WORLD WAR 2 IN REVIEW

Ford WOT 6 3-ton with office body.

The Fordson WOT or Ford WOT was a military truck that Ford of Britain produced at its factory in Dagenham near London during World War II . A total of around 130,000 copies were produced from 1939 to 1945, almost half of which were WOT 2. The abbreviation WOT stands for War Office Truck .

Fordson was originally a separate Ford company that manufactured tractors. Fordson stood for Henry Ford & Son. The Ford Motor Company had shareholders outside of the family, but all of Fordson's shares were owned by the Ford family. Starting with differentiated commercial vehicles or vehicles developed independently by Ford of Britain, Fordson was also used as the name for Ford's British commercial vehicles. Before the start of the Second World War, Ford of Britain built the Fordson Thames 7V or the Fordson E83W. The civilian truck versions of the Fordson E88, based on the Ford barrel-nose truck, were replaced in 1939 by the Fordson Thames 7V, which had been produced in parallel for some time. The Ford or Fordson WOT was specially developed for use as a military vehicle; after the full start of series production in Dagenham, around 130 units were built every day from mid-June 1940.

Generally, there were unarmored vehicles and five models numbered 1, 2, 3, 6 and 8. Models 1 to 3 were only rear-wheel drive, while the WOT 6 and 8 had all-wheel drive . The latter two models also differed in their forward control cab, while the others had a hooded vehicle cab. All vehicles were equipped with the same water-cooled Ford side valve V-8 petrol engine with 3621 cc and 85 hp at 3800 rpm. Power was transmitted through a four-speed manual transmission. The all-wheel drive models had an additional reduction gear.

WOT 1

The WOT 1 was introduced in 1940, but was still based on the Fordson E88 or the Ford barrel-nose truck . He was the only one with double rear tires. The short version had a wheelbase of 4.2 meters and the long version, also known as WOT 1A WOT 1A / 1, 4.5 meters. Most of the models were delivered to the Royal Air Force , only 120 were used in the British Army. The most common version was a tank truck . Many vehicles were also equipped with special stands for the transport of air force personnel and drying of the parachutes, as fully equipped dental vehicles , searchlight vehicles and also as fire engines . fitted. It had a payload of 3 tons and reached a maximum speed of 72 km / h. 9,151 short and long wheelbase vehicles were built between 1940 and 1945.

Length: 7.09 m

Height: 3.10 m

Width: 2.13 m

Empty weight: 3.5 tons

WOT 2

In 1939 the production of the WOT 2 began, which was the smallest version of the six models with a payload of around 750 kilograms (15cwt). It was built as a flatbed truck or a box truck . In the six-year construction period there were constant improvements and the model designation ranged from A to H. The A-model had an open cabin with a tarpaulin top structure and small windows that were not completely sealed off. The E version, on the other hand, had partially closed doors made of metal but no windshield. The electrical system originally had 6 volts but was increased to 12 volts in later versions. A total of about 60,000 copies were built and used until the 1950s.

Length: 4.50 m

Height: 2.30 m

Width: 2.00 m

Empty weight: 2050 kg

Tank capacity: 104 liters

WOT 3

The WOT was mainly used by the Royal Air Force. He had a payload of approx. 1360 kg (English 30cwt). Almost 18,000 units were built between 1939 and 1944. In addition to the usual truck version, there were also special military bodies and a tractor unit with a short wheelbase.

Length: 5.80 m

Height: 2.60 m

Width: 2.20 m

Empty weight: 2950 kg

WOT 8

The only truck made in England at that time with a payload of 30 quintals (1.5 tons) and all-wheel drive was the WOT 8. The WOT 8 was produced between 1941 and 1942 with approximately 2,500 units being made. The British Army used the model as an artillery tractor in North Africa. During the war, 868 units were delivered to the Soviet Union under the Atlantic Charter, of which only 731 reached their destination. The Red Army used the WOT 8 as a launching pad for the Katyusha rockets.

Length: 5.10 m

Height: 2.70 m

Width: 2.30 m

Empty weight: 3850 kg

Tank capacity: 160 liters

Range: 450 km

Maximum speed on the road: 70 km / h

WOT 6

The WOT 6 was a WOT 8 with a longer wheelbase and a double payload of 3 tons. It also received an additional reduction gear to improve the ride quality. The WOT 6 was used closer to the front and many of the vehicles therefore had an opening on the roof in the cabin for operating machine guns, for example . Between 1942 and 1945 almost 30,000 copies were built with various special versions in addition to the standard truck. The Danish army also used the WOT 6 after the war. The last Danish WOT 6 was retired in 1974.

Length: 6.10 m

Height: 3.20 m

Width: 2.30 m

Empty weight: 5400 kg

Tank capacity: 160 liters

Range: 450 km

References

Bishop, Denis; Ellis, Chris (1979). Vehicles at War. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.

Georgano, G. N. (1994). World War Two Military Vehicles: Transport & Halftracks. London: Osprey.

Ware, Pat (2012). A Complete Directory of Military Vehicles. Wigston: Anness Publishing Ltd.

Civilians celebrate as British vehicles, a Fordson WOT truck in the lead, enter Brussels, 4 September 1944.

Ford WOT 1 fire/crash tender, RAF.

Ford WOT 1 foam tender, RAF.

Ford WOT 1 6x4 photographic and printing truck, RAF.

Ford WOT 1 6x4 bulk fuel tanker, RAF.

The presence of aircraft in an otherwise remote location, previously linked to the mainland by boat only, meant that No 220 Squadron flew its share of mercy missions from Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides. This patient with acute appendicitis was airlifted to hospital on the mainland in one of the Squadron's Fortresses, the open waist window serving as a convenient entrance to the aircraft, May 1943. The ambulance is a Fordson WOT 1 truck.

Dressed in protective suits, an RAF typhus team of No. 31 Mobile Field Hospital wait by their Fordson WOT1 ambulances at Bari, as they prepare to receive wounded and sick partisans and civilians of the Yugoslav National Army of Liberation, evacuated to Italy by the Balkan Air Force Casualty Evacuation Section.

A group of officers of No. 13 Squadron RAF stand outside the Squadron's mobile Operations Room at Canrobert, Algeria. The truck is a Fordson WOT 1.

RAF Barrage Balloon Winch on a Fordson WOT 1 truck at Duxford Airforce Museum.

Men wait on and beside their British-made Fordson Weeton crash tender and ambulance, in case of emergency, as a B17 Flying Fortress lands at an American airfield, somewhere in Britain, after a mission over the Ruhr. The engines of the trucks are kept running and the men are alert at their posts, ready to move into action. Visible on the back of the crash tender is an asbestos suit, which enables the wearer to work in fire for several minutes, giving him enough time to rescue any trapped crew members, should an aircraft catch fire on landing. The aircraft features the letters UX, indicating that it is an aircraft of 407 Squadron, 92nd Bombardment Group.

Sergeant Raymond W Szatkowski checks in the incoming aircraft with the control tower via telephone from his British-made Fordson Weeton crash tender. These vehicles are posted with ambulances as strategic points around the airfield when an aircraft is due to land, to ensure that they are ready in case of emergency. The incoming aircraft are returning after a mission over the Ruhr.

A Royal Air Force Fordson Weeton anti-fire bowser with a fireman wearing an asbestos suit in the foreground at Prestwick, Scotland, 1944.

Norwegian troops in Fordson WOT 2 15-cwt trucks, Coatbridge, Scotland, 10 November 1940.

A line of Fordson WOT 2 army trucks awaits collection along a tree-lined lane or path, somewhere in Britain, 1944. They will soon be collected by various units and transported to the Second Front. In the foreground, an ATS mechanic can be seen sitting on the wheel arch of one of the vehicles, her back to the camera. Another member of the ATS can be seen walking down the lane into the distance.

Men and military equipment including Fordson WOT 2 truck parked outside a building.

An RAF padre leads the hymn-singing from the back of a Fordson WOT 2 lorry during an open-air Sunday service for ground crew on the airfield at Luqa, Malta. Behind the chaplain, an RAF officer accompanies the singing on a harmonium.

An American engineer attempts to channel water away as a British Fordson WOT 2 15-cwt truck negotiates a flooded road, Italy, 17 November 1943.

A soldier of the Rifle Brigade digging a trench to help camouflage and protect a Fordson WOT 2 15cwt truck, North Africa, 20 April 1942.

A soldier takes a bearing from his Fordson WOT 2 15cwt truck, North Africa, 20 April 1942.

A Fordson WOT 2 15cwt truck is marooned on a flooded railway line near Kranenburg after the Germans had deliberately blown dams in the area, 14 February 1945.

A Fordson WOT 2 15cwt truck, marooned on a flooded railway line near Kranenburg, is towed to safety by a Scammell Pioneer recovery vehicle, 14 February 1945.

British troops with German POWs being transported on a Fordson WOT 2 15cwt truck, near Gournay-en-Bray, 31 August 1944.

Troops and Fordson WOT 2 transport of 51st Highland Division advance towards Catania, Sicily, 12 July 1943.

Troops in a town stop a civilian car for security checks during an exercise in Southern Command, 27 May 1941. The army vehicle is a Fordson WOT 2.

REME soldiers and ATS women inspecting and servicing lorries including Fordson WOT 2 trucks before issue to units, at a vehicle reserve depot at Bredon in Worcestershire, 25 April 1944.

Crews of No. 77 Squadron RAF about to be driven to the dispersals at Elvington, Yorkshire, for the Squadron's fourth raid on Berlin, Germany. Note the two WAAF drivers by the tailboard of the Fordson WOT 3 lorry.

Mechanics carrying out waterproofing of Fordson WOT 3 vehicles of a RAF Mobile Signals Unit at Amesbury, Wiltshire, in preparation for the invasion of Normandy.

Cromwell tanks, scout cars and Fordson WOT 8 trucks of 7th Armoured Division pass through Brunen during the advance from the Rhine bridgehead, 29 March 1945.

Soviet Fordson WOT-8 BM-13-16 Katyusha rocket launcher truck.

Typical airfield apron on an RAF/USAF airbase during the war, with two Fordson WOT-1 fire tenders. The front one is the standard early-design WOT 1 with enclosed pump, the other is a Weeton-type, with enclosed cab. Completing the scene is a Thornycroft Amazon crane for salvage and lifting mechanical parts or aircraft, a GMC deuce-and-a-half with a No.7 set gantry for maintenance. At the front stands a Cletrac M2 high-speed, seven-ton tractor used for towing aircraft.

A great period photograph of a Fordson WOT-1 ambulance parked at the base of a control tower at the ‘top-secret’ RAF Tempsford airfield at Sandy, Bedfordshire, with a WOT-1 fire tender on the far side. The three spotlights and the stance of the official on the balcony, suggests that filming may be taking place.

Before the Fordson WOT-1’s arrival, the airfields were covered by a fleet of Crossley FE1 fire tenders.

RAF Scampton line-up. From the left, a Crossley water tender with a derrick attached to the rear for lifting. In the centre, there’s a later, Monitor-type WOT-1 v(note the girder structure fixed to the rear), the middle one is a Weeton-type with closed cab while a more original Crossley FE1 is on the right.

A period image of an open-cab WOT 1, UYB 545, with exposed pump installation, on stand-by at the side of an airfield hanger.

Topping up the 300-gallon water tank on a WOT 1.

Fordson WOT8, 30-cwt (1.5-ton), 4x4, General Service.

Fordson WOT 8 GS is the 25,000th four wheel drive war vehicle produced.

Fordson WOT 6.

Soldiers from the 1st Infantry Battalion of the Czechoslovak Independent Brigade help cleaning rubble after the air-bombing of Coventry, UK, spring 1942. Fordson WOT 8.

Maintenance of Fordson WOT 8 by soldier of the Transport Logistics unit of the Czechoslovak Independent Brigade in Great Britain.

Signal Company of the Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade, Great - Oahley, Northampton. March 1944. Fordson WOT 2 on the left and a WOT 8 on the right.

Fordson WOT 6 "Eva" one of about 25 that came with the Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade Group to liberated Czechoslovakia in May/June 1945.

Fordson WOT 6.

An early model Ford WOT 6 in Italy, 1944. Markings are for the 5th Field Park Company, 2nd New Zealand Divisional Engineers. White 59 on a blue square. It and the similar truck behind appear to be carrying sections of a Bailey bridge.