France

Jeffrey Quad Portee

The Jeffrey Quad was one of the most used trucks in World War One. It was designed by the Thomas B Jeffrey Company in Kenosha, Wisconsin in the USA. It was 2-ton four-wheel drive vehicle, with drop-side tray and a 2-seat cab. It had steering on all four wheels, which gave it a very small turning radius of just 8.5 meters. All wheels were braked, and it was said that the truck could be brought to a standstill from its top speed (about 20 mph) in its own length. Production of the truck started in 1913, with a peak of 11.490 Quads delivered in 1918. The four wheel drive and general "excellence" of the truck on the rough, unpaved roads and in muddy conditions, soon made it very popular by several armies. The first to use it was of course the US Army and the US Marine Corps, but it was soon adapted by the armed forces of France and Britain, who used it both as a general transporter, tow vehicle and ambulance. The French Army also used it as so called Portée Vehicle:  The guns were carried on the rear platform of the tractor being loaded and off­loaded by means of ramps which were carried on the platform also. To accommodate the barrel, a cut-out was made in the back of the cab. The thinking behind this portée idea (which was later used more extensively in World War 2) was to eliminate the limber and the need to tow the gun. This was a lesson learned from the earlier trials with the Chatillon-Panhard tractor where the tractor had performed well in muddy conditions but the gun and limber had stuck. In September and October 1915 two more batteries were formed, and a second complete portée regiment was formed in June 1916 and another in April 1917. In August 1917 it was decided to convert all 75-mm. gun regiments in Army Corps to portée units. Seven new portée regiments were ready by the end of 1917 and there were no less than twenty at the time of the German spring offensive in March 1918. By June 1918 there were 27 portée regiments and by the time of the Armistice 33 had been formed. This formidable artillery force was transported by 8,600 vehicles (tractors lorries, and staff cars) with just under 44.000 personnel. Portée artillery of this kind was considered most useful by the French General Staff as it had a mobility and range far superior than anything possible with horses. The major limitation on deploying portée artillery at that time was, in fact, the speed and reliability of the tractors, which were poor by modern standards. For slightly more info on this vehicle, click here! My model has been made from Reveriscos white-metal model kit, and has been modfied into a portée vehicle - using some parts, and a lot of info from Convoys Jeffrey Quad kit. The driving cab has been detailed, and the wheels rebuilt. Also, the ramps, blocks, chains etc of the portee vehicle has been added. (The original Reverisco kit portrays the Ammo transport vehicle.) The 75mm gun is built from the excellent Al.By kit. Click on the thumbnails, to see more views of this model:

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