CMP Blitz
The Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) truck was a class of military truck - of various forms - made in large numbers in Canada during World War II to British Army specifications for use in the armies of the British Commonwealth allies.
Standard designs were drawn up just before the beginning of the war.
CMP trucks were also sent to the Soviet Union following the Nazi invasion, as part of Canada's Gift and Mutual Aid program to the Allies.
During the War CMP trucks saw service around the world in the North African Campaign, the Allied invasion of Sicily, the Italian Campaign, the Soviet Front, the Burma Campaign, the Battle of the Philippines (1941–42), the liberation of Northwest Europe, and the Western Allied invasion of Germany.
CMP trucks also saw service in post-war conflicts in Indonesia, French Indochina, and the Portuguese colonies in Africa.
The Ford and Chevrolet trucks shared a standard cab design, which evolved over the years of production.
The first (designed at Ford by Sid Swallow), second and third cab designs were called No. 11, 12 and 13, respectively.
The first two type were similar, the main difference being a two-part radiator grille in No.12 cab (its upper part was opened with a bonnet, which was known as the "Alligator cab").
The final No. 13 cab, an entirely Canadian design made from late 1941 until the end of the war, had the two flat panes of the windscreen angled slightly downward to minimize the glare from the sun and to avoid causing strong reflections that would be observable from aircraft.
All the CMP cab designs had a short, "cab forward" configuration that gave CMP trucks their distinctive pug-nosed profile.
This design was required to meet the original British specifications for a compact truck design that would be more efficient to transport by ship.
The specifications also demanded right-hand drive.
Internally the cab had to accommodate the comparatively large North American engines and it was generally cramped.
The standard cabs were then matched up with a variety of standard chassis, drive trains and body designs.
Chevrolet-built vehicles could be recognised by the radiator grille mesh being of a diamond pattern, whereas Ford-built ones had grilles formed of a square mesh.
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