laststandonzombieisland

Spotted this classic 1970 Citroen H-Van (Camionette) in New Orleans while trolling a monthly Arts Market for used books at Marsalis Harmony Park (formerly Palmer Park), now in service as the Petite Rouge Cafe Camionette.

And it struck me just how functional and universal these little Citroens were.

For instance, the French military used assorted Citroen lightweight vans by the thousands in the Great War and WWII, and the Germans went on to keep them in production during the latter. They were used for radio-command posts, ambulance work, field canteens, mobile shops, light supply lorries…just about anything you could think of.

Post-WWII, the VW Beetle-sized Citrogen 2CV Camionette/Truckette, with a curb weight of just 1,300 pounds, was ideal for use on primitive roads such as in Indochina and Algeria where the French did much campaigning from about 1946-62.

One of the neatest uses was in a mobile gun platform tested by GHAN–Groupe d’Hélicoptères de l’Aéronavale (Navy Helicopter Group) N°1– based in Algeria in 1961. They paired down a few of these little guys and tested them with recoilless rifles and MG151 20mm cannons. They were light enough to be carried by a Piasecki H-21C/Sikorsky H-34.

Results, however, were mixed, as there is such a thing as being too light of a mobile gun platform.