The Willys MB and the Ford GPW, both formally called the U.S. Army Truck, 1/4‑ton, 4x4, Command Reconnaissance, commonly known as the Willys Jeep, Jeep, or jeep, and sometimes referred to by its supply catalogue designation G503, were highly successful American off-road capable, light military utility vehicles. Over 600,000 were built to a single standardized design, for the United States and the Allied forces in World War II, from 1941 until 1945. This also made it (by its light weight) the world's first mass-produced four-wheel drive car, made in 6-figure numbers.

The 1/4-ton jeep became the primary light, wheeled, multi-role vehicle of the United States military and its allies, with President Eisenhower once calling it "one of three decisive weapons the U.S. had during WWII."With some 640,000 units built, the 1/4‑ton jeeps constituted a quarter of the total military support motor vehicles that the U.S. produced during the war, and almost two-thirds of the 988,000 light 4WD vehicles produced, when counted together with the Dodge WC series. Large numbers of jeeps were provided to U.S. allies, including the Soviet Union at the time. Aside from large amounts of 1-1/2 and 2-1/2‑ton trucks, and 25,000 3/4‑ton Dodges - some 50,000 1/4‑ton jeeps were shipped to help Russia during WWII - against Nazi-Germany's total production of just over 50,000 Kubelwagens, the jeep's primary counterpart.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a British Willys Jeep with a Bantam T3 trailer that was attached to the 6th Airborne Division, then deployed to Normandy, France, during June 1944. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Length: 2-1/2-inches
Width: 1-1/4-inches

Release Date: February 2018

Historical Account: "Pegasus Bridge" - During the last hours of June 5th, 1944, as part of Operation Tonga, transport aircraft and towed gliders carried units of the 6th Airborne to Normandy where they would land just prior to the D-Day landings that took place on the morning of June 6th. They were to land behind Sword Beach and secure the eastern flank. Some of the objectives included the seizure of Pegasus Bridge and Horsa Bridge by D Company, 2nd Ox & Bucks (commanded by Major John Howard) and the destruction of the Merville Battery by Lieutenant-Colonel Terence Otway's 9 PARA, both of whom were some of the first units to land and achieve their objectives. The landings proved successful, though many units were scattered across much of Normandy. The area around Pegasus and Horsa were successfully defended until they were eventually relieved, having repulsed numerous counter-attacks by the Germans, later on June 6th by Lord Lovat's 1st Special Service Brigade, followed later by elements of the British 3rd Infantry Division.

From June through August, the Division successfully defended the area to the east of the Orne river. On August 2nd, 1944, the division became part of the First Allied Airborne Army. In mid-August the division took part in the advance towards the Seine and early in September it returned to Britain to recuperate and reorganize, having suffered over 4,000 casualties (killed, wounded, and missing).