Forums at The Military Horse

Pat Holscher wrote:And then there was the early alternative to mounted infantry:



Pat

Donkeys in Afghanistan. . . bicycles in use by the airborne. . .

http://www.montagueco.com/bikes/paratro ... -bike.html

Hmmm. . . . everything old is new again.

The Japanese used bicycles effectively in the assault on Singapore during WWII. The North Vietnamese used bicycles effectively as logistics transport vehicles during the Viet Nam War. Maybe between bicycles and donkeys we can win in Aghanistan.

[quote]. Maybe between bicycles and donkeys we can win in Aghanistan./quote]
Donkeys on bicycles - now that is something that even Google can't help me imagine!

Trooper wrote:

. Maybe between bicycles and donkeys we can win in Aghanistan./quote]
Donkeys on bicycles - now that is something that even Google can't help me imagine!

Just remember you heard it here first!

A the Wyoming annual MG Association meet and shoot (open to us public gawkers).

Pat,
These are some of the best detail shots of a late build MM5 Stuart I have seen. Very good. The detail of the restoration is also quite good, down to the authentic issue pretzels under the gas pedal.
Rick

Rick Throckmorton wrote:Pat,
These are some of the best detail shots of a late build MM5 Stuart I have seen. Very good. The detail of the restoration is also quite good, down to the authentic issue pretzels under the gas pedal.
Rick

I should note here that most of the interior photographs, including the pretzel photo, were taken by my son, Marcus.

Movies, taken on the same camera, of the M5. Trust me, the short film clips really are there.

http://paintedbricksofcasperwyoming.blo ... 06/m5.html

That's nice Pat, but a bit modern, technically armoured cavalry though.

A somewhat earlier horse replacement can be seen here;

http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.ph ... truck-find

The thread isn't for the faint-hearted, being 83 pages at the minute, so make the tea / coffee first. If that sort of thing interests you you can go upwards in the same forum and find the Pre-WW2 Vehicle section which has other similar threads, including some US content.

Gordon

( straight back to the garage to work on the telephone trailer )

Gordon_M wrote:That's nice Pat, but a bit modern, technically armoured cavalry though.

A somewhat earlier horse replacement can be seen here;

http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.ph ... truck-find

The thread isn't for the faint-hearted, being 83 pages at the minute, so make the tea / coffee first. If that sort of thing interests you you can go upwards in the same forum and find the Pre-WW2 Vehicle section which has other similar threads, including some US content.

Gordon

( straight back to the garage to work on the telephone trailer )

What level of saintly patience and monetary magnitude does it take to undertake a project like that? Some great stuff!

Gordon_M wrote:That's nice Pat, but a bit modern, technically armoured cavalry though.

A somewhat earlier horse replacement can be seen here;

http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.ph ... truck-find

The thread isn't for the faint-hearted, being 83 pages at the minute, so make the tea / coffee first. If that sort of thing interests you you can go upwards in the same forum and find the Pre-WW2 Vehicle section which has other similar threads, including some US content.

Gordon

( straight back to the garage to work on the telephone trailer )

Wow! Great stuff! Thanks for linking it in. It will take some time to study, but it's well worth it!

I'm going to link this thread into an earlier "replacement" thread so we get the early vehicle link in there.

Really interesting stuff.

That family team have about two WW1 vehicles finished, and another three / four in various stages of restoration.

As my collection is primaily WW2, the most obvious difference is the availability of standardised spares. I seem to remember it was the US Government that insisted on the standardisation programme, so that a gauge, light, bracket, or instrument could be swapped between vehicle manufacturers and within ranges. The restoration aspects of that truck are far less interesting ( technically ) than things like the water pump and drive couplings which they had to make from photos, sketches, drawings, and first principles. Another thread on there shows a huge rear differential drive gear which had to be made from scratch at great cost.

That said, even in WW2 the horse-heritage of some of the equipment is still quite clear. The early war Dodge pickups had a bed which was just a metal version of a horse-drawn wagon bed, and the Command Cars had saddle-grade leather covers. I've seen a few of these seats which were re-covered with ordinary modern seat leather, but my experience of the original coverings is that the leather was about twice as thick, much tougher, and showed evidence of markings suggesting the cows had interesting lives. I usually suggest that when someone needs these seats recovered they find a saddler to consult, rather than an upholsterer. On the heavier vehicles, ash-framed cabs were the norm, and wreckers were equipped with whiffletrees / whippletrees for towing, so it really hadn't moved on from WW1.

Although there are a huge pile of US WW2 vehicles in preservation, the focus is very much on those used outside the continental US in war zones - I'm not aware of anyone with livestock transport vehicles that have been restored, but if there are any there are in the US.

Gordon

Gordon_M wrote:I'm not aware of anyone with livestock transport vehicles that have been restored, but if there are any there are in the US.

Gordon

I wonder if any of the portee trailers even still exist. I doubt it, and if they do, they were probably surplused out to farmers, cattlemen, or livestock haulers, and probably aren't even recognized today as military trailers.

Pat Holscher wrote:

Gordon_M wrote:I'm not aware of anyone with livestock transport vehicles that have been restored, but if there are any there are in the US.

Gordon

I wonder if any of the portee trailers even still exist. I doubt it, and if they do, they were probably surplused out to farmers, cattlemen, or livestock haulers, and probably aren't even recognized today as military trailers.

Couvi has sent some great examples of these in photographs which I'll be posting soon, courtesy of Director Scott Hamric, 3rd ACR Museum. So, there are indeed some surviving examples, thanks to the U.S. Army.

U.S. Army bicycles.

http://www.theliberator.be/militarybicycles.htm

Concept for an early replacement, which was either way ahead of its time, or completely nuts.

Pat Holscher wrote:Concept for an early replacement, which was either way ahead of its time, or completely nuts.

Just a tad early with that concept. I would imagine that steam-producing machinery
and hydrogen would not get along too well.

I'm liking the little Cushman Airborne and Package Cart, Pat.

You don't have to feed them, and if they get sick you can fix them when you get round to it.

Gordon