For an entire generation of service members, HBO’s “Band of Brothers” was an unofficial curriculum on leadership.
The miniseries follows soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division through training, D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge and the final days of World War II. Its characters came to life under the guidance of Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. According to SlashFilm, “Band of Brothers” involved 10,000 extras, 500 speaking roles, three years of production and a budget of $125 million.
Included in all of that are several automotive treats. Instead of relying solely on Hollywood’s usual fleet of World War II-era vehicles – Willys MBs and the like – the producers included some surprising and historically significant alternates.
These are the unsung military vehicles that you might have missed the first time (or the couple of times) you watched “Band of Brothers.”
Bedford M-Type
Our first vehicle, a simple box truck, appears in a flash during the third episode of the series.
According to World Car Evolution, Bedford Vehicles was a British brand within the General Motors family. The company initially produced commercial trucks, vans and utility vehicles, but focused on producing military vehicles during World War II.
This one appears to be an M-type truck that was modified for military service in the U.K. with a large box compartment and blackout lights.
It only got a moment of screen time, but it’s a good reminder that the allied militaries were often working with what they had in the early stages of the war. Modified buses and delivery trucks weren’t ideal, but they were better than carrying supplies by hand.
Harley-Davidson WLA
Did you notice what was swerving to avoid a head-on collision with that Bedford M-type? It’s none other than the Harley-Davidson WLA.
The Motor Company’s involvement with the U.S. military played a significant role in the mechanization of the Army. Military motorcycles took part in World War I, the hunt for Pancho Villa and World War II. They continued to serve afterward, though in a reduced capacity, as aircraft and radios replaced two-wheeled messengers and scouts.
This one from Episode 3 is a glimpse into the golden age of military motorcycles. The sidecar, half-canvas windscreen, side-mounted ammo can and fork-mounted Thompson submachine gun are all iconic, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the show’s producers picked this example because of them.
Getting a WLA up and running wasn’t as easy as running out and pressing a starter button. Try to follow along with the start-up procedure in this video from Glenn Bator.
M5 Half-Track
World War II brought about some pretty creative technology. Submarines became extremely effective, aircraft evolved from canvas-skinned biplanes to fighter jets and ground vehicles took on bizarre forms to solve battlefield problems. One of these is the half-track.
Wheeled trucks – even early four-wheel-drive vehicles – were great at hauling troops and heavy cargo on the road, but their skinny tires struggled so badly during World War I that the U.S. military sought something with more off-road capability.
The Army’s solution was to keep wheels up front for steering but replace the drive wheels with tracks – like a tank. These tank/truck combos became known as half-tracks.
Half-tracks could handle tremendous loads, so they often got armor and weaponry that would have been too heavy for a conventional truck of the time. Another great example of this appears in “Kelly’s Heroes.”
The various half-track variants were easy to drive with minimal training (they had a steering wheel like a car, rather than levers like a tank) and were good at navigating rough terrain. But they had serious drawbacks. Beaches of Normandy reports that the vehicles had a massive turning radius and were better at delivering troops to the fight than actively participating in combat.
Take a peek inside one of the most immaculate World War II restorations on the road today with BAIV on YouTube.
M8 Greyhound
“Band of Brothers” has no shortage of tanks. There’s a surprising number of cars, too. One of the most interesting vehicles in the series is a little bit of both: the M8 Greyhound from Episode 9.
Ford built the Army’s armored car to provide reconnaissance and quick-response, anti-tank capabilities to the front lines. The straight-six engine, four-speed manual transmission (with a gated shifter, no less) and six-wheel drive powered the M8 to a top speed of 56 mph across all kinds of terrain.
According to the original training manual (which is a fascinating read), the Greyhound brought to bear four crew members, 80 rounds of ammunition for the 37-millimeter main gun and 1,500 rounds of belted .30-caliber ammunition for the machine gun, in addition to assorted hand grenades, smoke grenades and mines.
Johnny Johnson has a fantastic deep-dive into the Greyhound’s history and service. According to the video, the M8 continued to serve in militaries and law enforcement agencies around the world long after the U.S. military retired it in the 1950s. It even appeared in “Die Hard” in 1988.
DUKW
Episode 9 also features my favorite historical easter egg of the series. In one shot, a convoy of heavy vehicles drives past the camera. Right in a row, we see a 1943 DUKW, a 1942 DUKW and a CCKW 353.
GMC built all three of the vehicles. The 2.5-ton, six-wheel-drive CCKW cargo truck came first in 1941, according to Truck Encyclopedia. When the Army commissioned GMC to build a wheeled amphibious vehicle, designers turned to the CCKW platform as a starting point. According to Hagerty, the design process took just 38 days.
As Hagerty, Truck Encyclopedia and numerous collectors point out, the DUKW featured several innovative solutions to the challenge of navigating land and sea. Naturally, the hull had to be waterproof while still allowing the chassis to function on land. Intricate ducts routed cool air to the radiator, while exhaust gas heated the inside of the hull to prevent the massive bilge pump from freezing in frigid seas.
Early DUKWs featured an onboard air compressor that allowed crew to dismount and reinflate the tires after driving on sand, but later versions came with a central tire inflation system which allowed the driver to inflate and deflate the tires without stopping.
You can spot early DUKWs by the vertical windscreen and exposed rear wheel wells. That’s what’s driving in front of the CCKW. In front of that is a later DUKW with skirted wheel wells and an angled windscreen.
Those three vehicles represent the evolution of the DUKW in one shot. Most “Band of Brothers” viewers will never know, but now you do.
See what it’s like to own one of these amphibious vehicles today on the This Old Truck YouTube channel. If you’re ever in Boston, book a Duck Tour on one of these incredible vehicles.
‘Band of Brothers’ Is a Fitting Tribute to World War II Veterans and Vehicles
We’ve come to expect excellent storytelling from Spielberg and Hanks. In addition to “Band of Brothers” and “Saving Private Ryan,” the duo gave us “The Pacific” and “Masters of the Air” (which features its own cast of historic ground vehicles).
Sometimes, historical dramas give us historical accuracy, compelling acting or quality writing – but rarely all three. “Band of Brothers” has stood the test of time, because it’s a smashing success on all fronts.
HBO could have phoned it in with a handful of Jeeps and Sherman tanks, but it didn’t. These all-too-often overlooked vehicles are just some of the details that make the series a classic.
Related: All the Best Military Vehicles from ‘Generation Kill’
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