phil Waterman]

Thanks Jason for posting the pictures from Moose Jaw. I had lost my picture of the CMP with the radio shelter which I had wanted to include on my web page.

I hope that it is Ok to add it to my site? With approriate credit to the source.

Did you happen to take any other shots of the radio shelter?

[Spurrat]

Hi Phil!

Yes feel free to use the picture if you like. I do not have any other pictures of these vehicles at this time but the next time I drive through I will take a bunch more for you.

I have a digital camera now, film is cheap.

[rob love]

I could shed some light on each of these vehicles as I was involved in the either the restoration or donation (or both) on each of these trucks.

The first CMP is a Ford which I picked up East of Saskatoon to donate to the museum. It received a quick one week cosmetic restoration along with the addition of a few parts, and there she sits. I even managed to find a tool box/spare tire carrier for it. On the day of the opening ceremony for the museum, I was still piecing it together two hours before, and had just enough time to tow it down to the armouries and go home and get changed for the ceremony.

The second CMP is a Chevrolet 15cwt which was in possesion of the Saskatchewan military museum and was languishing unrestored in the compound in Saskatoon armoury. I suggested to the curator that he approach my ET (the base maintenance MWO) about having it restored as a shop project on a workorder. The ET agreed, and set a budget of $2000 for the project. It got all new brakes, seals, and a batch of parts from Brian Asbury including new guage panel and wiring harness. At that time, things like the marker lights and BO headlamps were still in the Canadian Forces supply system (mid 90s).
We put about 400 hours of labour into the truck, and presented it back to the museum on EME day 1995.

The third truck was a 3 ton cargo we found in the hills south of Swift Current. The van body had an interesting history. Around the same time period, one of the guys who was posted out to HQ&Sigs in Calgary called me up to say they had an old duece van body that the Brigade Commander used during excersices at one time, but they now wanted to dispose of it. The museum had no interest in a duece body, so I suggested to the ET that they bring it in for a smoke shack for the smokers to take their filthy habit to. I went on leave for a couple of weeks, and was very surprised to see the WW2 van body had shown up and was now occupied by the smokers. I was also a little disturbed when I found the butt can burning away one evening inside the body, and decided it should be saved. I arranged for a duece van body from the armouries in Regina to be traded for the Sigs body, and the sigs body was sent to the MJ armoury and sat into the back of the 3 ton where it now resides.
I believe the box is actually an American box, so although not an authentic combination, it still looks pretty good.

We put together a fair collection over the three year period I was involved with the museum. The nice thing about Moose Jaw is that the youth there do net seem as determined to destroy things as elsewhere. The first trucks I did for the museum I replaced all the windows with Lexan, but after the decade sitting out there in an unlocked outdoor setting, I don't think any of the glass has been smashed out of any of the trucks.

The vehicles we found for the museum were in exceptional shape as well. Normally rust free, and usually fairly unmodified, they proved to be easy candidates for restorations.

[Spurrat]

Rob, thank you for all the work, time, expense you put into saving these vehicles. When I first saw how many vehicles and the great condition they were in I was very surprised. Now I stop there every time I drive to Regina. It is a great thing as well that the vandals are respecting them.

[servicepub (RIP)]

From the D-Day 6-0th Anniversary in Ottawa

[servicepub (RIP)]

Interior view of same van

[sapper740]

Originally posted by rob love
The first CMP is a Ford which I picked up East of Saskatoon to donate to the museum. It received a quick one week cosmetic restoration

Question...What can you tell me about the siren on this CMP? Was it original or added later. Reason I'm asking is that I picked up a working 6 volt siren at a flea market that looks remarkably similar to the one on this truck. I'm thinking about installing it on my C15, if its original.

[king of obsolete]

thansk rob, i have been t the dispaly and now i know the rest of the story. i thought the display was very well done. we are in moose jaw at the western delevopment museum because we have freinds there. so about once a year we make the trip to visit.
are you working on any of the machines for the shilo museum, my mom works there. did a tour in august when i was done in the south.

thansk

[Craig Tanner]

Those radio van pictures are wonderful. I have been looking for pictures to help me in my restoration. Would you have any more? Or does any one know where I could get some pictures. They seem hard to find. I have been to the museum at CFB Kingston and took about a hundred detailed photos but I could do with more either original wartime photos or restored versions.

Thanks

Craig Tanner

[rob love]

Originally posted by sapper740
Question...What can you tell me about the siren on this CMP? Was it original or added later. Reason I'm asking is that I picked up a working 6 volt siren at a flea market that looks remarkably similar to the one on this truck. I'm thinking about installing it on my C15, if its original.

I'll assume you are talking about the item mounted on the left frame rail. That is the horn, and is the standard Ford commercial horn of the day, and was used on pretty much all the CMP fleet. It was on the early carriers, but this was dropped after the first couple thousand.

A chev horn was different. (It probably had to be liquid resistant to be near all that oil spraying out of those 216 engines) They were usually mounted on the engine manifold.

Canada didn't put sirens on it's combat vehicles. That seemed to be more an American trait. While it must have been impressive to see hundreds of vehicles coming ashore with sirens blazing, I'm not so sure the results would have been worthwhile.

[Robert Dabkowski]

Craig, have you been in touch with the Ferret Club at Oshawa Ontario (30km east of Toronto) ? They have a rerstored version also, located in the Ontario Regiment Museum at Oshawa airport.