My 1942 Jeep

This is the WWII Ford GPW Jeep I own Canadian markings. Great fun to drive (and I do drive it all summer long in Muskoka) and it sure turns a lot of heads. The illustration at the top is how the Jeep is marked and equipped when going to shows or reenactments.

When purchased, my Jeep was painted in the markings of the 101st Airborne Regiment - BIG fan of Band of Brothers. But I kept being asked why it wasn't done up to represent a Canadian Jeep, so have bowed to that and it is now done in the markings of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment as it would have been in 1944 / 45 in Holland. The 'Links and Winks' have a great history as a fighting regiment (traced back to 1777), but were well and truly bloodied in Holland during the latter part of WWII.

In June 1940, the 1st Battalion, Lincoln and Welland Regiment was mobilized for active service. The 2nd Batallion was to remain in reserve. The 1st Batallion arrived in the United Kingdom in July of 1943 and on 19 August became a part of the 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade of the 4th Canadian Armoured Division. After landing in France in July of 1944, the Regiment formed part of II Canadian Corp's "long left flank" of the Allied advance. For the next nine months, it fought its way through Belgium and the Netherlands into Germany. This was some of the bitterest fighting of the war, consisting largely of clearing built-up areas and canals. From Tilly-la-Campagne on 31 July 1944 until Bad Zwischenahn on 1 May 1945, the Regiment distinguished itself in many actions. Over 1500 men of the Regiment were casualties. Of the original men who enlisted in 1940, only 3 officers and 22 men were on parade in St. Catharines in 1946 when the 1st Battalion was dismissed. More on the regiment in another post.