Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2025 i Military Trader

It is has been more than 30 years since Saddam Hussein considered Kuwait Iraq’s 19th province and invaded that country. With the United States leading an international coalition, in November 1990 the United Nations set a deadline for Hussein to withdraw, authorizing the use of “all necessary means” to confront Iraq. When he did not comply with UN Security Council sanctions, the start of Desert Storm and the unleashing of the famous “Shock and Awe” campaign began. In the August 2019 Issue of the Military Trader, this author detailed the efforts of a 35-nation coalition to liberate Kuwait and to catalog the many medals associated with the countries involved in the Liberation of Kuwait. Now, more than five years later, the Middle East is even more in the news with…

Surface Rust Removal I use plain old brown cooking vinegar from the supermarket. Drop the rusted parts in it for a few days, and all the rust is removed (not converted, like phosphoric acid), back to a shiny bright surface. Dirt on the item to be stripped is ok, as long as it isn’t oily dirt — it will be stripped once you wash the dirt off. Dip in bicarb of soda to neutralize the vinegar, wash thoroughly, dry and primer it. Molasses diluted 1:4 also works fine. No need to use other fancier acids. I used brown vinegar as it was a few cents cheaper per bottle than white vinegar, which works just as well. After use, filter it and pour it back into the container for next time.…

The Horseshoe Curve is a U.S. National Historic Landmark completed in 1854 by the Pennsylvania Railroad. It was a major engineering feat designed to reduce the westbound grade to the summit of the Allegheny Mountains. Located 5 miles west of Altoona, Pa., the curve is 2,375 feet long and 1,300 feet in diameter. The Horseshoe Curve bends around a dam and lake, the highest of three Altoona Water Authority reservoirs that supply water from the valley to the city of Altoona. Completed by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), the curve was so unique that Pennsylvania Railroad conductors were told to announce bend to daytime passengers — a tradition that continued by three Pennsylvania successors, including Penn Central, Conrail, and currently Norfolk Southern. The curve is considered one of the eight engineering…

By the mid-1930s, Sweden, a long-standing neutral country, and Germany, where the nascent Nazi Party was emerging as the dominant political force, had been co-operating in developing weapon designs for over a decade. This arrangement had come about in the aftermath of the First World War when German technicians and engineers moved to Sweden to work with companies such as Landverk, Bofors and Volvo, where they were engaged in the development of weapons and vehicles. These skills and ideas came home with them when they returned to Germany as the country began its rearmament program, leading to the development of the dual-role 88mm gun and many types of armored fighting vehicles. The close ties shared by the two countries continued after war broke out in September 1939 with Germany remaining…

Ken Yuly was a well-known military vehicle collector, based out of the family farm near Minot, N.D. until he passed away in January. Being transparent, this author was one of his friends and worked with his widow and several family members to put together the sale of Yuly’s military vehicles and parts over the course of the summer. Steffes Auctions of West Fargo, N.D. was selected to conduct an online only no-reserve auction of the 61 vehicles, 32 trailers, and 101 lots of parts for two weeks of bidding, closing on September 5. Bidder engagement certainly wasn’t a problem. Thanks to prudent advertising in print and online, the word got out more than sufficiently throughout the historic military vehicle world — and throughout the globe — for this auction. The…

During WWII, the U.S. military procured a variety of 6x6 trucks. While many of these were the ubiquitous 2½-ton size, produced by GMC, Studebaker, International-Harvester and Chevrolet, there were also a range of 4-ton, 6-ton and 7½-ton models produced. However, there were also two mass-produced models in the 1½-ton range rostered by the Army. Chrysler Engineering code T223 and Standard Nomenclature List (SNL) number G-507 were assigned to the 1½-ton 6x6 version of the WWII Dodge. Two versions of the truck were mass-produced: Dodge model WC-62 and Dodge model WC-63. The two models differed in that the latter was equipped with a PTO-driven front-mounted winch. Most published discussions of this family of vehicles state that this vehicle type was developed as a result of an increase in rifle squad size…