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Ford GTB "Burma Jeep"


Bodger Baz

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Very nice trucks you have there, did you restore them yourself?

 

whats the spares situation like for them? any items in particular that are very hard to get hold of?

 

I ask as i am in the process of doing a deal on one that needs a bit of work and i know nothing about them, I will have to source/make a passenger seat for it and a inner windscreen (may be able to use something else?)

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Hi Baz, you can make the inner screen frame from a REO frame ,with a bit of cut and shut.

The passenger seat can be made from a Jeep rear seat, narrowed and the pivot point altered.

Here is a pic of the one we restored.

 

FORDGTB001.jpg

 

If you need any more info please contact me.

Jim.

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Hi BAZ

Wot model is it a cargo or bomb service . I have been told that the seat on the side was for the crew to look out for the bombs trailers (towed 16 some times ) And the cargo could back up to a aircraft ? I cant thin of anything else .I'm sure that JIM & myself would give you any assistance or advice on GTBs ( wot area ar you ) T CORBIN

Bomb GTB Pacific 1944.jpg

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  • 5 weeks later...

it runs and drives but is a bit smokey and is oiling up 1 plug so possibly a broken ring, brakes needs some looking at but have a NOS master cylinder and hydrovac so just the wheels to look at.

 

only time will tell on the rest of it! no doubt there will be some nice surprises in the next month or so!

 

Baz

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  • 6 months later...
We have 2 that are restored & 2 that want a lot of work T CORBIN

 

Hi Tony,

We here at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand, have a GTBS Bomb Service Truck as a restoration project.

The Royal New Zealand Air Force operated a few in the Pacific islands, Guadalcanal, Solomans etc.

We would like to know what colour it should be? Ocean Grey or Olive Drab? It is likely that the RNZAF vehicles were 'hand me downs' from the US Marine's.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Nathan Bosher

S&STech

Restoration section

RNZAF Museum

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Hi Nathan

 

nice to hear of another one being saved. i would suspect that if it was a USMC hand me down it should be the same colour as T Corbins bomb service truck (on page 1 of this thread), that is USMC colours. my trucks original paint was kind of olive drab but very green, quite similar to todays NATO green.

 

are there no traces of the original paint tucked away? all the inside of panels and under the seat of mine was still original.

 

i am planning on marking my one up as Dutch east indies army....possibly, still not sure though. do you have any pictures of them in Service with the RNZAF.

 

Cheers

 

Baz

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Heres a couple from the RNZAF Museum archive. Notice the platform welded on top of the crane. Our project has the remnants of this local modification. As you can see from the other pics, no two were the same. Unfortunately these give no indication of the colours.

 

 

 

 

 

ALB864162038.jpg

pr5057.jpg

pr3221.jpg

PR4899.jpg

PR3218.jpg

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Great pictures good to see GTB bomb service with a M5 bomb trailer . We where told that the bomb service never towed the m5 .But they had the connections for the electric brakes .So we now know they where used. T CORBIN

 

You could never say never when the RNZAF were involved. If it needed to be done they just figured out how, and did it. They begged, stole or borrowed (mostly stole) whatever they could, jeeps, trucks even whole aeroplanes were somehow appropriated from dumps and resurected.

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