M35 (Deuce and a Half)

The M35 has seen decades of service with the US Army.

When one hears of the real workhorses of the second world war, they tend to think of the tanks, planes and bombers of the war. But little attention is rarely given to the unsung hero as in the M-35 2.5 ton 6 x 6 CCKV supply truck. The M-35, or Deuce and a Half as it was commonly known during the war, served in every theater of operation. It would help supply front lines where ever needed. Incidentally, the meaning of 2.5 is what the vehicle can carry (2.5 tons) as opposed to how much it weighs. The name itself, Deuce and a Half, is actually a term coined by soldiers to mean 2.5.

It is a 6-wheel drive system that operated on new tires that maintained the same traction regardless of which direction they were headed in. The vehicle was produced by a variety of companies starting in 1941, but most notably by GMC. The vehicle had a top speed of 45 mph. Over 800,000 Deuce and a Halves were built throughout the war effort, more than any other military vehicle of the war.

The Deuce and a Half utilized a minimum of moving parts, making it easy to repair. It was extremely versatile and configurable, even to the point of making it amphibious. The ‘Red Ball’ express was the delivery system that the M-35 took part in, in which supplies were shuttled in from the beaches of Normandy, to the very heart of France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, as Patton and his armies continued their ever-increasing advance into Germany. This conveyor belt approach helped to keep the front lines stocked with food, ammunition, medical supplies and weapons. Soldiers deemed 'non-critical' to combat efforts were often pressed into service as supply truck drivers.

In the span of August through November of 1944, drivers delivered a half a million tons of supplies (including toilet paper) and wore out over 50,000 tires. This type of recognition also brought into the limelight the minorities serving in the armed forces, as the Army maintained a policy of segregation to that point. But those drivers themselves became heroes to hundreds of thousands of men awaiting their goods. The Deuce and a Half went on to be the ‘go anywhere’ lifeline in the Pacific Theater as well as in Europe.

The Deuce and a Half also went on to serve in the Korean war, though the model was tweaked and modified over the years. Ultimately, it went from being a gasoline powered truck to a multi-fueled diesel truck. These same trucks were also utilized in the Vietnam conflict. Not being armed, they fell under constant attack from Vietcong guerillas. Ultimately, a few brave men got the idea of welding plate steel as armor and arming the trucks with machine guns (2 x M60 7.62mm machine guns), allowing them a fighting chance to deliver the needed supplies to the front.

M35's were shipped in quantity (400) to the Afghan National Army as part of the Afghan Freedom Support Act. The M35 system is being replaced in the US inventory by the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV).