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This 1942 War Department training film (No. 11554) is one of a series of driving and vehicle maintenance training films produced by the Signal Corps during the war. This film shows how to navigate difficult driving conditions and features several variations of the GMC CCKW 21/2ton truck as well as the Dodge ½ton WC car (the first “Jeep”). The film opens with a several soldiers watching as what appears to be a Dodge ½ton WC command/reconnaissance car drives through a muddy field, and the occupants must get out to help push the vehicle free of the mud. What appears to be a GMC CCKW 21/2ton 6x6 truck gets bogged down in mud (01:30). A soldier gets out and uses a shovel to clear the wheels. A soldier guides the leading vehicle of a vehicle column and removes rocks from the path. The guide notifies the lead truck driver of a small ditch, and the film shows how the driver can successfully cross the ditch. Another GMC CCKW 6x6 crosses a larger ditch after a soldier shovels out some of the bank (03:55). A driver drives a similar truck through a mud hole and up a steep grade. A truck is stuck in a mud hole (05:31). A truck drives on a dirt road, straddling deep ruts. Another GMC CCKW 6x6 drives across boggy ground (06:52), avoiding existing tracks. The film then shows a Dodge ½ton WC command/reconnaissance car skid in slow motion as it turns onto a paved road (07:25). Trucks drive up a steep slope, as men with blocks walk beside the vehicle ready to block the wheels if there is a stall. Footage shows inside the cabin where the driver applies the foot and hand break during a stop on a steep hill (09:18). The film shows the truck driving down a hill, then a driver making a tight, hairpin turn. The same maneuver is shown with the truck towing a small trailer, then an example of the truck pulling a twoaxle trailer is shown. Two GMC CCKW 6x6 trucks drive along a road (12:43). Men hook a tow bar to the front axle of one of the trucks. They lock the other end on the hitch of another truck (13:47). Several soldiers examine a bank and stream to find a suitable crossing site for a GMC CCKW 6x6 with a track belt on the back wheels (14:16). They cut down brush, loosen the engine’s fan belt, then the driver slowly approaches the crossing and enters the water. The truck climbs out on the opposite bank of the stream. The men tighten the fan belt after crossing the stream (16:48), concluding the film.



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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com