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INFORMATION SOUGHT Do you own a World War II CLASS 110 Army Crash Truck also known as “Truck, Airfield, Crash, 1-1/2 Ton, 4x4 or know anyone who has one. I want to learn whether the pump on the truck is a centrifugal or rotary gear, the pump maker’s name, the pump’s model and serial number and the pump’s out put in GPM and PSI. If you have any or all of this information, please contact me at r11@maui.net (or email vehiclesofvictory). Many thanks, Jim Davis, Member and historian, 1204th Army Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon, World War II New - We have just started a resource page for those wanting parts, service or more information on their WWII era fire truck. Click here to view our new "Fire Equipment Resources" Contributions welcome!
Due to the very limited
information on these trucks, Jim Davis and myself are trying to
locate as many of these vehicles as possible and combine this information
into a centralized database. To this end, we have
developed a survey to help identify the trucks and locations to better
understand what models still exist and possibly estimate production numbers.
Updates will periodically be posted to this section. If you have or
know of a WWII fire truck, please fill out the survey. You can have it
emailed, faxed or mailed to you by sending your contact information
to
bmuller@vehiclesofvictory.com. You can also download the form
here: fire truck survey.
You can mail, email or fax the survey back (fax to 518-872-1012).
To do as accurate and rapid an identification as possible, Jim asks you supply if possible, the following:
Photos of any builder’s plates for the truck, pump, or truck body or other unique parts
If a mid-ship, is the pump driven by: a) transmission mounted power take off or b) drive line mounted transfer case. 5. Anything unique or special you see about your truck.
Survey Results as of 10/17/04
CLASS 4x2
4x4 Remarks
110
1
125
3
135
1
300
1
1
325
1
3
500
2
525
1
750
Class 100 - High Pressure CO2 - 6x4 Class 110 - High Pressure CO2 - 4x4 Class
110 4x4 Truck
Class 135 - High Pressure Fog - Foam - 4x2
Class 135 4x4 Truck Class 150 - Low Pressure CO2 – 6x6 The Table of Organization and Equipment (T/O & E) for Engineer Aviation Fire Fighting Platoons does not call for Class 100, 110, 125 150 or 155 trucks. The writer’s research suggests the Class 100, 110 and 125 were not deployed overseas. The Class 125 did serve in the Korean Conflict. The Class 150 was deployed overseas sometime in the war, but to a unit at this time unidentified. The Class 155 probably started to come off the production lines towards war’s end because of constantly changing specification changes over several years.
Class 300
1942
Chevrolet-Darley 4x2
(above) Class 300 - Water, Brush Truck - 4x4
(picture below)
Class 325 - Water, General Service including Foam - 4x2
Class 325 - Water, General Service including Foam - 4x4
Class 325 - Water, 4x2 - Pump mounted mid ship and driven off transmission Class 335 - Water, General Service including Foam – 6x6
The T/O & E for Engineer Fire Fighting Platoons called for the Class 325, General Service in 4x2 first and later in 4x4. The Class 325 with its self powered pump and with the mid-ship pump do not appear in any T/O & E and were never seen in North Africa, Italy, France or Germany by the writer. It is the writer’s thought these two trucks were created to serve the Posts, Camps and Stations of the United States.
Class 325 Chevy 4X4 Fire Truck and Class
1000 Trailer This restored class 325 truck belongs to John Lind (jlind22@comcast.net) of Shelby, Michigan. This 1943 Chevy was with the 362nd fighter Squadron, 8th Airforce. It was brought back to the states for display at AAF headquarters prior to being sold to a local fire company and finally John. The Class 335 was a hybrid first created by the 1208th
Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon in Algiers in mid 1943.
The pump, piping, tools, hose, sirens, etc were taken from a Class 325 and
mated to the cab and chassis of a 21/2 ton 6x6 on which had been mounted a captured 800
gallon water tank. The truck and several like were also built in North Africa and were
quite successful. Based on this success, the
Army let a contract for fifty kits to convert Class 325s to Class 335s in November 1944. Unsure how many of these kits were received,
deployed or used by war’s end. This is
the truck on which the long - lived Class 530 in its many models was based. Pumps on all Class 300s, 325s and 335s were rated at 300 GPM.
Class 400 Class 525 - Water, 4x2 Pump mounted on front bumper Class 525 - Water, 4x4 Pump mounted on front bumper
Class 530 - Water, 6x6 - General Purpose
- Pump mounted on front
bumper
Class 750
- Water, 4x2 “City Type Engine” - mid ship mounted pump This is a
typical truck for big city fire departments of the day.
Pump rated at 750 GPM. Class 1000 - Mounted a 500 GPM Hale centrifugal pump - carried no water Class 1010 - Mounted a 35 GPM piston pump and a 150 gallon water tank Class 1020 - Mounted a 100 GPM Hale centrifugal pump and two 85 gallon water tanks Extensive and continuing research has yet to locate the rationale
for these units. The writer, speaking from
experience with them, found them unsuited to most fire jobs. The Class 1020 while called for in mid war T/O
& Es appears not to have been deployed until after the war’s end. At least, no Engineer Aviation Fire Fighting
Platoon member the writer has contacted ever saw, heard of or used one. Darley F-300 pump. Commonly used on front mount pumpers of WWII
Bibliography War Department Technical Manual 9-2800, Standard Military
Motor Vehicle – 9/1/43 This is a brief look at this subject. If the reader has questions about any of these units contact me by e-mail. Questions, comments or information the reader has that does not appear here will be gratefully received. If you or a family member were a member of a EFFP or EAFFP, please contact Jim directly at: General
Information about WWII Fire Fighting Platoons Q. What determines the
“Class” of fire truck? A. There are four factors that
determine the exact class or model - pump capacity, tank size, number of hose reels, and
mission. Different trucks were designed for different purposes, so a truck designed
for general-purpose use on an army base may be different than one designed to fight
aircraft fires. A. No. The model 100, 110, 125,
155, 300 and 525 did not go overseas. The Class 150 did late in the war and the
Class 155 not until post-war. Trucks that went overseas are usually referred to as tactical
trucks. A. Unfortunately, there are no records
of this. T/O’s and E’s for Fire Fighting Platoons called for one truck per
section with the other three sections getting a Fire Fighting Trailer (Class 1000 for Army
and Class 1010 for Aviation). This would yield about 300 trucks for the 300
platoons. Add to this trucks lost in combat, fires, and in transport, plus the trucks that
stayed in the states. Best guess would then be 3,000 to 5,000 trucks total. A. No.
All 4 X 4’s in Models 110, 135, 300, and 325 were Chevy, but the 135,
300, 325, and 525 in 4X2 were a mix of civilian Fords, Dodges, and Chevys. The 125’s were usually Macks, and 150s’
were a combination of big Macks, Ward LaFrance, Biederman, etc. A. There were far more fire trucks than
crash trucks. Crash trucks were used
exclusively on airbases to support base operations and deal with aircraft fires and
rescue. The Army Air Corps units were known as
Engineer Aviation Fire Fighting Platoons (EAFFP) and the Army fire fighting units were
known as Engineering Fire Fighting Platoons (EFFP). The
crash trucks were exclusively Series 100 trucks (100, 110, 125, 135, 150, 155) and of
these, the 135 Class was most typically used overseas.
Army units usually used 325 Class trucks overseas. A. There was a Headquarters Sections
and four fire fighting sections totaling 26 to 28 men.
Each section had 6 men and was assigned a truck and three fire fighting
trailers. These numbers varied slightly
depending on availability of resources and mission. EFFPs were assigned to
Base Sections (rear support areas) or Armys as support troops though sometimes they found
themselves in combat areas. The 1206th EFFP went ashore in the Anzio campaign and took
some casualities, but this was not usual. The 1204th EFFP was attached at various
times to the Mediterranean Base Section, the 5th Army, the Peninsular Base section, the
7th Army and the 12th Army Group. A. The Army lists 139 platoons although
closer to 300 have been documented. With about 30 men per platoon (including
administrative staff) I would project there were about 9,000 men. A. The trucks were all OD Green –
including the engine. They would be marked
with stars in the same manner as other WWII trucks. The
bumper number would consist of the Army unit it was attached to on the left and the
specific EEFP on the right. This would be
repeated on the rear. A.
Typically they were either Barton, or Darley. Barton
(no longer in business) is identified by having dual heads, but one handle and a clutch
located behind the pump on the engine side. The
Darley had two head valves and a clutch located in front of the pump away from the truck
engine. The
Classes 135, 300, 325,
335,and 525 (in both 4x2 and 4x4) used either
Barton or Darley pumps of various output
capacities. Hale pumps were used on the Class 500, 750 and Class 1000
Fire fighting trailers. Q. How were the trucks marked?
A. Hood
VINs on Army trucks probably originated
pre-WW II with QMC. Originally, I am told, the number was prefixed
with a "W" standing for War Department. With the advent of Lend-Lease and
then our participation in the war the "W" changed to USA (US Army).
On at least Army (including Army Air
Corps) vehicles, the first two digits of the
hood VIN defined the vehicle function, i.e.:
50 -
Fire Apparatus
30 -
Tanks, All Sizes
4 -
Trucks, Light-Heavy (2-1/2 ton) to heavy-heavy (up to 4 - 5
ton)
Unit designators:
Sample Front Bumper
Translation:
Front Bumper: PBS = Peninsular Base
Section (Italy), EFFP = Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon, HDQS =
Headquarters, 1 = Vehicle 1 in HDQS.
7A = Seventh
Army (France and Germany), ECP = Engineer Composite Platoon, Fire
Administration/Fire Control, 1-1 = Fire Truck section 1, Truck 1.
Truck Rear:
The same information went high on the back of
the water tank, typically to the right (driver's) side.
Jim also has a book available: FIRE FIGHTERS IN FATIGUESTHE 1204TH ENGINEER FIRE FIGHTING PLATOON A HISTORYFIRE FIGHTERS IN FATIGUES is the only published history of a World War II Army Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon known to the author. Written by a member of the Platoon, it tells the story of one of the first Platoons created and deployed overseas from activation in August 1942 to deactivation in September 1945 and rebirth in the Philippines in 1946. This 58 page spiral bound book contains a complete personnel roster, month by month chronology of the Platoon’s moves, locations, personnel changes, descriptions of major fires fought, photographs of Platoon personnel, illustrations of fire fighting apparatus used by the Platoon and a summary of the Platoon’s activities plus an evaluation of the Platoon’s efforts by the author and by the Army. Army historians prepare histories of Battalion size or larger units. This is your opportunity to own a history of one of the Army’s many small World War II units written by a soldier who was a part of it. This third printing is limited in quantity. FIRE FIGHTERS IN FATIGUES is available at $25.00 plus $3.85 shipping ($9.00 to overseas addresses). If interested, please make your check or money order (no credit cards or purchase orders, please) for $28.85 or $34.00 for each copy ordered payable to James G. Davis. Send your order to: James G.
Davis
For more information,
got to Jim's website: |
