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GPW 62104

I am guessing at the delivery date, but based upon those registered before me, this date seems most plausible. I will mark it with the 834th Bomb Squadron, 486th Bombardment Group. One of my mother's high school classmates was shot down on April 8, 1945, Palm Sunday. B-17G, tail #020 went down near Hof, Germany. Their mission was to bomb the rail yards in Hof with light resistance expected. Nonetheless eight B-17s were shot down that day. The B-17 took a flak hit in the cockpit, which caused "MISS ANTHRACITE" to go into a spin. The hit seriously injured the co-pilot and shredded his chute. 1st Lieut. Arthur J. (Dutchy) Sauler regained control of the injured plane and gave the co-pilot his chute and the order to bail He held the plane together till they all bailed. Too late he jumped and streamed in with a partially opened 'chute. This GPW will carry the name of his plane,"Miss Anthracite"(He was from the coal region in Pennsylvania). Say his name out loud on Memorial Day. 5/26/08-- Added estimated hood number from Classic Military Automotive Hood number Estimator. May not be exact, but it's something that puts it in the ball park. 5/27/08--pulled number from engine and it's a Willys military. Not unusual for early GPWs but I don't know if this was the original. Probably not since this is a late '42. 7/16/08 Had an email from an old friend who has a GPW with an SN of 60546/DOD 10 Sep '42. As a result, I may have to adjust the DOD on mine, since there were no data plates to go on. In checking other SNs, 62283 DOD 9/4/42, 62421, DOD 9/8/42, and 61888, DOD 8/31/42. So the DOD may not be representative of manufacture, but just that, a date of delivery. So, I guess was possible for a jeep to be static until it was shipped, and then marked accordingly. Seems plausible. Rebuilding is coming along slowly, but it's starting to come together. Never had to go this deep in the restorative process. 6/24/09 Have been working on a tub as I can. It's coming together slowly. Made need to get a new repro tub eventually. 2/21/2010 "Miss Anthracite" is coming along well and she is starting to develop character. The hard part is to make it look used in '44, not new in '10. Got an original and very well used tub that required a lot of work, I mean a lot, but she looks good now. Still need a couple of cosmetic items, then we'll try to breathe life into her. Target date for resurrection is 30 May 2010. 5/9/2012 So much for target dates, but today is the debut. Thanks to all who helped resurrect this once derelict, to honor a fallen warrior.

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