Nuts, Bastogne 2009

[WeyAx]

Hey stableboy,

thank you for your statement.

But I am not so common with the english lorrys, I think it could be a postwar wrecker built up of pieces, I haver never seen a lorry like this, even not in Normandy.

But it had a Fordson sign in the front.

Alex

[Stableboy]

Hey stableboy,

thank you for your statement.

But I am not so common with the english lorrys, I think it could be a postwar wrecker built up of pieces, I haver never seen a lorry like this, even not in Normandy.

But it had a Fordson sign in the front.

Alex

No problem -i would be happy to post a couple of photos and information should anyone be interested. Happy to message in French too if more helpful ;-)

Only 2 restored & running WOT8 lorries known, one in Czechoslovakia and one in UK....

[WeyAx]

Yes, thats interesting. I only knew them as landlease lorrys for Russia and there transformed into Katjushas but only with singletires:




Alex

[Stableboy]

Here is some information about the WOT8, including actual numbers supplied to Russia -
Fordson was the brand name used by the Ford Company of Dagenham, Essex, for their range of commercial vehicles and tractors. The ‘WOT’ designation was factory code for models within a range of trucks and lorries of 15cwt to 3 ton load capacity designed specifically for military service.
The WOT8 was the only 4x4 all wheel drive model in the military 30cwt class produced in the U.K.

Engine: Ford V8 3621cc 85 b.h.p sidevalve petrol engine

Top speed: governed to 40 mph

Petrol consumption (road); 8-10 miles per gallon on road
(35 gall + 2 gall reserve petrol tank)

Weight unladen: 8061lbs gross (3.59 tons)

Braking: cable & rod
(only hydraulic system on vehicle is the lift for the spare wheel)

Length: 16 ft 8 ½ inches x Width: 7ft 6 inches x Height 9ft 10 inches.

Cost on contract (1942): £750

30 cwt (1 ½ tons) was the standard load weight adopted during World War 1 for lorries deemed capable of cross country travel. This class of lorry continued in 4 and 6 wheeled form until about 1939 when standardisation of the 3 tonner 4x4 lorry began. As this 30cwt example is effectively identical in every way to the 3 tonner but shorter by nearly 4 feet, it was rapidly discontinued in favour of its bigger load carrying brother vehicle.

Only 2,516 of the WOT8 model were produced before being superceded by the 3 ton load carrying WOT6 model which ran to 29,693 examples.
In all, Ford at Dagenham produced 355,202 vehicles for military service between 1939-1945, including tractors. Their V8 engine manufacture ran to 268,788 examples during the war years, powering cars, trucks, tanks, and small boats including landing craft.

868 WOT8 were supplied to the USSR in 1942, 731 arriving safely, where many were fitted with a multiple rocket launcher in place of the rear body, while many more were lost in British service in North Africa and Italy, where they often served as towing vehicles for the heavy 17pdr anti-tank gun alongside the more common Morris.
In 1944 most remaining examples were handed over to Allied nations including Polish, Danish, and Czech forces, the latter two armies keeping them in service post 1945.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Engines of the Red Army in WW2 - Fordson WOT-8 BM-13-16

[Stableboy]

Engines of the Red Army in WW2 - Fordson WOT-8 BM-13-16

Yes, there are well-known photos on the internet of a WOT8, converted as a Katyushka rocket launch vehicle; these images are photos taken by some German troops who have captured the vehicle; what is interesting is the light arrangement on the front of the lorry, just one sidelight (and no headlight) on the drivers side - there would have been one blackout type headlight and sidelight on the other front wing, this is typical of early production models of the WOT8 and that is confirmed by the ventilator type on the front of the cab near where the crew's feet would be - on the early production there was a circular rotating vent (like on old caravans) whereas the later vehicles had the more common 'letter-box' shape of vent with a hood that sticks out, very obvious in images.
The photo of the WOT8 Katyushka probably dates from early 1942...
Otherwise, if you see the front of one of these vehicles with a hatch in the roof, or handles on the front of the cab below the windscreen, it will be a WOT6 3tonner as the 30cwt WOT8 was never made with a hatch or removable cab top for airportability..