In November 1967 Reuters News Agency shot newsreel footage showing the arrival of 123 Jeeps for the Armée nationale congolaise (ANC) or Congolese National Army, at the port of Matadi.
These Jeeps were the M606 militarized version of the CJ-3B, produced by Kaiser Jeep for shipment to many overseas destinations.
The freighter carrying this batch of Jeeps was Australian Galaxy. The C2-class cargo vessel, owned by Farrell Lines Inc. was built in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1945 as Rapid, then renamed Pioneer Glen in 1947, Australian Galaxy in 1965, and Galaxy in 1969. It was scrapped in Taiwan in 1969.
Thanks to René Beauchamp for a photo of Australian Galaxy (310K JPEG) at an unknown date and location.
This shipment being unloaded at Matadi was part of the U.S. Mutual Defense Assistance Program (MDAP) which had been providing military supplies to the ANC for most of the 1960s, and in fact the army had been using CJ-3B Jeeps since 1953 (see also Military Jeeps in the Congo on CJ3B.info.)
Kaiser Jeep's M606 variant was part of a surge in CJ-3B production for export in 1963, and accounted for the majority of CJ-3Bs built after 1964.
This 1967 M606 leaving the deck of the Australian Galaxy has a protective cover over the windshield, spare wheel in the passenger seat, and apparently a folded canvas top in the rear, which was seldom seen in use in the Congo although it would have been handy in the rainy season.
Federico Cavedo in Argentina comments that, "The spare tire mount is on the tailgate, as found also on the 'late' M606s which arrived in Argentina in 1967. The 'early' M606s had the spare tire on the side of the body" (see Military Jeeps in the Congo, Part 10.)
The United States had now provided the ANC with over 1,500 trucks and other vehicles, as well as communications equipment. The military assistance program also delivered spare parts and technical assistance for the maintenance of the equipment.
The Jeeps were labelled with technical data including dimensions. Length is 130 inches and width is given as 69 inches, although that figure would include side steps and spare tire, neither of which is included on these M606s. Height of 55 inches would probably be correct with windshield folded down. Weight is given as 2418 pounds, and I'm not sure what "CU" represents.
The Jeeps carry the clasped-hands logo (130K PNG) of the MDAP, under which the U.S. was sending military equipment to allies including Vietnam and several Latin American countries.
The MDAP apparently wanted to make sure these Jeeps reached their intended destination, by sending them care of the American embassy in the capital Leopoldville
Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) is about 350km (200 mi) up the Congo River from Matadi, which itself is about 150km (100 mi) inland from the Atlantic Ocean (see a map, 320K JPEG).
Matadi is just below the rapids which make the river impassable, so the rest of the trip for these Jeeps will be by train.
This wider view of the port, dating from 1953, shows the same warehouse seen behind the Jeeps in the photo above, and the huge railway yard to the right. The railway was originally built in the 1890s to facilitate the export of copper and rubber.
Photo by Dmitri Kessel from the LIFE Photo Collection.
Thanks to Reuters News Archives, and to Federico Cavedo for spotting the Reuters newsreel (with French narration) on YouTube. -- Derek Redmond.
Also on CJ3B.info, see Leif Hellström's series of articles on Military Jeeps in the Congo.
Return to CJ-3B and M606 Military Jeeps.
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