For Korea, you have to realize also that there was another little conflict
going on right around the same time, which consumed lots of US equipment-
French Indochina. I have just finished reading a book about the US
experience in Vietnam from 1941 to 1960. The French had a terrible system
of inventory, and when they left Indochina, they took the best of the
equipment for themselves to equip their forces in Algeria (where we saw fit
to not intervene). At the time, the US Congress wanted to know just what
happened to the 1.1 Billion dollars in aid we had given to the French.
During 1954 and 1955, the major job of all the advisors was to sort out the
equipment there and re-issue it to the South Vietnamese. All of the quotes
from the original advisors contain references to the fact that much of the
equipment was still marked with US unit markings from the Korean War, and
deadlined. There were no serviceable trucks turned in by the French, and
the French forces' commander refused to allow inspections of the supply
depots. Of course, the good stuff was loaded onto ships and went directly
to Algeria.
My point is that you stand a better chance of finding a Korean War veteran
vehicle in France than you do of finding one here in the US or Canada.
-----Original Message-----
From: COLIN STEVENS <colin@pacdat.net>
To: Norona, Mike <MNorona@amsuper.com>; 'Jock J Jones' <jockjones@juno.com>;
'MV List' <mil-veh@skylee.com>
Date: Tuesday, August 24, 1999 12:56 AM
Subject: Re: [MV] Korean War MVs
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Norona, Mike <MNorona@amsuper.com>
>To: 'Jock J Jones' <jockjones@juno.com>; 'MV List' <mil-veh@skylee.com>
>Date: Monday, August 23, 1999 12:50 PM
>Subject: RE: [MV] Korean War
>
>.... Does anyone know for sure if units were returned stateside from that
>theater?
>>- mazo mike
>==================================
>
>Don Robson in Vancouver, BC, Canada owns an M16 or M16A1 White half-track
>which came back from Japan. It had the white star on the radiator shutters
>and in an arc over the star, the name JOAD (a character from a famous
>novel). It had a Japanese rebuild plate on the engine I believe. We do not
>know if it was used in Korea or not, but it might have been. Probably any
>surplus MVs returned from Korea to the USA would have been routed through
>Fort Lewis in WA and bases in Calif.
>
>If you are planning to do up a vehicle for next year's 50th Anniversary of
>the start of the Korean War (and to honour the vets of this forgotten war),
>look at the photos. You will notice that MOST of the vehicles, certainly in
>the first couple of years, were good old 6 Volt W.W. II vehicles e.g.
>MB/GPW (including slat grill MB), Dodge Weapons Carriers, GMC CCKWs,
>half-tracks, M-8 armoured cars etc. I only see M series vehicles in later
>years in Korea. WHY 6 VOLT OLD VEHICLES? I suspect because that was the
>"standard" in that zone of operations and the middle of a desperate fight
is
>NOT the time to be changing to 24 V vehicles! Indeed in ARMY MOTORS (MVPA's
>magazine) I recall seeing pictures of a soldier with his M38 stateside,
then
>with an MB/GPW once he got to Korea! Thus although most people call the M
>series vehiclesd (M38, M37 etc.) "Korean War vehicles", that war was for
the
>most part fought with W.W. II vehicles!
>
>Incidently, although Canada produced almost a million military vehicles in
>World War II (sending thousands of Department of National Defence Pattern /
>Canadian Military Pattern, Modified Conventional Pattern and armoured
>vehicles to UK, Egypt, USSR, Australia, NZ, South Africa etc. - and
post-war
>giving thousands to Norway, Holland, Belgium, France, England, Italy,
>Czechoslovakia, Poland etc.) when the Korean War came along, we sent our
>troops over to Korea with U.S. W.W. II vehicles. Ironically, there were
>hundreds of Canadian built vehicles used in Korea by the British and
>Australian units - not Canadians!
>
>If there is any one wanting information (or having info to provide) on
>Canadian military vehicle markings in Korea, please contact me, Colin
>Stevens at colin@pacdat.net It is a poorly documented field. I have some
>info - looking especially for the shield decals (I have a damaged NOS one)
>and vehicle marking manuals/instructions/orders.
>
>
>
>
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