Half-tracks

  The US Army saw a need in being able to keep up infantry with the fast moving armored vehicles. Initially, trucks of varying tonnages were assigned to the tasks. Meanwhile, the Army sought ways to find better protection and all-terrain ruggedness for mounted soldiers who would be following the tanks in to - and through - the enemy lines. Prior to the US entrance in to the war, the White Motor Company had come up with a design merging a tractor with half of an M3 Scout Car. The result were the M2 and M3 Half-tracks.

  The M3 Half-track was fitted to carry 13 soldiers in to combat, along with all their gear and equipment. The M2 version is shorter by ten inches, has the fuel tanks placed towards the rear, has ammunition storage racks along its sides, and was designed to be an artillery tractor. Quarter-inch steel armor gives the squad some protection from small arms and shrapnel while the catapillar track gives the vehicle an all-terrain function, capable of spanning ditches and trenches. The design was so versatile, the army found other uses for it, and thus a large number of variants appeared. Some of these variants replaced the infantry accommodations with a mounted anti-tank gun, mortars, anti-aircraft guns, and other equipment and weapons.

  The M3 Half-track had one pintle mount behind the driver's cab where a machine gun could be mounted. On the smaller M2 Half-track, this gun was mounted on a skate rail. Originally, this gun was an M-1919 Machine Gun, with a .50 cal M2 Heavy Machine Gun only mounted on the platoon leader's vehicle As the fight went on, more and more .50 cals began appearing on these mounts. Two mounts along either side of the infantry compartment could mount M-1919 .30 cal Machine Guns. However, soldiers found that both the pintle mount and the skate rail difficult to traverse machine gun quickly to engage targets. A modification was made to most existing half-tracks which incorporated an armored 'pulpit' ring mount (dubbed the M49 Mount) over the right passenger side of the cab. When a half-track possessed the new M49 mount, it added the 'A1' tag to the end of it's model number.

  The 2nd Armored club has the privelege of using two half-tracks of two different types. These vehicles are privately owned and their owners put in a great effort to keep them running and looking as they did back in the day. One most significant differences from the M2 and the M3 is that the rear bed section is shorter on the M2. The M2 was designed to be an artillery tractor and thus does not have a rear door to access the back of the half-track. Also, the fuel tanks are installed in the back of the M2 where the M3 has them located behind the cab. M2s usually have ammo storage racks on the sides, given their original mission. Our unit typically fields the longer M3 version at most events for infantry transport and support.

M3 Halftrack

  This original White M3 Half-track had been set up as an M-16, Quad .50cal Machinegun Anti-Aircraft platform, so the infantry seats and rifle racks are non-existant. Also, the floor of the bed is higher than it should be for an infantry carrier. We are currently in the process of restoring it to an troop carrying half-track and will be installing benches and rifle racks soon.

The M2A1 Halftrack

M2A1 Halftrack

  "Blitz Doughs" can also ride in the M2A1 Half-track. This slightly shorter 'track features the M49 ring mount. However, the lack of a backdoor makes a rapid exit from the vehicle a little bit difficult.

The M2A1 Halftrack

  Both half-tracks suit the needs of the 41st Armored Infantry as they make the soldiers highly mobile and able to keep up with the tanks as well as providing a platform for heavy weapons and some decent cover. Armored Infantrymen lived off their assigned halftrack and these vehicles would have had every belonging (as well as any spoils of war) strapped to the front, sides, and rear. Often times, soldiers would improvise and weld in "bustle racks" to help hold more items, such as an extra boxes of rations and ammunition. At one point during the war, soldiers were strapping so much stuff to their half-tracks it made one 2nd Armored commander want to ban the half-track altogether and revert back to trucks to make the outfit look more decent.

Motor Pool Subsections