The picture is from J.W. Hogendoorn's De Jeep in Nederland. An excellent and comprehensive account of all jeep variants, both military and civilian, that served in Holland. Plenty of info on jeeps in the colonies is available as well. This picture from 1948 shows two armoured jeeps on Java, fitted out for use on railways and connected back to back. The jeeps seem to be Willy's, mounting an armoured hull. We do not exactly know who did this and when. Willys jeeps probably did not arrive in the Dutch East Indies before the Japanese invasion (Ford GP's did). So we can state at least that the armoured hulls were fitted after 1946 to the Willys chassis. But what about the hulls? Who made these and when? Take a look at the armoured hull (shape and welding) and compare it to the Stadswacht Overvalwagens. It is very similar. Did someone recycle early K.N.I.L. armour by cutting and pasting Overvalwagen hulls to produce these armoured jeeps? Or were these armoured hulls already built in 1941-42 for Ford GP's? Some K.N.I.L. accounts of the period vaguely mention "armoured jeeps" or armoured "terreinwagens" in service, but we have no evidence. Who knows?
Source :
http://www.overvalwagen.com/mysteryvehicles.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment