The Willys MB and the Ford GPW, both formally called the U.S. Army Truck, 1/4‑ton, 4x4, Command Reconnaissance, commonly known as the Willys Jeep, Jeep, or jeep, and sometimes referred to by its supply catalogue designation G503, were highly successful American off-road capable, light military utility vehicles. Over 600,000 were built to a single standardized design, for the United States and the Allied forces in World War II, from 1941 until 1945. This also made it (by its light weight) the world's first mass-produced four-wheel drive car, made in 6-figure numbers.

The 1/4-ton jeep became the primary light, wheeled, multi-role vehicle of the United States military and its allies, with President Eisenhower once calling it "one of three decisive weapons the U.S. had during WWII."With some 640,000 units built, the 1/4‑ton jeeps constituted a quarter of the total military support motor vehicles that the U.S. produced during the war, and almost two-thirds of the 988,000 light 4WD vehicles produced, when counted together with the Dodge WC series. Large numbers of jeeps were provided to U.S. allies, including the Soviet Union at the time. Aside from large amounts of 1-1/2 and 2-1/2‑ton trucks, and 25,000 3/4‑ton Dodges - some 50,000 1/4‑ton jeeps were shipped to help Russia during WWII - against Nazi-Germany's total production of just over 50,000 Kubelwagens, the jeep's primary counterpart.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a British Willys Jeep that was used by General Bernard Montgomery, commander of the British 8th Army. Now in stock!

Dimensions:
Length: 2-1/2-inches
Width: 1-1/4-inches

Release Date: November 2024

Historical Account: "Monty" - The Second Battle of El Alamein began on October 23rd,1942, and ended 12 days later with one of the first large-scale, decisive Allied land victories of the war. Montgomery correctly predicted both the length of the battle and the number of casualties (13,500).

Historian Correlli Barnett has pointed out that the rain also fell on the Germans, and that the weather is therefore an inadequate explanation for the failure to exploit the breakthrough, but nevertheless the Battle of El Alamein had been a great success. Over 30,000 prisoners of war were taken, including the German second-in-command, General von Thoma, as well as eight other general officers. Rommel, having been in a hospital in Germany at the start of the battle, was forced to return on October 25th,1942, after Stumme -- his replacement as German commander -- died of a heart attack in the early hours of the battle.

The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill with military leaders during his visit to Tripoli. The group includes: Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver Leese, General Sir Harold Alexander, General Sir Alan Brooke and General Sir Bernard Montgomery.

Montgomery was advanced to KCB and promoted to full general. He kept the initiative, applying superior strength when it suited him, forcing Rommel out of each successive defensive position. On March 6th, 1943, Rommel's attack on the over-extended Eighth Army at Medenine (Operation Capri) with the largest concentration of German armor in North Africa was successfully repulsed. At the Mareth Line, March 20th to 27th, when Montgomery encountered fiercer frontal opposition than he had anticipated, he switched his major effort into an outflanking inland pincer, backed by low-flying RAF fighter-bomber support. For his role in North Africa he was awarded the Legion of Merit by the United States government in the rank of Chief Commander.