A Kégresse track is a kind of

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...

continuous track Continuous track or tracked treads are a system of vehicle propulsion used in tracked vehicles, running on a continuous band of treads or track plates driven by two or more wheels. The large surface area of the tracks distributes the w ...

which uses a flexible belt rather than interlocking metal segments. It can be fitted to a conventional car or truck to turn it into a

half-track A half-track is a civilian or military vehicle with wheels at the front for steering and continuous tracks at the back to propel the vehicle and carry most of the load. A half-track combines the soft-ground traction of a tank with the Car handl ...

, suitable for use over rough or soft ground. Conventional front wheels and steering are used, although

ski Skis are runners, attached to the user's feet, designed to glide over snow. Typically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins c ...

s may also be fitted. A

snowmobile A snowmobile, also known as a snowmachine (chiefly Alaskan), motor sled (chiefly Canadian), motor sledge, skimobile, snow scooter, or simply a sled is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. Their engines normally ...

is a smaller ski-only type. Russo-balt5

The mechanism incorporates an articulated

bogie A bogie ( ) (or truck in North American English) comprises two or more Wheelset (rail transport), wheelsets (two Railroad wheel, wheels on an axle), in a frame, attached under a vehicle by a pivot. Bogies take various forms in various modes ...

, fitted to the rear of the vehicle with a large drive wheel at one end, a large unpowered idler wheel at the other, and several small guide wheels in between, over which run a reinforced flexible belt. The belt is fitted with metal or rubber treads to grip the ground.

History

Russia

Adolphe Kégresse Adolphe Kégresse (1879, Héricourt, Haute-Saône - 1943) was a French military engineer who invented the half-track and dual clutch transmission. Born at Héricourt, and educated in Montbéliard, he moved in 1905 to Saint Petersburg, Russi ...

designed the original system whilst working for Tsar

Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until Abdication of Nicholas II, hi ...

as a

chauffeur A chauffeur () is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or a limousine. Initially, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to s ...

and as the head of the royal garage between 1906 and 1917. He applied it to several cars including a

Russo-Balt Russo-Balt (sometimes Russobalt or Russo-Baltique) was one of the first Russian companies that produced vehicles and aircraft between 1909 and 1923. History Riga factory The Russo-Baltic Wagon Factory (; , RBVZ) was founded in 1874 in Rig ...

and a 12-cylinder

Packard Packard (formerly the Packard Motor Car Company) was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana, in 1958. One ...

. After 1917, Putilov Ironworks also fitted the system to a number of Austin Armoured and Rolls Royce cars. File:Kegresse pt1913.jpg, Patent drawing of Kégresse half-track CH65643 (1913) File:Automobil mit Schneeraupe, Skiern, Mannschaftsschlitten - CH-BAR - 3241598.tif, Kégresse 1914-18 at Tsar Nicholas II Car Garages,

Pushkin, Saint Petersburg Pushkin () is a administrative divisions of Saint Petersburg, municipal town in Pushkinsky District, Saint Petersburg, Pushkinsky District of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Russia, located s ...

File:Automobil mit Schneeraupen beim Geländefahren - CH-BAR - 3241596.tif, Kégresse 1914-18 at Tsar Nicholas II Car Garages, Pushkin, Saint Petersburg Image:Kegresse tsar17.jpg, Russian imperial state limousine, 1916 Packard Twin-Six touring car, equipped with Kégresse track (1917) File:Automobil mit Schneeraupe und vorne Skiern - CH-BAR - 3241597.jpg, Kégresse outside

Alexander Palace The Alexander Palace (, ''Alexandrovskiy dvorets'', ) is a former imperial residence near the town of Tsarskoye Selo in Russia, on a plateau about south of Saint Petersburg. The Palace was commissioned by Catherine the Great in 1792. Due t ...

Tsarskoye Selo Tsarskoye Selo (, , ) was the town containing a former residence of the Russian House of Romanov, imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of Saint Petersburg. The residence now forms part of the Pushkin, Saint Peter ...

, Russia, January 1917 File:Automobil mit Schneeraupen im Tiefschnee - CH-BAR - 3241599.tif, Russia 1914 File:Automobile mit Schneeraupen und Skiern ausgerüstet - CH-BAR - 3241595.jpg, Russia 1914 File:Austin-Kegress «Ukrainets» in Zhytomyr, 1920.jpg, A

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

Austin-Putilov Armoured Car damaged near

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( ; see #Names, below for other names) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, administrative center of Zhytomyr Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding ...

during the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

, 21 March 1920 File:Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Kégresse.jpg,

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost The Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost name refers both to a car model and one specific car from that series. Originally named the "Tax horsepower#Britain, 40/50 h.p." the chassis was first made at Royce's Manchester works, with production moving t ...

with Kégresse track, converted by the Putilov plant,

Gorki Leninskiye Gorki Leninskiye (, ) is an urban locality (a work settlement) in Leninsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located south of Moscow city limits and the Moscow Ring Road. Its population is: The estate of Gorki belonged to various Muscovite ...

France

Following the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, Kégresse returned to his native France, where the system was used on

Citroën Citroën ()The double-dot diacritic over the 'e' is a diaeresis () indicating the two vowels are sounded separately, and not as a diphthong. is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 19 ...

cars between 1921 and 1937 for off-road and military vehicles. Expeditions across undeveloped parts of Asia, America, and Africa were undertaken by Citroën, demonstrating all-terrain capabilities. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

captured many Citroën half-track vehicles and armored them for their own use. File:Kegresse pt1924.jpg, Patent drawing of Kégresse system FR597142 (1924) File:140907-Marxzell-Museum02.jpg,

Kégresse in the Marxzell Museum, Germany File:Paris - Bonhams 2013 - Citroën P19B chenillette Kégresse - 1931 - 004.jpg, 1931 C4 based Citroën P17C Kégresse File:Paris - Bonhams 2013 - Citroën P19B chenillette Kégresse - 1931 - 001.jpg, Track System of a 1931 C4 based Citroën P19B Kégresse File:1933 Citroën P17 C Kégresse (rs).jpg, 1933 C4 based Citroën P17C Kégresse File:1933 Citroën P17 C Kégresse (track system).jpg, Track System of a 1933 C4 based Citroën P17C Kégresse File:1933 Citroën P17 C Kégresse (detail of the track system).jpg, Detail of 1933 C4 based Citroën P17C Kégresse track File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1990-088-03, Belgien, Zugmaschine "Unique".jpg, Captured

Unic Unic was a French manufacturer founded in 1905, and active as an automobile producer until July 1938. After this the company continued to produce commercial vehicles, retaining its independence for a further fourteen years before being purcha ...

-Kégresse

P107 The P107 was a World War II French half-track. History In the 1920s and 1930s Citroën developed a long line of half-tracks based on the Kégresse patent. In 1934, the company introduced its newest and more powerful P107 model as a successor ...

in use by the Wehrmacht in Belgium, November 1940 File:Unic P107 , Musée des Blindés, France, pic-1.JPG, Unic-Kégresse P107 at the

Musée des Blindés The ''Musée des Blindés'' ("Museum of Armoured Vehicles") or ''Musée Général Estienne'' is a tank museum located in Saumur in the Loire Valley of France. It is now one of the world's largest tank museums. It began in 1977 under the leade ...

, France File:Unic-Kegresse P107 halftrack Moscow, Poklonnaya Hill 2.JPG , Unic-Kégresse P107 used by the Wehrmacht, in the

Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Moscow The Museum of the Great Patriotic War, also known as the Victory Museum (), is a history museum located in Moscow at Poklonnaya Hill, Poklonnaya Gora. The building was designed by architect Anatoly Polyansky. Work on the museum began on March 3, ...

File:Unic-Kegresse P107 halftrack Moscow, Poklonnaya Hill 3.JPG , Tracks of a Unic-Kégresse P107, in the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Moscow File:Peugeot-Kegresse-1923.jpg, French experimental half-track armoured car

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

-Kégresse during testing in 1923 File:Somua MCL 5.jpg, SOMUA MCL-5 in 1939 File:Fort de Fermont and its museum -SOMUA MCL6 heavy artillerie tractor pic1.JPG, SOMUA MCL6 heavy artillery tractor at Fort de Fermont museum File:Somua MCG with PaK 40 in north italy.jpg, SOMUA MCG with PaK 40 in Italy File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-300-1863-30, Riva-Bella, Waffenvorführung Panzerwerfer.jpg, Armoured SOMUA MCG modified by

Alfred Becker Alfred Becker (20 August 1899 – 26 December 1981) was a German engineer and artillery officer who served during the First and Second World Wars. During the Second World War he took captured British and French vehicles and refurbished and reb ...

for use by the Wehrmacht

Great Britain

British firm Burford developed the Burford-Kégress, an

armoured personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...

conversion of their 30 cwt trucks. The rear-axle powered Kégresse tracks were produced under license from Citroën. A 1921 prototype passed trials and the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

placed an order, but in continuous operation the tracks wore and broke. By 1929, the vehicles were taken out of service and later scrapped. File:GB-BurfordHalftrackAA-IonFonosch.jpg, Burford-Kégresse File:Burford-kegresse left.jpg, Burford-Kégresse File:CarrierMGArmoured30cwtBurford-Kegresse rear.jpg, Burford-Kégresse File:Burford-kegresse 3-4 02.jpg, Burford-Kégresse File:CarrierMGArmoured30cwtBurford-Kegresse 3-4.jpg, Burford-Kégresse

Poland

Citroën-Kégresse vehicles served in the Polish motorized artillery during the 1930s. Domestically produced Kégresse half-track

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construct ...

s included the 1934 Półgąsienicowy - "Half-track car" - or better known C4P derived from the 4.5-ton Polski Fiat 621 truck. The C4P was designed by the BiRZ Badań Technicznych Broni Pancernych - Warsaw Armored Weapons and Technical Research Bureau in 1934. The engine and cab received some modifications and the front axle reinforced to integrate the 4x4 transmission. Production began in 1936 at

Państwowe Zakłady Inżynierii The Państwowe Zakłady Inżynierii (''National Engineering Works'', PZInż) was a Polish pre-World War II arms industry holding and the main Polish manufacturer of vehicles, both military and civilian. History It was created by the Polish ...

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

plant. By 1939, more than 400 were produced including at least 80

artillery tractor An artillery tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, is a specialized heavy-duty form of tractor unit used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights and calibres. It may be wheeled, tracked, or half-tracked. Traction There are two m ...

s. File:Samochod wz34 (05).jpg, C4P

fire engine A fire engine or fire truck (also spelled firetruck) is a vehicle, usually a specially designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to ...

1939 File:Samochod wz34 (04).jpg, Military

ambulance An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to ...

1939 File:Samochod wz34.jpg, Military truck 1939

Belgium

The FN-Kégresse 3T was a half-track vehicle used by Belgian armed forces as an artillery tractor between 1934 and 1940. 130 were built, with some 100 in service before the German invasion.

United States

In the late 1920s, the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

purchased Citroën-Kégresse vehicles for evaluation, followed by a licence to produce the tracks. A 1939 prototype went into production with M2 and M3 half-track versions. More than 41,000 vehicles in over 70 versions were produced between 1940 and 1944. File:B-36 tracked gear edit.jpg, Experimental Kégresse track on Convair XB-36 Peacemaker

Sources

External links

Citroën-Kegresse halftracks in the Polish ArmyInformationen über Leben und Werk von Adolphe Kégresse
(German language)
Register of Kegresse Track vehicles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kegresse track Automotive suspension technologies Engineering vehicles *