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Bonnet Star

hammerdown

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Im just about to have the decal stencels on my m35 done and want to no if
the m35 had a star on the bonnet at all as i cant say iv seen one???
Can someone enlighten me on this????
 

NDT

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US Army trucks only had the stars on the hood and doors up until the MERDEC 4 color cammo adoption in the 1970's. The star on the hood points forward on post-WWII trucks!!!
 

Wolf.Dose

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US Army trucks only had the stars on the hood and doors up until the MERDEC 4 color cammo adoption in the 1970's. The star on the hood points forward on post-WWII trucks!!!
This statement is correct! And incorrect for some units in Germany!
Some used a black star on the bonnet even with MERDEC4. At the border to the east the units used the stars much longer than other units, even not beeing complying the the requirements.
Wolf
P.S.:pics of these units are very rare and almost impossible to find. The bonnets are usuallyabove peoples eye points and therefore difficult to find the decal on the bonnet on fotos.
A M151 Foto of 1992 in Berlin is known with a white star on the bonnet.
 
Last edited:

Wolf.Dose

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Papercu,
a great info. I do not remenber trucks in the early seventies with only stars on the doors. I remember them with a star on the hood and nothing on the doors. Especially in Wildflecken. They painted over the stars with camo colour due to the danger of the Russian snipers. And Wildflecken was very close to the border. The shades of the overpainted stars were present.
Sorry, I do not have pics of these trucks, I had no camera by that time.
But for example in the Mannheim-Heidelberg area they probably did the marking that way. However, I realy do not remenber that. The units did many things their own way. Also the literature is limited in this aspect...hight of vision....
However, here in Germany, everything in marking by that time was correct regardless the official requirements.
The late 60's and the 70's were also the hight time of personal modifications of the trucks due to unit needs. Everything is / was correct.
I have seen trucks which locked from the outside like a M109. Inside it was a motor home. Or M35 with playwood bodies built to the requirements, as well as on 5 ton trucks. Including air conditioner with power pack beside it...
This is something like in the German Army in WWII. Modification of the equipment was illegal, but everybody did it.
(And in the German Army, when I served there, it was the same.)
Wolf
 
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