M29 Weasel

The Studebaker company originally designed this open-topped tracked utility vehicle for operations in snow, but the U.S. Army and Marine Corps found it useful for crossing terrain too soft for most other vehicles. The type served as a cargo carrier, mobile command center, radio, ambulance, and signal line layer. Because the vehicle's ground pressure was often too low to set off anti-tank mines, the Army and Marines also used it to cross minefields. It carried a crew of four at a top speed of 36 mph. The type also came in an amphibious version (M29C Water Weasel). Studebaker produced 15,123 units between 1942 and 1945. The U.S. Army used it widely in both Italy and on the Western Front; it went ashore on Normandy and was with the U.S. Army during the breakthrough at St. Lo., the Battle of the Bulge, and in the mud of the Roer and the Rhine. The U.S. Marine Corps used it effectively in the sand and mud of Pacific Theater, particularly during the battles for Iwo Jima and Okinawa in 1945.