Jeep Willys (other names: Willys MB, Jeep) is an American off-road car from the Second World War and the post-war period. The first prototypes of the car were built in 1940, and serial production was carried out in 1940-1945. Nearly 650,000 copies of it were created in its course! The weight of the cart was about 1.1 tons, with a length of 3.36 meters and a width of 1.57 meters. The drive was provided by a single engine with a power of 60 HP. The maximum speed was up to 105 km / h.
The Jeep Willys was developed to order and demanded by the US Army, which in 1940, faced with the war, asked for a completely new 4x4 passenger car with a load capacity of up to 250 kilograms, which could be mass-produced. It is worth adding that initially the American Bantam Car with the Bantam BRC was the clear favorite in the tender. However, the US Department of Defense, striving to ensure the best possible car design and trying to ensure trouble-free series production, handed over the plans for the Bantam BRC to the Willys and Ford plants. Based on these plans, Willys developed a Jeep that had a much better power unit than the original Bantam BRC, as well as being mechanically more perfect. Ultimately, it was this car, the Willys Jeep, that won the tender for the US Army. The presented car was actually mass-produced and went to almost all Anglo-Saxon armies fighting in World War II, and thanks to the Lend-and-Lease program, also to the Soviet Union. He took part in hostilities in North Africa, Italy, Northwest Europe and the Pacific. It is often assumed that the Jeep Willys is one of the symbols of American triumph in World War II.
Vinstons Čērčils, iespaidots par Vācijas gaisa desanta spēku darbību Krētā 1941. gadā, noveda pie pirmo britu gaisa desanta vienību izveidošanas. Pirmā šāda vienība bija The Parachute Regiment, un pirmo operāciju britu desantnieki veica 1942. gadā. Gadu iepriekš tika izveidota 1. izpletņu divīzija, bet divus gadus vēlāk (1943. gadā) 6. izpletņlēcēju nodaļa. Jāpiebilst, ka blakus šīm divām divīzijām atradās arī 1942. gadā izveidotā 2. neatkarīgā izpletņlēcēju brigāde. Abās britu izpletņlēcēju divīzijās bija četras līdz piecas izpletņu un planieru kājnieku brigādes un atbalsta vienības, piemēram, prettanku karaspēks, vieglo tanku apakšvienība vai inženierzinātņu un sapieru vienības. Britu izpletņlēcēju karaspēks cīnījās gan kaujās Ziemeļāfrikā (1942-1943), gan desanta laikā Sicīlijā un Dienviditālijā (1943), gan kaujās Normandijā (1944) vai neveiksmīgās operācijas Market-Garden laikā (1944). Tie tika izmantoti arī Reinas forsēšanas laikā (1945) un pēdējās cīņās Vācijā.