2RHPZ
02-25-2006, 01:47 PM
When the snowmobile went to war
Roy Thomas
The Ottawa Citizen
Friday, February 24, 2006
The world's sole armoured snowmobile could only come from Canada, of course.
But credit Winston Churchill and his Second World War fascination with an assault on Norway for spurring its development.
From the fertile brain of Britain's leader came two invasion schemes that would hinge on vehicles with an "over-snow" capability. Operation Plough was a plan to raid Norwegian hydroelectric dams and other sources of energy in Axis-held Europe. Operation Jupiter was to be an assault on northern Norway to neutralize or destroy the Nazi aircraft that were menacing the convoys to Russia.
As the plans progressed, the British put out a call for a snow-traversing vehicle that could carry a Bofors gun or several tons of cargo or personnel. In response, the Canadian military's first act was to buy a pair of commercial B12 models from Quebec's Bombardier for study. Eventually, the Canadian company Cusson-Freres would be engaged to produce more than 100 modified versions of these half-track, half-ski machines, designated as the B-1.
The B-1 provided over-snow transport but no armoured protection or capability to fight from the vehicle. The Canadian Armoured Snowmobile, which was meant for fighting, sprang from efforts of the Canadian Army's engineering design branch to come closer to the British criteria.
A series of fortunate circumstances led to an effective design. Both Bombardier and General Motors of Canada were asked to develop half-track snowmobile prototypes. This was a new venture for GM, and the machine it produced had a rear-mounted engine, which shifted the centre of gravity.
When a set of skis broke off in trials, testers discovered the vehicle could run on tracks alone. A full-track, rear-engined prototype was then produced, though by Bombardier, not GM.
canada.com (http://www.canada.com:80/components/print.aspx?id=ca187b93-f07a-408e-8309-f2f40a409c4f)
Roy Thomas
The Ottawa Citizen
Friday, February 24, 2006
The world's sole armoured snowmobile could only come from Canada, of course.
But credit Winston Churchill and his Second World War fascination with an assault on Norway for spurring its development.
From the fertile brain of Britain's leader came two invasion schemes that would hinge on vehicles with an "over-snow" capability. Operation Plough was a plan to raid Norwegian hydroelectric dams and other sources of energy in Axis-held Europe. Operation Jupiter was to be an assault on northern Norway to neutralize or destroy the Nazi aircraft that were menacing the convoys to Russia.
As the plans progressed, the British put out a call for a snow-traversing vehicle that could carry a Bofors gun or several tons of cargo or personnel. In response, the Canadian military's first act was to buy a pair of commercial B12 models from Quebec's Bombardier for study. Eventually, the Canadian company Cusson-Freres would be engaged to produce more than 100 modified versions of these half-track, half-ski machines, designated as the B-1.
The B-1 provided over-snow transport but no armoured protection or capability to fight from the vehicle. The Canadian Armoured Snowmobile, which was meant for fighting, sprang from efforts of the Canadian Army's engineering design branch to come closer to the British criteria.
A series of fortunate circumstances led to an effective design. Both Bombardier and General Motors of Canada were asked to develop half-track snowmobile prototypes. This was a new venture for GM, and the machine it produced had a rear-mounted engine, which shifted the centre of gravity.
When a set of skis broke off in trials, testers discovered the vehicle could run on tracks alone. A full-track, rear-engined prototype was then produced, though by Bombardier, not GM.
canada.com (http://www.canada.com:80/components/print.aspx?id=ca187b93-f07a-408e-8309-f2f40a409c4f)