I just keep finding out more things I don't know about World War II. I'd never heard of a "water buffalo" before I saw the picture in the calendar that I wrote about earlier today. So...I had to look it up.
Here is what I found. The "Water Buffalo" was an amphibious tank classified as a LVT, Landing Vehicle Tracked. There were five classes of it during World War II and 18,621 were delivered. Marines serving aboard them were known as "Alligator Marines" and there is a museum dedicated to these vehicles in Camp Pendleton, California.
They were originally intended to be cargo carriers, but evolved into carrying assault troops and fire support vehicles. They could carry as many as 18 troops.
The LVT-1s were 7.95 meters long and 3.25 meters wide and carried 4 Browning machine guns. Their descendants are still in use by the armed forces today.
The WW II/Korea LVT Museum is at Camp Del Mar at the USMC base in Pendleton, California and houses exhibits along with 6 LVTs with examples from all five World War II classes. The LVT-4 was the largest of them. The museum is open seven days a week.
Ooo-Rah!! --Cooter
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