Page 1 of 1

WWII Mess Trailer?

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 4:57 am
by sgmjsh3
I think this thing is bigger the 1/4 ton,so I put it here.
I know that WWII US Mess sections worked out of the back of 2 1/2 ton trucks, with the ranges and food preparation areas mounted inside, but did the US Army use Mess Trailers during the war? Does anyone have any pictures of one? I have a line on what is being called a US Army WWII Mess trailer,but not sure I would know it if I saw it, or if it even existed.
Thanks in advance.

Re: WWII Mess Trailer?

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 6:52 am
by Goranwc51
Here's one of a kitchen truck Ben Hur trailer:
kit_truck_trailer.jpg
kit_truck_trailer.jpg (60.15 KiB) Viewed 6429 times

Goran N

Re: WWII Mess Trailer?

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 7:02 am
by sgmjsh3
Thanks,have seen similar pictures to that. This one is like a German "Gulosch Kanone", has the burners built into it, large cooking pots set into top, an area that I guess it to bake in.
I really did not think the US Army had trailers like that, but I could be very wrong. Have never seen one in any photos anywhere.

Re: WWII Mess Trailer?

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 7:23 am
by Goranwc51
Hi Joe,

Like you said, it's doubtful if the US Army had any cooking trailers as the ones you're referring to. The M37 stove was put in the back of the GMC truck and cooking was done there, or with the cookers placed on the ground under a Tent, Large Wall awning.

I'll sniff around and see if I can come up with something.

My friend Harry here in Sweden has three NOS M37 cookers and also most of the pots and pans and all the other stuff needed to set up a full kitchen truck setup. Now he only needs the GMC CCKW 353 w/o winch to go with it :lol:

Goran N

Re: WWII Mess Trailer?

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 12:40 pm
by tipdog
The U.S. Army did use "gulaschekanonen" from WWI into the 1930's.
Here's an example from the 1930's:
Image
The U.S. then went to the M37 and M59 field ranges that were usually mounted in trucks or used on the ground:
Image
or most recently, in the Mobile Kitchen Trailer (MKT):
Image

The U.S. Navy, in "lessons learned" after Desert Storm, actually bought Karcher Field Kitchens like this:
Image
I don't think they were used much, I saw some sold off on Gov't Liquidations a few years ago.

Here's some pictures of WWI-era U.S. Army field kitchens - one is a "gulaschekanone" probably French supplied.
Image
and another one truck mounted:
Image

Re: WWII Mess Trailer?

Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2023 11:48 am
by SZYZ CJ
I know I'm resurrecting a Zombie here, geeze, I was nine when this thread began.

My great-grandpa graduated between VE-Day and VJ-Day, and was immediately drafted. Japan surrendered right before he reported to Army Basic Training. After graduating from Quartermaster School he was sent to Raco Army Airfield just west of Sault Ste Marie Michigan.

Raco AAF / AFB, Kincheloe AFB, and now the Smithers Winter Test Center is on the southern shore of the Saint Mary’s River. It was built during the war to house fighter interceptors to protect the Sault Locks between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. Great-grandpa was part of an anti-aircraft-artillery unit that was stationed there.

As it was told to my grandfather who told this to me, one of his jobs was to drive the field kitchen trailer out to the gun emplacements to feed the crews. He used the unit hack, at first an MB, then 1947 or thereabouts, a CJ-2*. This would have been between early 1946 and late 1948. Grandpa tells me that the Army and then later the Air Force had a series of CJ vehicles that were used by the AAA unit to communicate with and supply the individual guns that were dispersed along both sides of the Saint Mary’s River.

He says the CJs assigned to the AAA battalion all had blackout lights on them. So they would not be seen from a distance should they need to reach a gun emplacement at night. Grandpa liked the area and the people, and he took a job with a local company that had supply contracts with the Air Force. He maintained connections with the base and people there until the early 1970s when it closed.

*Great-grandpa had a 26-year association with the base so it is possible that some dates had been misremembered. But he wouldn't have been driving the chuck wagon around as a civilian contractor, so that was before 1949.

Re: WWII Mess Trailer?

Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2023 4:27 pm
by Rustman
Great story! I'm going to guess that your grandfather had some sort of small Jeep trailer or even a locally constructed on base trailer that didn't have a kitchen per se but could carry a bunch of the Mermite insulated food containers in it. The base probably had a main mess hall and kitchen that the food was prepared in and then he drove out big urns of it to the gun emplacements.

Matt

Re: WWII Mess Trailer?

Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2023 4:49 pm
by 17thAirborne
It's a small world. My father was the Mess Sgt (USAF) at the radar site in Sault Ste. Marie from 73-76. We used to drive to Kinchloe all the time. I still remember the night when the Edmund FItzgerald sank.

Re: WWII Mess Trailer?

Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2023 9:16 am
by SZYZ CJ
Rustman wrote:
Sat Oct 28, 2023 4:27 pm
Great story! I'm going to guess that your grandfather had some sort of small Jeep trailer or even a locally constructed on base trailer that didn't have a kitchen per se but could carry a bunch of the Mermite insulated food containers in it. The base probably had a main mess hall and kitchen that the food was prepared in and then he drove out big urns of it to the gun emplacements.

Matt
That would be accurate. From what I was told the unit insulated a 1/4 ton trailer and added a small gasoline heater for use in the winter. Average high and low temperatures are 10 to 24 degrees Fahrenheit in January. Grandpa said they "weren't as fancy" as the factory-made bigger 1/2 ton trailers.

Re: WWII Mess Trailer?

Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2023 6:39 pm
by Steve Webb
I think in living history there is a thread on kitchen trailers, but no there were no US kitchen trailers in WW2. Certainly could have been some made on the fly like pictures of washing machines in theatre using what ever was available