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Crossley students reconstruct a piece of Canadian history

WWI Model-T ambulance gets new lease on life BY DON RICKERS Special to the VOICE With “high-tech” the current buzz words in progressive schools, it is noteworthy that some students at E. L.
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E. L. Crossley students with their restoration project. DON RICKERS PHOTO

WWI Model-T ambulance gets new lease on life

BY DON RICKERS Special to the VOICE

With “high-tech” the current buzz words in progressive schools, it is noteworthy that some students at E. L. Crossley Secondary School have decidedly gone in the opposite direction.

Under the direction of auto shop teacher Gerald Etten, a Model-T Ford chassis which served Canadian soldiers in WWI as an army ambulance and troop carrier is being rebuilt by Crossley students.

Adrian Rittner, of the Canadian Military Heritage Society, contacted Etten with a proposal to renew the vehicle from the ground up in honour of the centennial of the Great War. With Armistice Day coming on November 11th, 2018, marking the end of WWI, the goal is to have a fully restored and running vehicle ready to attend events and ceremonies.

During the war, starting in late 1914, Ford of Canada provided some 41,000 Canadian-made vehicles that supported the Commonwealth Expeditionary troops.

The Canadian Army acquired "rolling chasses" and built wooden bodies on them for field uses during the war. The “universal car” concept by Henry Ford was well-suited to be a basic and rugged platform for a variety of military vehicles.

The school received its first Model-T frame and powertrain, which Etten called “a complete basket case.” But the wheels began to turn as students got busy cleaning parts, sandblasting the frame, and pulling the engine and transmission apart.

“Luckily we were able to source another Model-T out of Cleveland in much better shape. So we now have two incomplete vehicles that we will reconstruct into one functional unit,” said Etten.

A wooden cab and bed will be built from scratch later to be mounted directly onto the base vehicle.

Etten noted that they hope to sell some unused parts to finance the project. New tires and tubes alone for the vehicle will run over $1000, and many other costs will need to be defrayed. The project has a modest budget, and members of the community are invited to support the project with donations and materials.

Lucas Bastien is a student teacher at Crossley via Brock University’s Faculty of Education, and a mechanic by trade. He has taken the lead from Etten to supervise the rebuild of the Model-T.

“It’s a piece of Canadian history,” he said. “One has to marvel at how far the technology has advanced since this truck came off the assembly line. It was considered cutting edge technology a hundred years ago.”

Grade 11 student Leonard Sheath wants to be a career mechanic, and is one of the students dedicating an hour a day to the project.

“I love all things mechanical. Tearing stuff apart to see how it works is a real passion of mine. And this old truck is so different from all the other machines I have worked on,” said Sheath.