It began during the closing months of 1941, when the threat of war loomed large in the Philippines and in fact in South East Asia. Just before December 7 of that year, a shipment must have arrived of early jeeps, as well as other cars and trucks. These of course were not the standardized WWII Willys MB or Ford GPW. The earliest Willys MBs were delivered only during November 1941: too late to get to the Philippines before Dec. 7. In all probability, these jeeps delivered before the start of WWII were Willys MAs, Ford GPs, and quite possibly Bantam BRCs.

There are numerous photos of Ford GPs in US Army use during training exercises with the Philippine Army in Fort McKinley, now called Fort Bonifacio, the writer having photos that were published in a contemporary issue of Life Magazine. Further, right after the war, this writer can attest to a Ford GP driving around in Manila, painted light green, with its characteristic axles offset to the left, blue louvered taillights, and script Ford embossed on the tail panel. Noted restorer Danon Dizon from Angeles, Pampanga and now Baltimore, Maryland has photo evidence of an MA in service in the Philippines prior to December 7, 1941. Then again, there are the persistent rumors of a BRC somewhere in Northern Luzon, and there are reports that the Japanese forces captured a Bantam BRC in the Philippines, brought it back to Japan, where it was used as a model for the first Toyota Land Cruiser whose grille and headlamps located on the fenders are reminiscent of the BRC and the MA. There appears to be no doubt that the three pre-production prototypes (BRC, MA and GP) were in the Philippines even before the outbreak of the Second World War. Interestingly, there are reports that during the last few days of 1941, when the arrival of the Japanese Forces was imminent, the US Army threw open its warehouses in the Port Area and invited Filipinos to take out what they wanted, foodstuff, clothing, equipment, vehicles, including jeeps. An interesting footnote to this has to do with the color of the then military vehicles. This writer, who even then at the age of nine, was interested in MVs, remembers that the color appeared to be closer to brown, and seemed to be more like the khaki uniforms of the Philippine Army at the time. Not precisely the 34087 or 319 olive drab that collectors and restorers know and love!

 In October 20, 1944, when Gen. MacArthur landed in Leyte, the first of the MB/GPW jeeps touched Philippine soil, but as we will see, it was just the beginning of a long term relationship that continues until today.

LEFT : Photo shows actual jeep used by the 186th Combat Engineer Batallion, stationed in the Philippines during WWII. Photo from 186th Combat Engineer Batallion website ( http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/186thceb) 1944 GPW Jeep, S/N: 20530929 Rear Driver's Quarter panel is marked with the name "Miss Maryland" Sign on fence: 186 CP Thanks to Mr. Mike Blades for allowing MDJuan to post his photo

After the cessation of hostilities in September of 1945, large numbers of jeeps were released to the Filipino public: it was love at first sight! In fact, perhaps a not insignificant number were "released" to the public via the black market by U. S. soldiers, not to mention the usual "jeep-napping" by Filipinos. (In this vein I recall in May 1945 a couple of soldiers approaching my father offering one 2 ½ ton 6 x 6 full of boxes of cigarettes, still unopened in their cartons - they would throw in the truck and its full tank as a bonus!) Since this was the first large-scale surplus disposal of jeeps, the US Army decided that to keep track of stolen jeeps, they would trace the outline of the last 6 digits of the registration number using a series of 1/8" holes on the side panels just above the rear wheels. Indeed, a jeep and its hood (on which is painted the registration number) are readily parted to the consternation of restorers, sometimes during amphibious landings, but often at the various rebuild echelons and motor pools of the US Army. The US Army of course couldn't care a bit, except that the registration no. is the vehicle VIN (Vehical Identification Number).

 Another interesting marking on US Army jeeps on Philippine roads was their practice of painting a 3 inch white stripe across the middle of the hood running from left to right. This enabled the Traffic Air Patrols to identify the jeeps they operated. Invariably, they had "US Army" stenciled on both sides of the hood, on the windshield panel, and on both rear panels just above the rear wheels. The US Army also brought some of their experimental jeeps to the Philippines: this writer recalls that the junction of P. Campa and Lepanto streets was a center of US Army activity, in fact he once glimpsed Gen. MacArthur, complete with corncob pipe, in this area. (Later research shows that after the US Amy moved out, this became the temporary location of the Philippine Congress, rendered homeless due to the destruction of the Philippine Legislative Building.) He also saw what appeared to be a larger jeep with extremely large wheels, seemingly from a 6x6 truck. Later readings showed that this was in fact the experimental 1/2 Ton MLW 4 x 4 version of the jeep. It was reasonable that the US Army would do field tests of experimental vehicles in what was already a secure area, where large numbers of field troops were based.