words Robbie McGuire pictures US National Archives
Robbie McGuire profiles the ubiquitous M274 Half Ton Utility Platform Truck, an iconic load-bearing vehicle affectionately dubbed the ‘Mechanical Mule’
The all-dependable pack mule was most commonly associated with British, American and Commonwealth armies in the jungles of the Far East during World War Two. However, in the 1950s, a new type of mule would be introduced by the American Army that would see the carrot-loving workhorse put to rest. The M274 Half Ton Utility Platform Truck was affectionally dubbed the ‘Mechanical Mule’ by the troops who used it. The concept of a small but practical load-bearing vehicle was put into development in the latter stages of World War Two, for use in places where larger jeeps and trucks could not operate. The American manufacturer Willys-Overland Motors applied for a patent for their new ‘Jungle Burden Carrier’ in December 1944. The prototype design by chief engineer Delmar Gerle Roos featured a flatbed with a simple twocylinder engine. By 1948 the US army had been trialling a small number of these vehicles and an article on this early version of the mule appeared in Popular Mechanics <…
