The Quad story
After the beginning of World War I, trucks which
have just been put to practical use attracted of the military by their mobility and
reliability, came to be used for various military purposes.
At about the middle stage of the war, trucks
naturally began to be used for hauling guns in place of horses which bad been used for
that purpose so far. Soon after this, many nations started study and development to give
greater mobility, to guns, through the employment of trucks. military vehicles, thus
developed were divided broadly into various categories : armoured cars, tanks and self
propelled guns that carried guns themselves; and gun tractors that were designed for
hauling guns.
The first gun tractors devised were full track
vehicles with caterpillars and half track vehicles which combined caterpillars and
wheels. This was simply because trucks of those days had less powerful engine,
narrower and weaker wheels and much lower performance then those of today, did not have
the satisfactory cross country ability needed for military purposes.
Britain was far ahead of other nations in the field
of full track and half track gun tractors, In the period of 1920-1930, the British
developed, in co-operation with the French, a large number of full tracks and half tracks.
In the meantime, the performance and reliability of motorcars was being improved
rapidly. Recognizing that trucks had come to have more satisfactory performance, the
British ceased using full tracks and half tracks which had complicated mechanism and were
very costly, and officially developed several tractors designed solely for hauling
guns. On the other hand, the Germans continued studying half tracks, which developed
into a variety of tractors and personnel carriers that were widely used during World War
II.
It was a series of unique shaped gun tractors called "Quad" which carried a squarish body on a short wheelbase chassis with broad, large wheels that the British gun tractors frequently used during World War II. These guns may be divided broadly into the Guy Quad Ant, Morris Commercial CS Mk I, Mk II and Mk III Quad, Karrier KT 4 Indian Quad and the Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) Quad manufactured in Canada by Ford and Chevrolet.
Of these four Quads, the CMP Quad
was produced in the greatest quantity and was the most widely used in the war.
At the request of the British War Office, Guy
Motors developed and delivered in April of 1938 a tractor of very unique shape designed
solely for hauling 18 and 25 pounder guns. The vehicle, which ", as called
"Ant" and looked like an armoured car, had good ground clearance to enhance its
cross-country, short wheel base to improve its turning circle and driver seat at the most
forward possible position to facilitate visibility. The back of the body was cut aslant so
that the gun platform of a 25 pounder gun could be hoisted and fixed onto it by means of
wire and reel when the vehicle was to carry the gun from one place to another and at the
same time the vehicle could accommodate 6 men. These features necessarily resulted in the
unique shape of the tractor. The all metal enclosed body with a small uncovered portion at
the top was not of ideal design but the British War Office officially accepted it for
production. Thereafter the War Office placed an order with Morris Commercial Motor for an
FGT (field gun tractor) with the chassis of their C8 track. The C8 FGT may be divided into
the Mk I with a enclosed body and the Mk II of the semi-open top type. The most unique
shaped vehicle of all British military vehicles was nicknamed "Quad" and well
loved by the soldiers using these vehicles.
The Karrier KT 4 Indian Quad manufactured by
Karrier for the Indians, was the largest Quad, designed only l for hauling a 25-pounder.
It may safely be said that this was a rather special version of the Quad. The production
of each of these three Quads was limited in number and not exceed 5,000.
As mentioned above, the 25-pounder FTG which the
largest in production and the most widely used in World War II was the 3-tons 4x4 CMP FAT
(Canadian Military Pattern Field Artillery Tractor) of Canadian make. This was
manufactured Canada Ford and Canada GM, on the basis of the British War Office’s blue
print. The production totalled 22,891. The CMP FAT was used by the British, the Canadians,
the Australians, the Indians and other British Commonwealth Forces and saw action together
with 25-pounders in the North African, European and Pacific theatres of war. FAT’s
manufactured by Ford were different from those of GM in the chassis (engine, frame,
differential and transmission), driver seats, etc.., but the body and related parts were
the same and interchangeable. According to the time of manufacture, the FAT may be divided
into six models, the FAT-1 to the FAT-6. Of these six models, the FAT-2 (body number 7A2)
whose front end remind us of a bulldog was the most widely used throughout the was could
be referred to as a typical Quad gun tractor.
The FAT-2 used the chassis of the regular CMP Cab
12 truck which had a wheel base of 101 inches (+/- 2.57 meters). Chevrolet called it by
their production code number “8440” and Ford gave it a code number of “C291
Type Q”. The FAT-2 was much the same in body shape as the FAT-1 which used the Cab 11
chassis. While the FAT-1 was of the totally -enclosed type, the FAT-2 was open top type
and part of its roof was made of canvas and could be opened and closed. Here lay the
main difference between the two
The FAT-3 employed the new Cab 13 chassis and
its slanting back was completely covered with canvas. This was an experimental model and
the production was limited. The FAT-4 used the Cab 13 chassis and carried a rack for spare
wheels on its slanting back. This was another typical Quad ranking beside the FAT-2, the
FAT-5, was a FAT-4 based Quad modified for use in colder climates, was designed by
Canadian Army specialists developed towards the en of World War II. The FAT-6 was of the
open canvas open top type without the slanting back.
The FAT-2 manufactured by Ford was equipped with a
V 8 cylinder 3,916cc engine of 95 hp / 3,600 rpm, while that of the Chevrolet was powered
by their standard series 6 cylinder 3,548cc engine rated 85 hp / 3,600 rmp. Because the
Ford engine was larger in power by 10 hp, the Ford FAT-2 obviously had a slightly superior
performance. Both the Ford and the Chevrolet had the following features : leaf spring
suspension and rigid axle
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