>Regarding the name "jeep", I found an interesting piece of first hand
>knowledge at: >http://www.fcsa.org/articles/50hist1.htm
>The author, John M Williams is actually recalling uses of the .50 Cal
>machine gun, but he talks about the "peeps" and "jeeps":
>.... On the back of the turret was a pedestal-mounted 0.50 caliber which
>seldom got used. Lets face it, nobody was dumb enough to get out of the
tank
>and stand on the back deck to fire the thing. No Alan Ladds or John Waynes
>in our outfit.
****** Audie Murphy won a Congressional Medal of Honour using one of these
on an M10 Tank Destroyer as I recall (ref. article in AFTER THE BATTLE where
they actually found (little) parts of that M10 still in situ on the
battlefield.
>In the reconn platoon, all the peeps (armored outfits called a jeep a peep
>and a 3/4 ton weapons carrier a jeep) had pedestal mounted 50s (like in the
>TV series, Rat-Patrol)."
***** "Rat patrol" - Hollywood rewriting history. Taking the SAS and
Americanizing it. Oh well....
I guess "Peep" didn't go over real well in corporate board rooms….
Chris Davis
'52 M37 (jeep?)
MVPA# 20000
Lake Forest, CA
***** I believe it was General Patton who insisted on "peep" for 1/4 ton and
"jeep" for 3/4 ton. There was an article in Army Motors (MVPA) about that
some eyars ago, but as I have the full 23 years of AMs I can't recall
offhand WHICH one! Maybe one of our other listers can recall the details.
Colin Macgregor Stevens
MVPA Member 954 (since 1977)
& member B Coy 1 Canadian Parachute Battalion (Living History)
Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, Canada
E-mail: colin@pacdat.net
Personal web site: http://bcoy1cpb.pacdat.net
1944 Willys MB
1942 BSA airborne bicycles (2)
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