As the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings came and went this year I was taken back to my family’s connection to the D-Day DUKWs.What’s a DUKW? It’s an amphibious military vehicle that played an important supporting role on D-Day. Its name is derived from an acronym based on its manufacturer’s coding: D, for the year of development, 1942; U, for a utility amphibious vehicle; K, for all-wheel drive; and W, for dual-rear wheels.
Back then, the trip to camp was accomplished in stages. Supplies and people had to be lifted, carried, lugged and transported by horse and buggy, jeeps, scows, boats and backpacks. First, we took the train from Sudbury to the whistle-stop at Sheahan. Then we crossed the Spanish River on a deteriorating wooden bridge before traversing along a two-kilometre logging road to reach the lake, where, finally, we loaded up a boat for the last three kilometres to our cabins.
Leaving our home in Sudbury, the highway driving was easy. But by the time we reached the Spanish River, two front springs had broken, penetrating the hull causing two large holes, allowing water to pour in near the engine. We hoped the three DUKW pumps, plus a backup one, would alleviate that concern.
While camping that night on a sandy shoal in the middle of the river we realized that some rubber covers had become dislodged, allowing water to seep in. That extra pump we carried was now keeping us afloat. From that point on, the DUKW more than lived up to its potential. Once we stepped off the train in Sheahan, we piled into that DUKW for a one-hour drive on land and water right to the back door of our camps. It wasn’t always smooth sailing, but it rarely failed.