Truck and Special Vehicles of Austria in the World War II: Unique modern and old world war technology [Kindle Edition]

Truck and Special Vehicles of Austria in the World War II
Unique modern and old world war technology

This small book is devoted to trucks that were used in Austria and Germany during the Second World War. Here are given the tactical and technical characteristics of some cars, and there are also interesting historical photographs.

This is a short edition. For more information, see the extended version of the book.

Keywords:

Trucks in the Second World War
Military trucks
Military equipment
Wheeled military vehicles

Freight and special cars belonged to military equipment and occupied more than 60% of the share of all automotive equipment used in the Second World War.

Trucks were divided into general purpose vehicles and specialized. Cars of general purpose were used for transportation of all kinds of cargo, except liquid substances. They had a cargo platform with one or more sides reclining.

Vehicles supplied to the army, adapted for transporting people (having benches on the platform, awning), as well as towing trailers, were called multi-purpose trucks. Specialized trucks were used to transport a certain type of cargo. These included dump trucks, tank cars, container trucks, timber trucks, and the like.

Special cars were intended for installation of special equipment on them and represented modified modifications of trucks. These included firefighters and ambulances, aviation launchers, gas stations, mobile repair shops, etc. In the army, special vehicles also include cars on which armament is mounted, facilities for maintenance of various equipment, wheeled tractors and multi-axle chassis used for the transportation of long undivided cargoes.

Trucks were subdivided in terms of carrying capacity (ie, by weight of cargo that can be transported in the body) to the following classes: very small (0.3-1 ton); small (1-3 tons); average (3-5 tons); large (5-8 tons); especially large (over 8 tons).

Separate types of cars are buses that could carry more than 8 people in the car. The buses were divided into five classes depending on the length. Particularly small class was the cabin up to 5 m long, especially large - over 16.5 m.

In addition to dividing cars by purpose and patency, there are also single cars and road trains consisting of a tractor and trailer (trailer) or semi-trailer. The road-trains could be trailed and saddled. The latter consisted of a truck-tractor and semi-trailer.

By the type of body the cars were divided into: dump trucks; on-board; covered (vans); with awning; tank trucks; container; tractors.

By type of running gear: wheeled, wheeled-caterpillar, semi-tracked, amphibians.

According to the adaptability to climatic conditions, cars are allocated for a temperate climate, for a cold climate, for a hot climate, for the tropics.

Trucks during the war produced more than 20 countries in almost 250 versions. In all, about 5.5 million trucks and special vehicles of all countries participating in the war took part in the war, including. 2,382,000 in the United States, 815,000 in Canada, 560,000 in the USSR, 480,000 in Britain, 430,000 in Germany, 166,000 in Japan, 135,000 in France and 83,000 in Italy.