Half tracks
With the new method of mechanised warfare it became apparent that tanks needed to be followed by supporting infantry who could travel at the same speed. The standard troop truck was not suitable for all terrain use and marching soldiers could never keep up with the relentless pace of the armour.
The answer was to produce a half-tracked vehicle that could as easily manage a ploughed field and ditch as it could a tarmac road. The concept of half-tracked vehicles was worked on by many nations in the 1930s as a way of producing cheap tanks, but by World War II the basic half-track chassis had become a versatile and dependable combat machine in its own right.
