2-324-404 - Lake County History Archives/Heritage Images

GMC DUKW amphibious vehicle, Fort Sheridan, Illinois, USA, 1940s. Designed in 1942, these vehicles were used to transport troops ashore in amphibious assaults in the Mediterranean and Pacific as well as the Normandy Landings. They inevitably became known as 'duck boats', but the name was not a military pun, the letters standing for the following: D - designed in 1942; U - amphibious 2 1/2 ton truck; K - front wheel drive; W - rear wheel drive.