MFG: Clark Equipment Co.
Built In: Battle Creek, MI
Engine: Waukesha FC
Trans: 4-speed
Weight: 5,000 lbs.
No Built: 2,500 (1941-45)
Body Style: Tractor
Wheelbase: 54”
Length: 108”
Width: 62”
Height: 57”
Engineering battalions were responsible for the construction of airfields, bases, medical and other facilities, sometimes in remote locations. In 1942 the use of highly mobile airborne units became a specialized operation, requiring lighter more portable equipment. These units must hurriedly pave-the-way, for our air forces arrival.
This led to the development of the unique CA-1 Dozer, lighter, smaller and more compact it could be flown to its next job by the C-47 Skytrain or the CG-4 Hadrian glider. Each airfield that was completed brought the Allied forces ever closer to a possible victory. The average runway of 200 foot wide and 5000 foot long could be constructed in as little as two days. Marston matting known as PSP (pierced steel plank) and even crushed coral was used in the Pacific as temporary runway material. This is why the C-47 Skytrain was the usually the first to land and the most common aircraft seen at new airstrip construction sites around the world.
On D-Day June 6, 1944 CA-1 dozers accompanied our airborne units into Normandy to help the Allied forces move inland. This dozer was acquired by Yanks in 2007.
