The steel post on the front bumper of a WWII Willys MB jeep was a field-made wire cutter: a notch near its top caught a wire strung across the road at head height and snapped it.
Sources:
– Wire catcher (Wikipedia) –
– Popular Science, Dec 1944, vol. 145 no. 6, p. 105 (cited in the Wire catcher article)
– Willys MB (Wikipedia) –
– Willys Go Devil engine (Wikipedia) –
– Kaiser Willys (production and dimensions) – kaiserwillys.com
– SlashGear, jeep fold-down windshield –
– Army Radio, SCR-193-K radio set –
– RadioNerds, MP-37 / MP-45 – radionerds.com
– Archive film caption, Torquay, England, 1944 –
– Car Sized (Mini dimensions) – carsized.com
– Steel Soldiers veteran post (wire cutters in Vietnam) – steelsoldiers.com
– Finescale forum, WWII jeep question –
All 3D models and animation are made by hand in Blender by ExplainForge.
source
Fair point, most people say “WILL-eez” today! But we went with the founder: John North Willys pronounced it “Willis.” Jeep historian Ron Szymanski talked to people who knew him, including his private secretary, and they all said “Willis” (Toledo Blade, Feb 3, 2002). Even Chrysler first used “Willis” for its Willys concept before switching. So both are out there, and one of them is the man’s own name 😉
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willys
https://www.toledoblade.com/local/2002/02/03/j-n-willys-pronounced-his-name-willis-local-jeep-historian-says.html
Imagine how many died before they figured out what to do
It might do 65 down the hill with the wind behind you wide open. Maybe
When you say mini I start to think of the minicopter
I actually thought he was there to hold an American flag.
I mean they have flags everywhere why not a Jeep
smaller than modern American minis*
We put these on hmmwvs to protect turret gunners from the same thing at the beginning of the Iraq war
This is another one of those lingering "sh1t probably made up by nervous troops" myths. There are a few cases of units "encountering" German wire traps on roads but there isn't any real verified instances. American units were reporting taking on TIGER TANKS when they weren't, so reports are usually meaningless. There are no documented injuries or fatalities to the traps either. Oh, and the wires that are being reported weren't "piano wire," but telegraph wire. Which makes you think that a telegraph pole fell across the road and they thought it was a trap.
Also, this is one of those things that if you think about it critically makes ZERO sense. It is a niche trap that would only work against Jeeps and motorcycles. The first trust, tank or armored car that rumbles through will just rip the wire up. So, why string wire that only affects a very specific target?
"I told that idiot to slice my sandwich!"
*Arm gets sliced off
"Ow!"
“Thin and Tight it Hung at Head hight, hard to see from a Moving Jeep” is Dr seuss really dead?
Dad had that jerries in Eto used that to decapitated soldiers
They were put on military M151 series jeeps when the jeeps were in use on training ranges where the wires from wire guide missiles fired on the ranges were waiting to decapitate you driving on those ranges.
In third world countries motorcycles have similar contraptions because some idiots use "glass coated kite strings", "manja" or "chilean string".
This is used to fly kites and cut the strings of other people´s kites to steal these.
It is illegal and because it is illegal, there is little effort to recover these when they fall.
Some criminals use it to fall motorbikes to rob them.
Before I got to answer im guessing to cut wire traps strung to decapitate troops..now I'm gonna finish.
It's a steel Pole because a steel German would have been inappropriate during the war.
A fix for a non existent problem.
Whatchu talkn bout Willis….
Very intelligent idea
For reference, piano wire at neck height is a very effective way for partisans and guerillas to kill motorcycle couriers. Especially if they take the same routes. They started wearing neck protectors, but a leather neck protector ain't helping you if you move at speed.
Side note: We had problems with antennas hitting electrical poles, electrocuting the vehicle, and sometimes the crew. Our base had a policy of tying down the antennas, but this also created a problem with the Radio’s range. I learned how to drive in an M151 in West Germany. Good times.
I like the high amount of detail, even the jeep wiggles on the road
I guessed right.
These are still standard on modern fighting vehicles.
Nowadays, the wire hook IED.
Yup to cut wire that the enemy would string across the road to cut your head off
Was there any decapitation incident?
My grandfather, who was a ww2 vet, told me about this when I was a little kid. 6 years old having my grandfather talk about guys having their head cut off by piano wire. Good ol days…..
just like the wirecutter on many helicopters to cut powerlines if they are flying low and strike one (one prays that it works as intended, and hopes never to need it.)..
The difference between the Willy's and the Fords are that the Fords have an "F" stamped on every part.
WILL-ee's, not "Willis". (Watchu talkin' about, Willis?)
Willys rhymes with billys not willis
My dad was knocked off a 2 1/2 ton truck by a piano wire strung across the road. His hand was cupped to his mouth so the wire cut the back of his hand, slid upward, hooked his helmet and threw him off the back of the truck somewhere in Italy during WWII.
The more common problem was phone cable laid across roads which could get thrown up.
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who the hell is Willis?
its pronounced willies, not willis.
" willies" , not Willis. Dumbass AI.
I was in one of them at a reenactment
Those cars are kinda impossible to stay as a passenger
Get to the point. We know what jeep is
I was told both sides tried stringing wire across roads like that.