Who was assigned hand carts?

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Tom Campbell
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Who was assigned hand carts?

Post by Tom Campbell » Sun May 08, 2016 4:47 pm

Who was assigned hand carts,, front line combat troops - or support troops? How many were assigned to an individual company or division? Were they assigned on an as needed basis, or for each group to keep in their inventory? Were individual soldiers assigned to pull the carts, or whomever the squad leader could put the arm on? With less than 40,000 of them made, according to Craig, unless they were selectively assigned it doesn't look like enough to scatter 5 or 6 to each company


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Johan WILLAERT
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Re: Who was assigned hand carts?

Post by Johan WILLAERT » Mon May 09, 2016 3:52 am

Table of Organization and Equipment (T/O&E) 7-16 , dated 15 July 1943, the Headquarters and Headquarters Company of an Infantry Battalion in an Infantry Division was issued 10 M3A4 carts to be used by the Battalion in landing operations when authorized by the Theater of Operations Commander.

Engineer and Artillery Battalions of Infantry Divisions were issued RL 35 Reel Carts for wire laying purposes.


The Bn HQ would issue them to the subunits as needed...


From my website: http://www.theliberator.be/handcart.htm
MVPA#14204
Huffman D50546 (1942)
Westfield Columbia MG138969 & MG140418 (1943)
HD 42WLA31854 (1943)
Ford GPW272xxx (1945)
Bantam T3 56433(Est) (1945)
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Re: Who was assigned hand carts?

Post by Tom Campbell » Mon May 09, 2016 4:44 am

Thanks, Johan. That's exactly what I needed to know. So IF I were to want to mark my cart - when completed - I need to mark with a proper Battalion number rather than a Regiment number. Tom

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Re: Who was assigned hand carts?

Post by Johan WILLAERT » Mon May 09, 2016 5:03 am

Although carts with markings were rare, here's one with original markings:

5-2-I 3HQ-6 which stand for 6th Vehicle, HQ&HQCompany, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regt, 5th Division...
(6 was not visible on my picture, but was there...)

Image
MVPA#14204
Huffman D50546 (1942)
Westfield Columbia MG138969 & MG140418 (1943)
HD 42WLA31854 (1943)
Ford GPW272xxx (1945)
Bantam T3 56433(Est) (1945)
John Wood M3A4 17564 (1943)
Johnston Lawn Mower Co RL35-A 1255 (1944)
BSA Mark V* T136102 (1944)
The Liberator

Tom Campbell
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Posts: 520
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Location: Birmingham, Alabama

Re: Who was assigned hand carts?

Post by Tom Campbell » Mon May 09, 2016 5:31 am

Thanks again Johan. I like to recognize my local National Guard unit, which dates back to the American Civil War (on the loosing side). They are the 167th Regiment Battalion A and were in the 31st Infantry Division in WWII deployed to New Guinea and the Philippines. Using your guide I think it should read 31-167 AHQ1 or any number 1 thru 10. Tom

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Johan WILLAERT
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Re: Who was assigned hand carts?

Post by Johan WILLAERT » Mon May 09, 2016 5:43 am

Battalions of Infantry Regts in WW2 were numbered one through three ... Each Bn had an HQ Company...
A Company would have been part of the 1st Bn, along with B, C and D company...
A, B and C Company were standard Rifle Infantry Companies, and D Company was the 1st Bn's Heavy Weapons Company.

The handcarts would have been held at Bn HQ level

Similar to the above you would have to mark the cart

31-167-I 1HQ-10 (10th vehicle, HQ of 1st Bn, 167th Inf Regt, 31st Division)
MVPA#14204
Huffman D50546 (1942)
Westfield Columbia MG138969 & MG140418 (1943)
HD 42WLA31854 (1943)
Ford GPW272xxx (1945)
Bantam T3 56433(Est) (1945)
John Wood M3A4 17564 (1943)
Johnston Lawn Mower Co RL35-A 1255 (1944)
BSA Mark V* T136102 (1944)
The Liberator

User avatar
Johan WILLAERT
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Posts: 1672
Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2004 2:50 am
Location: Belgium
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Re: Who was assigned hand carts?

Post by Johan WILLAERT » Mon May 09, 2016 5:52 am

MVPA#14204
Huffman D50546 (1942)
Westfield Columbia MG138969 & MG140418 (1943)
HD 42WLA31854 (1943)
Ford GPW272xxx (1945)
Bantam T3 56433(Est) (1945)
John Wood M3A4 17564 (1943)
Johnston Lawn Mower Co RL35-A 1255 (1944)
BSA Mark V* T136102 (1944)
The Liberator

Tom Campbell
G-Second Lieutenant
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Posts: 520
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2004 5:41 am
Location: Birmingham, Alabama

Re: Who was assigned hand carts?

Post by Tom Campbell » Mon May 09, 2016 6:13 am

Thanks again. I've got a copy of the AR 850 (somewhere). I just thought since the size of the cart is so small it might be abbreviated more.


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