Och hello there… Sir Sidney McSprocket here! 

My parrot Polly is still in the Victory Vault.  It’s my latest invention, a totally tremendous time machine that can take us to explore incredible inventions. 

I’d set the parameters to explore the dark years of the 1940s when we were at war.  Come on, we better go and find her!

Scanning Location:

More to click...

• Ball Point Pens and Super Glue
• Freeze Dried Coffee
• Computers

• Myanmar, Burma.
• Year – 1944. 
• Invention Detected – the Jeep!

It’s awfully hot! Where are we? Looks like a jungle! It’s so humid and the terrain’s a nightmare. Good thing we have a Jeep!

Jeep

A Willys MB, no less. It’s brilliant – it’s light, very manoeuvrable and it can get across thick mud and up steep slopes.

Back in 1940, the U.S. Army needed a 4×4 vehicle and amazingly, just 75 days later, they drove off in a hero.  

As well as Willys MB, there’s the Ford ‘GPW’ which is where, some say, it got its name… GP… GEEP…

What makes the jeep so special out here?

Well, it’s light enough to get across makeshift bridges, powerful enough to haul supplies, and hardy enough to handle ankle-deep mud. Stretchers can even be strapped onto it to evacuate wounded.

They’re so nimble, it’s no wonder they’re popular, there will be hundreds of thousands of Jeeps in service by the end of the war!

Whilst the jeep was the first versatile four-wheel-drive vehicle, the world’s very first 4×4 was the Spyker 60 HP, built by the Dutch for the 1903 Paris to Madrid car race.

How do they work?

Power from the engine is fed to the wheels using drive axles and a gearing arrangement known as differentials which splits power between the wheels, allowing them to rotate at different speeds, making the vehicle excellent for off-roading.

Jeeps and their British counterpart – the Land Rover which was launched in 1948, have always been important in both military and civilian roles – from fire-fighting pumpers and field ambulances to snow ploughs, cable laying and with the right wheels, they can even run on railway tracks! They were the frontrunner to today’s popular Sport Utility Vehicles.

Incredible innovation indeed! 

Oh… Polly.  She’s still in the Victory Vault.  I better follow her… but maybe after a wee cuppa tee!  Tatty bye for now!

YOUR GO… Design a Wartime Vehicle Poster!

Create a tough all-terrain vehicle fit for a jungle mission! Design your very own Jeep-like machine with features to help it survive the most extreme wartime missions. Add labels, colour it in, and give it a name – would your vehicle be ready for muddy jungles or snowy mountains?

Get started here!

And why not listen to all of Sir Sidney’s programmes…

SIR SIDNEY MCSPROCKET AND THE VICTORY VAULT. Created with support from The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851.