Forty-and-eights

Forty-and-eights

Forty-and-eights were French 4-wheel boxcars used as military transport cars (the term itself refers to the cars' carrying capacity, said to be 40 men or eight horses). Built starting in the 1870s as regular freight boxcars, they were originally used in military service by the French army in both World Wars, and then later used by the German occupation in World War II and finally by the Allied liberators.

During the war years the cars ferried troops, prisoners of war, horses, freight, and infamously the Jews and others the Nazis considered "undesirables" rounded up in France and sent to concentration camps and likely death in the Holocaust. Trains of "Forty-and-eights" were frequent targets of opportunity for Allied fighter-bombers operating over occupied France, since they likely held German troops or supplies; unfortunately sometimes a train of prisoners was indistinguishable from a troop train.

In 1949, France sent 49 of those boxcars to the United States (one for each State then in existence and one for Washington DC and Hawaii to share) laden with various treasures, as a gift for the liberation of France. This train was called the Merci Train, and was sent in response to trains full (over 700 boxcars) of supplies known as the American Friendship Train sent by the American people to France in 1947.

External links

* [http://www.mercitrain.org/ Merci Train]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • forty-and-eights — railroad boxcars used by French in World War I to transport forty men or eight horses …   Eponyms, nicknames, and geographical games

  • Forty and Eight veterans organization — The Forty and Eight is an organization of veterans of the United States armed forces. Its official name is La Société des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux, which is French, and literally translates as The Society of Forty Men and Eight Horses.… …   Wikipedia

  • Merci Train — The Merci Train, also known as the French Gratitude Train or the Forty and Eight, was the 1949 Europe US response to the Friendship Train. Composed of 49 cars and filled with gifts of gratitude , the Merci Train arrived in New York City on… …   Wikipedia

  • Boxcar — For other uses, see Boxcar (disambiguation). A Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway boxcar on display at the Mid Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin. A boxcar (the North American term; other terms include goods van (UK),… …   Wikipedia

  • National Railroad Museum — This article is about the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States. For information about other railroad museums see National Railway Museum (disambiguation) US Army No. 101, a Consolidation Class 2 8 0 on display at the… …   Wikipedia

  • Culture of Newport News, Virginia — The Mariners Museum Near the city s western end, a historic C O railroad station, as well as American Civil War battle sites near historic Lee Hall along U.S. Route 60 and several 19th century plantations have all been protected. Many are located …   Wikipedia

  • Covered goods wagon — This article is about the European railway wagon. For US practice, see Boxcar. For the Wild West wagon, see Covered wagon. A covered goods wagon or van (US: boxcar) is a railway goods wagon which is designed for the transportation of moisture… …   Wikipedia

  • Friendship Train — The 1947 U.S. to Europe or American Friendship Train collected foodstuffs from American donors for transport to the people of France and Italy. Contemporaneous with the Marshall Plan, it provided desperately needed assistance in the aftermath of… …   Wikipedia

  • Cylon (reimagining) — This article is about the Cylons from the reimagined 2004 Battlestar Galactica series and its spin offs. For an overview of the Cylons in all Battlestar Galactica series, see Cylon (Battlestar Galactica). For other uses, see Cylon… …   Wikipedia

  • Packard Clipper — The Packard Clipper was a model of the Packard Motor Car Company from 1941 to 1954, and the Studebaker Packard Corporation for 1955 and 1957. Clippers built for model year 1956 are considered a stand alone make, not a model of Packard.The 1941 47 …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”