We push on with the rest of the trailer collection with an overview of important examples of vehicle accessories. As in today’s military, we needed to move vehicles, supplies, fuel, and water, and so on, servicing thousands of troops fighting the war on the front lines. Imagine how important and how many trailers are being trucked across the land today getting product around. Some of these are not only logistical but functional as well.
It’s said an army fights and moves on its stomach, therefore you need to feed the soldiers on the line. One of the workhorses for the kitchen crew would be the Mobile Field Kitchen. So the story is told....
Here is something that Henri really had to explain in detail, as I am not familiar with it. As you’ll read, this kitchen is really a Frankenstein of a trailer. According to Henri his Field Kitchen is 1941, modeled after the French WWI field kitchen. It is also very similar to the German WWI soup trailer, "Gulaschkanone ". The chassis and body are based on the French WWI “Style” prefabbed in France. The French Government exported these prefabbed trailers to Canada where they were assembled. Now, the axle is of German origin, Bergische Archenfabrik, BPW.
A little history on the company: Wikimedia Foundation Inc.
The BPW Bergische axles limited partnership is a global supplier to the commercial vehicle industry. The family-run company is headquartered in Wiehl , 50 kilometers east of Cologne.
BPW develops and produces chassis systems for trailers and semi-trailers in the commercial vehicle and agricultural sectors. In addition, the companies F. Hesterberg & Sons (Ennepetal, Germany), A / S (Ringsted, Denmark), idem telematics (Munich / Ulm, Germany), and Transport-Teknik A / S (Kolding, Denmark) belong to the BPW Group.
The BPW was converted into a limited partnership in 1937. The company name was now Bergischeachsefabrik Fr. Kotz & Söhne. For the first time, the company employed more than 1,000 people. In addition to sales outlets in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Leipzig, the BPW opened branches in Wroclaw, Königsberg, Stettin, and Vienna.
On September 1, 1939, Hitler started the Second World War with the Polish campaign. The vehicle manufacturers supplied by BPW mainly produce military trailers, gun carriages, and headlamp vehicles, and to a lesser extent also civil trailers. Production had been declining since 1942 and exports ceased in November 1944.
Since the axle is built in Germany, it is in metrics, therefore so are the drums, but as it can be seen, the rims and tires on it are off the US, GMC. That is why there is an mm+ of play when the wheel is mounted and it needs the wire to lock through the bolt studs. Also, European is the soup vats, they are 100/125 Ltr.
It may be a strange beast, but it does look good and is functional. Even has an oven for bread baking and fire to keep things warm.
Anyone is welcome to shine more light on this if they know of these out there.
