The History of Half-tracks, by the Chieftain - WW2 Documentary Special

Is it a tank? Is it a truck? No, it’s a half-track! Nicholas Moran aka The Chieftain stops by to cover this Frankenstein of a vehicle. He looks at their origins at the turn of the twentieth century, their heyday as troop transporting, artillery towing, flak gunning, jacks-of-all-trades during the war, and their sudden decline after the war.

Follow WW2 Day by Day on Instagram: @ww2_day_by_day
Follow TimeGhost History on Instagram: @timeghosthistory

Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Marek Kamiński
Community Management: Jake McCluskey
Written by: The Chieftain
Research by: The Chieftain
Map animations by: Daniel Weiss
Map research by: Sietse Kenter
Edited by: Miki Cackowski
Artwork and color grading by: Mikołaj Uchman
Sound design by: Marek Kamiński

Colorizations by:
Mikołaj Uchman

Image sources:
Fortepan — ID 72709
Bundesarchiv
Narodowe Archwum Cyfrowe

Soundtracks from Epidemic Sound:
Howard Harper-Barnes - London
Phoenix Tail - At the Front
Rannar Sillard - March Of The Brave 4
Hakan Eriksson - Epic Adventure Theme 3
Edward Karl Hanson - Spellbound
Johan Hynynen - Dark Beginning
Johannes Bornlof - Death And Glory 3
Max Anson - Potential Redemption
Fabien Tell - Last Point of Safe Return
Fabien Tell - Weapon of Choice
Howard Harper-Barnes - Underlying Truth

A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.

[pabloapostar]

White Motor Company, Cleveland, Ohio. My mom's dad was an engineer (specializing in engines) at White. He didn't mention the T14. This is the story he did tell about the halftracks.

The US Army put out a bid for halftracks. The specs required an engine that was larger than the engines White produced. But the owner wanted in on the contract. My grandfather took the largest engine White made and tweaked every single thing about the engine to improve its performance (including the shape of the combustion chamber).  He said he did this entirely by himself, including drafting the blueprints, to which he added "those recent college grads were useless: they didn't even know how to do drafting." [I still have some of his darting tools.]

White made the required number of vehicles for the Army's testing with that engine in it. He said that two other companies (apparently Diamond T and Autocar) also bid on the contract and did have large enough engines already.

After testing, the Army granted 1/3 of the contract to each company BUT all halftracks had to use White's engine. The other two complained saying the engine couldn't possibly satisfy the requirements. The Army showed them their data. The engine was better at everything including oil consumption.

When the army put howitzers in the halftrack, White's engine was replaced with a much larger engine from someone else (there is wikipedia page about the halftracks that has that info).

When they were building the halftracks, White's plant manager called my grandfather asking permission to replace the steel exhaust pipes with a cheaper and softer (easier to bend/machine) material. He told the plant manager that the Army intended to put anti-aircraft guns in the bed. The Army anticipated that the German aircraft -- once under fire -- would radio the locations of the halftracks to their tanks. The tanks would then speed toward the halftracks. The halftracks would hold position -- firing as long as they could -- until the tanks were "close enough" and then floor the gas pedal, revving the engine "all out" to get away from (stay out of range of) the tanks. The pipes, if made from softer material, would get hot enough for the vibrations/movements (during the dash to get away) to tear/break the pipes and the engine exhaust would vent directly into the engine compartment -- and that would set everything on fire. The pipes had to be made from steel.

Wallace Murray Kennedy, University of Toronto 1923 "A puck chaser for "School"". As a teenager, he joined the Royal Air Force (my mom referred to it as "running away from home.") and trained as a pilot. WW1 ended before he shipped out. His father owned a machine shop in Toronto and was spooked by him joining up. He and his dad did the Grand Tour after WW1 (not sure when). He took cars out to the farmland so he could take up the floor boards and watch how the mechanics/transmission worked while not running into anything. He moved to Detroit and started at Chevrolet in the drafting department. Finished up at GMAC (originally GM Truck and Coach in Pontiac MI).

[Paladin]

There was an old half-track slowly rusting away at our local surplus yard when I was growing up in north Florida in the 1960s. I heard it previously had belonged to a logging company. I would occasionally play on it and dream of one day owning it myself, but then it disappeared. I never found out what became of it. Hopefully, someone with similar plans bought it and restored it to its former glory.

[patrickwentz]

The Man, The Myth, The Legend! The Chieftain!

[vojkankostic]

Good idea to make a show about halftracks. That topic is rarely talked about.

[williamromine]

When I was a kid(I'm 82 now), my father had a friend who turned a Model A Ford into a half track. The thing had 6 wheels. The front 2 were standard Ford steering wheels. The tandem wheels in the back were the driving wheels. When the going got really tough, he fitted them with extra long heavy truck chains, creating a half track. It was powered by a standard Ford flat head V8. He finally gave up on the half track chains because they kept breaking. But until then, that outfit could go anywhere in the mountains of Wyoming.

[poe_slaw]

I can’t imagine anything more German than individually unscrewing and lubricating every link in a vehicle track

[stevebarrett]

My Dad served on a halftrack in WWII. He told me that the machine guns were mounted on a rail which allowed them to track targets and concentrate fire on one side if attacked from only one direction. He also said his sergeant had them modify the ammo belts such that there were twice as many tracer rounds as normal. He said when they were attacked by a Bf 109, the amount of tracer rising up cause the pilot to veer off and leave. He also said that his battalion (1st Engineer Combat) retrieved a damaged and abandoned halftrack after a battle that had a 37mm anti-aircraft gun flanked by two 50 cal machineguns, all mounted on a turntable (possibly a T28E1 CGMC?). They fixed it up and put their unit markings on it but someone from an armored division noticed it as being one of theirs and demanded it be returned.

[BlackBanditXX]

My grandfather drove a halftrack during the war as part of the US Supply Corps and he HATED the things, said they "drove like a brick." It probably didn't help that the IJA kept mortaring him every time he drove up to the front to deliver supplies - he earned 3 purple hearts this way.

[Mike-zsbk]

Even today's snowmobiles use roughly the same technology just amazing how long some things hang around!

[SandwichKing-ljej]

The half track, a truck for serious off-road use, brilliant. Much better idea than monster trucks on battlefield which have too high a profile and loud but can easily jump a panzer.

[ernestcline]

This episode is full of tension, track tension!

[impcec]

This is a refreshing detour from the apocalyptic conclusion to the war in Europe.

[larryfontenot]

The Germans produced an armored Maultier, and a number of the armored ones had variations of the Nebelwerfer multiple launch rocket systems mounted on the armor roofs over the truck bed.

The advantage of half-tracks was that back in the 1930s and 1940s, anyone who knew how to drive a truck could drive a half-track with minimal training, which meant that a soldier assigned to one could be put into action quickly.

Half-tracks fell out of favor because they weren't as mobile off road as a fully tracked vehicle and they weren't as fast on road as a fully wheeled truck. That was one of the reasons why Britain created their universal carrier. When fully-tracked or wheeled infantry carriers began to be built, the days of half-tracks were numbered.

[cofro]

Yes! A full video dedicated to my favorite part of Armored history? And it's by the chieftain himself?!? You guys know how to make my day!

[besteffortint]

I think part of the reason they disappeared so rapidly after the war was because during WW2 Armor Doctrines were in their infancy and all the equipment being produced was designed mainly from 1918-1938. Countries were just using and fleshing out designs and doctrines they already had on the books so to speak. Combat gave them an idea of what worked well together and where improvements in tactics, equipment, and production could be made to improve combat effectiveness. By the time VE Day arrived, I’m sure with production capacities and sizes, it was determined that it was simpler -and as a result- cheaper to just design a fully tracked vehicle to carry troops and equipment. That over designing a front end for steering and also a tracked drive train in the same vehicle. You can accomplish all of the requirements in a Half-Track in a fully tracked vehicle for cheaper and more combat capable if needed.

[PerfidiousAlbion]

Up until a few years ago the British National Grid Electricity infrastructure provider ran one or more White M3 half tracks, painted white in colour and retro converted to take large width cable drums for overhead electricity cable repair…

[pauld]

@8:51 That picture is the first time I have seen American half-tracks with their canvas tops in place.

Thank you for including it.

[Ronaldl]

Half-tracks have to be one of my favorite WW2 vehicles.

[yousarrname]

The Chieftain has reached the age where he already walks into random youtube channels...

[iuusion]

Very interesting video, I had the opportunity to go for a spin on a Sd.Kfz.2 (Kettenkrad), of course only on the back seat. We went through mud and steep hill climbs. Even though it weighs about 1, 2 tons and only has 36 hp from a 4 Zyl. Opel engine, the gear ratio in offroad gear makes it go through anywhere. An interesting fact I also didn't know about it is, that the Radiator, which sits underneath the rear seats, functions as a heater for the rear passenger's legs, as the wind goes through it and heats up, it comes out through vents near your feet. But, as the Chieftain said, the maintenance is a big deal. Every few months or kilometers all of the needle bearings need to be lubricated, which is a hell of an effort. But the ride is definitely a unique experience I won't forget.