M-2 Halftrack

The M-2 Halftrack is similar to the slightly larger and more common M-3 Halftrack, produced at the same time during WW II. To distinguish the M2 from the M3 halftrack, the longer M3 body extends further beyond the tracks while the M2 body stops close to the end of the tracks and has a step at the rear. The M2 had no rear access door, which would be blocked by its machine-gun skate rail. The driver area of the M2 halftrack is separated from the rear compartment by storage bins, accessed by doors on the sides of the vehicle. Note: halftrack is sometimes spelled "halftrac".

The M2A1 halftrack, fielded in 1943, had a ring mount machine gun that replaced the machine-gun skate rail. During the production life of the M2 many small changes were made, in parallel with the M3, including spring-loaded idlers, demountable headlights moved from the fenders to the side of the hood, mine racks, and a winch.

The M-4 Mortar Carrier Halftrack is based on the M2 Halftrack.

Armored unit M-2 Halftrack during training at Fort Benning, GA, April-June 1942.

Today in WW II: 21 May 1942 Sinking of the Mexican tanker Faja de Oro by German submarine U-160, off Key West, precipitates Mexican declaration of war against Nazi Germany.

M-2 Halftrack (G-102)

Find additional photos and hi-res versions of the M-2 Halftrack at the Olive-Drab Military Mashup:

13th Armored Regiment, 1st Armored Division, M2/M3 halftrack crew use machine guns and a Thompson SMG against attacking aircraft during First Army maneuvers, at a bridge on Route 1 near Bethune, SC, fall 1941.

Battery A, 27th Field Artillary 7Smm guns, M2 halftracks, and other vehicles during maneuvers near Montrose, LA, September 1941.

Vehicles of Co. A, 801st Tank Destroyer Bn., pass through Montebourg, France, 21 July 1944. An M20 Armored 6x6 Utility Car is to the left, a jeep and 3/4 ton weapons carrier are toward the right side, and an M3 Halftrack towing a 3-inch antitank gun is in the foreground.

An M-15 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage (GMC) halftrack rolls out of an LST onto Cape Gloucester as the Marines landed the day after Christmas. 1943. The M15 has an armored enclosure on the rear that houses a 37mm M1A2 automatic cannon plus two .50 cal. M2HB machine guns. The LST is loaded with similar vehicles and trucks laden with ammunition and supplies are carried on the deck like the one in the background.

M3 37mm antitank gun crew ready for action, Second Army maneuvers in Louisiana, 11 September 1941. M2 halftrack in background. Members of the crew (left to right): CPL Roy Greer of Pocahontas, VA, PFC Albert Heinsohn of La Grange, TX, PVT Walter Gering of Chicago, IL, PVT John Miller of Ritzville, WA, and PFC Taft H. Boggs of Cumberland, KY.

M3 Gun Motor Carriage, a mobile tank-destroyer based on the White M3 Halftrack with a mounted M1897 or M2 75mm field gun, firing at a tank in a training exercise at Ft. Meade, MD, 1941.

M-2 Halftrack Photo Gallery

M2 halftrack, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD. Photo: Popular Science Magazine, August 1941.

Assembly line for production of M-2 Halftracks at the Diebold Safe and Lock Company, Canton, OH, December 1941. The bodies were made in this plant and mounted on chassis produced in a converted automobile plant.

Philippine Scouts M2 Halftrack, December 1941. Photo: Life Magazine, 22 December 1941, P28.

M-2 Halftrack at Fort Benning, GA, April-June 1942
An M-2 half-track during training at Fort Benning, GA, April-June 1942. The other halftracks in the photo are M-3 halftracks with the longer body.

M2 Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) followed by column of M3 Gun Motor Carriage halftracks.
Thanks to Steve Allen and Bukvoed for correct identification.

M-2 Halftrack at the Musée des Blindés (Armor Museum), Saumur, France in 2003. Photo: Courtesy of Jeff Hollerman.