Civilians Working for the Army

Research for wargaming and model building is an interesting and important part of the hobby. If you wargame modern eras, say anything in the last 150 years there is a good chance that one or more major companies still in existence today played a part in your war. My main interest is in the Second World War and there are scores of companies from all over the world that were involved in that war that still are in existence and still make products many of us use every day.

The poster above is from Cadillac. For decades during World War Two and afterwards, Cadillac made military vehicles, including tanks and armored cars. As seen in this poster, an M-24 Chaffee American light tank. The next time you are doing research on a particular vehicle, check out the website for the company that made it, they may have some good information. This is particularly true if the vehicle is still in production, like the F-22 Raptor. Often, civilian representatives of these companies were in the field repairing, analyzing, modifying their products in the war zone.








Lufthansa was in business before and during World War Two. Many of their airliner types were pressed into German Luftwaffe service as transports, and bombers. Conversely, that means you can modify various transports and bombers back into Lufthansa aircraft. They maintained service with many important cities in Europe up to the very end of the war. Switzerland was neutral and one of the best ways to get there from Germany was by plane. Spain, Sweden, Turkey were also neutral and so civilians went there for diplomatic, industrial and espionage purposes.

The Viet Nam War was one with many American companies working to provide goods and services to the military and civilian economy. Many US Army troops arrived in Viet Nam on commercial airlines. Many civilian contractors built bases, maintained equipment, and provided other services, such as fuel, food, and beverages. The next time you consider adding to your wargame army, perhaps supply them with some civilian contractors.