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1944 Video “The Battle of Strasbourg”

• CATEGORIES: Features, videos This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This video includes some burning jeeps and a few other glimpses of jeeps, but it’s more about the collapse of the Axis forces in Strasbourg.

“The Battle Of Strasbourg (1944)
France.

Various shots of United States troops at 1914 boundary sign between Germany and France. M/S’s of U.S. troops and armoured vehicles entering Saarburg. M/S aerial dogfights (showing vapour trails) between ME 163s and 262s (Nazi jet fighters) and American fighters. M/S planes blowing up in the air. Pilots jump from them by parachute.

Various shots of U.S. troops and armour entering Mulhouse. M/S’s sullen looking Alsace crowds. M/S refugees with French flags entering town down main street. M/S’s U.S. and French troops with tanks entering Strasbourg. Various shots of wrecked Strasbourg. M/S of a burning jeep – C/U of a body lying next to it. M/S of a pile of Nazi emblems in street. Various shots of the German Commander of Strasbourg with U.S. army officers after surrendering. Various shots of prisoners of war marching in column and mounting U.S. vehicles.”

 
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1945 Video ‘The Lighter Side of War’

• CATEGORIES: Features, videos This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This short video shared by John shows a jeep used to make ice cream, then a soldiers getting a haircut in front of pinup photos.

“Various shots of the American soldiers making ice cream with the aid of the drive of a jeep. Several shots of the American soldiers eating their home-made ice cream.

Several shots of barbers shop with wall filled with pin-up girls. The barber has great difficulty in making customers keep their heads straight.

Voiceover finishes: “There’s only one thing a barber can do for this able-bodied soldier with Grable-bodied mind.”

 
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1942 Video ‘The Turn Of The Tide’

• CATEGORIES: Features, videos This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This video, ‘The Turn Of The Tide – Allied Landings In North Africa’ does not have much in the way of jeeps, but one sequence (start 4:40 mark) shows a jeep towing a large field gun as it leaves the landing craft and churns through the water up and onto the beach.

“North African coastline and Algiers, Africa.

Various shots of a large convoy of American transporter ships and the British naval escort heading towards the coast of North Africa. Italian planes fly overhead and the gun crew of the escort ship jump to action, firing with the anti-aircraft guns. As night approaches, the guns go into action again and the night sky fills with tracers. L/S of a German bomber in flames diving into the sea (not seen very clearly).

More footage in daylight of the convoy moving along. High angle view of men in lifejackets packed into a troopship. On board the ships we see last minute inspections and briefing. A plane takes off from an aircraft carrier.

View of the coast at Algiers as seen by the American Rangers and British Commandos as they prepare to land. British troops board landing craft and start to come ashore. Great shots of them moving towards the beaches and landing (one has a bicycle). American soldiers do the same. Supplies are brought ashore, including a truck, a jeep and a large field gun.

General view of Allied aircraft standing on Maison Blanche aerodrome, a key point in Algiers that was captured by the US Rangers without a shot being fired.

Back at the quay in Algiers a huge troopship docks and British and American troops unload supplies, form up and start out on the road through Algiers. Trucks carry soldiers through the streets. On the streets just outside Oran we see the action when a sniper opens up on some Americans who pull their guns. The American Rangers storm the building and march off with prisoners.

Jumping ahead to when an armistice was called for in Algiers, we see the Commanding General of French North Africa General Nogues arriving for a conference with the Commander of the Algiers district.

Locals talk to Allied soldiers in the streets. A tram packed with people goes by. Out of the Hotel Angleterre come some Italian soldiers who are being taken for internment. Commentator says “As a matter of fact, it was a former Pathe Staff man with a detachment of American troops who made the capture” (hooray!). The Italians board trucks and are driven past crowds of jeering Algerians. The locals cheer and give the victory sign as the Allied troops drive through.”

 
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April 1954 Ad for Wagon in Better Homes & Gardens

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This ad is part of a set of wagon-related brochures. The brochures aren’t in the best shape, but what caught my eye was the Better Homes & Gardens ad. It’s another example of Willys Motors producing what seems to be unique content for that magazine.

1954-04-better-homes-gardens-ad

Here’s the full eBay ad:

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1944 “Tree Felling” Video

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I’m not sure what “VS” stands for? The latter half of the video has Black Peter and Saint Nicholas in a jeep, the first half with the fire and felling trees is interesting, too, but, I’m not sure why?

“VS of troops sitting around wood fire outside trying to keep warm.

Shots of soldiers chopping down large fir trees. They carry off cleaned tree trunk. VS of them chopping up logs with saws and axes.

Shots of two soldier cutting down small fir tree. More shots of soldiers carrying ‘Christmas’ Trees.

VS of soldiers in hospital decorating a Christmas Tree with help from nurses. Shots of other decorations being made.

Quick shot of Saint Nicholas and Black Peter meting children in town. Shots of children and mothers smiling. Shots of St. Nicholas escorted to jeep by soldiers and presents are loaded in. Children cheer and wave. The Christmas jeep is driven along.”

 
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1944 “Look Out” Video

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This Union Defence Force video was titled Look Out! This was apparently filmed in South Africa. There are multiple clips of jeeps. No sound provided.

“Various shots of soldiers in training. We see them doing exercises, jumping over walls and doing forward rolls with bare chests. Then they seem to be receiving instruction on how to handle a jeep. Several shots of men driving jeeps and tanks over rough and bumpy ground. Some soldiers in a jeep crisscross over the path of a tank in motion.”

 
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1944 Video of US Troops and Nazi Pigeons

• CATEGORIES: Features, videos This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This very short video looks staged to me. But, it does show a good shot of a jeep with “MESSENGER” written across the windshield.

“An American Messenger jeep drives up road past soldiers. Various shots as they take carrier pigeons out of basket. C/U swastika on paper tied to pigeon’s wing. C/U message American soldier is writing ‘Adolph (sic) Hitler, Berchtesgaden. No Happy Returns on your birthday but see you soon. Ninth U.S. army.’ Various shots as they tie message to the pigeon’s leg and release it. We see various takes of the same scene.”

 
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1985 Book ‘The Willys Dream Kit’ by Jan Novak on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Books, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Scott spotted a hardcover book called The Willys Dream Kit by Jan Novak that’s for sale on eBay ($49.49). The price for a new hard copy is similar on Amazon, but the used ($25) and paperback ($20) editions are much less on Amazon.

Reviews of the book from the Chicago Tribune and L.A. Times in 1985 suggest it’s a good read.

1985-the-willys-dream-kit-jan-novak

 
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Our ‘New’ Racing Jeep

• CATEGORIES: Features, Racing This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
racejeep-naches2

My ‘new’ race jeep

I owe Marty Tilford a hearty thanks for spotting this jeep on the local Yakima Craigslist. I never saw it, because it was listed in the wrong category (tires and wheels), so it sat there for a few weeks before Marty sent me the link. Long story short, I showed Ann the jeep and she said, “buy it; you deserve it”. How can I argue with that?

On Sunday we drove to Naches, Washington, where we met Don and Ruth, the owners of the jeep.  They are members of the Yakima Valley Timberwolves club. We enjoyed meeting them and swapping jeep stories. They loved racing the jeep, and were sad to see it go, but the pounding of racing the jeep was too hard on Don, so he thought it best to pass it along.

yakima-valley-timberwolves-club-design

This is the Yakima Valley Timber Wolves club sticker.

This race jeep has a built and bored Chev 350 with a Ford Toploader four-speed and a Dana 20 transfercase. The engine is a fresh 350 Chevy bored 30, with 202 summit heads, and an Edelbrock intake with a Holley 4-barrel carburetor,

The body is a narrow body fiberglass. The rear springs were outboarded (DJ-5 or FC mounts still there), but have since been moved underneath the axle; I’d like to move them out again. The front springs are reversed. The rear Dana 44 axle is from a scout. The front is a narrowed Dana 44, but I can’t remember from what.

Here’s a pic of the jeep with the front clip removed:

racejeep-1a

I didn’t have to look it over much before I was ready to jump in and drive it onto the trailer:
racejeep-2a

When we arrived at our new place, we discovered one of the rear tires was flat. The rear wheels have spacers on it meant to widen the stance but that also meant the jeep barely fit between the rails of the trailer. We suspect the tire may have lost its bead, which caused the air to go out.

racejeep-3a

It’s not a big problem, as I plan to a couple Desert Dogs on back anyway.

Below you can see it parked in the new shop. It’s officially the first item moved into our new place (the Roadster in front is the seller’s):

racejeep-4

One of the biggest changes I need to make is to redo the seating so I fit more comfortably. The other thing is to finalize the name. I am told this jeep was originally built by Brian Wylie (sp?). At some point it was known as the Red Delicous (the red paint can still be seen in a few small places).

One name we had in mind was to name it the “Cosmic Crisp” (an apple invented by nearby Wash State Univ) as a nod to the early name. While I like the name, it isn’t one that rolls off the tongue.

OR, because the jeep has Marvin the Martian mud flaps, we thought about calling the jeep “Marvin” and theming it with a Marvin the Martian theme. It turns out that is one of Ann’s all-time favorite cartoon characters. But, I also think there may be another Marvin race jeep out there (it seems I remember one from the 80s, but I could be wrong).

racejeep-naches3

Note the Marvin the Martian mud flaps.

I likely won’t get to making changes on this for at least a few weeks. In the meantime, here are a few more pics from the ad:

racejeep-naches4

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1944 Video of US and Canadian Troops

• CATEGORIES: Features, videos This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This video shows a burning jeep being pushed aside; oh the horror!

“US And Canadian Troops In Anzio (1944) … L/Ss of burning vehicles, allied troops in background. Several shots of bulldozer pushing burning machinery off the road. Shots of bulldozer clearing up rubble from damaged building. M/S of red cross jeep with wounded soldier strapped on top. M/S of soldier writing letter. Nice M/S of two American soldiers reading letters. They suddenly jump down behind ditch as if a shell has exploded somewhere nearby. Several shots of troops relaxing. M/S of soldier with wounded eye drinking from flask and smoking. More shots of soldiers relaxing.

(L/S = long shot, M/S = Medium Shot, C/U = Close Up)