WWII and Marines are storming

World War II (WWII) was a devastating war on a scale of massive proportions. WWII involved nearly all of the major countries of the world and hurt each deeply. Many people accredit the Allied victory to the soldiers who fought in the war and the weapons they fought with, but there is something even more important than these. The vehicles of WWII formed the very backbone in which the war was fought, yet these vehicles are largely overlooked when the results of this terrible war are examined. Without the vehicles of WWII, the soldiers of all the involved countries would not have made it to the battlefield. There is a common pattern among the nations that participated in World War II. Most of the nations presented a specific vehicle, which was critically important to the outcome of the war. The Americans, for example, had the Jeep. Without the Jeep, the Allies would have surely lost.

The American Jeep is a marvel unto itself. This little “car” could go just about anywhere, regardless of the terrain or conditions. The Jeep rarely, if ever, became stuck, but if it did, it had the uncanny tenacity to claw its way out of almost any situation. The Jeep was invented due to an order placed by the United States Department of the Army, which called for a small reconnaissance vehicle to perform various tasks that other, larger Army vehicles could not perform with precision or skill. The Army extended this request to over 135 different car companies, but only three responded.

American Bantam Motors Corporation was the first company to respond with a working prototype to this request. Ford and Willys-Overland were the other two companies to join the rivalry for the contract offered by the Army. Bantam was the company that invented the iconic Jeep look as we know it today. Ford and Willys-Overland managed to get their hands on a copy of the blueprints and schematics used to build the Bantam prototype named the “Blitzbuggy.” These two conniving car companies then proceeded to plagiarize from Bantam's design and presented the Army with two almost identical vehicles in the testing of the three prototypes at Fort Holabird.

Willys-Overland eventually won the contract due to their more powerful engine, but allowed the Army to provide Ford with the specifications of their Jeep so that Ford could aid in the mass production of the Jeep. The Jeep was used in all theatres the Americans fought in during WWII. It performed unfailing no matter how it was used or what the terrain conditions were. The Jeeps of WWII were used to do everything from lead raiding parties to plowing fields. The Bantam design was used until 1948 when the Jeep received a facelift that slightly changed the look of the front end. Jeeps were used in military service all the way up until the Vietnam War. (Jason 36)The Germans, on the other hand, had a vehicle to rival the Jeep in importance and ...