The Weasel, officially “Carrier, Cargo M29”, was designed by British inventor/engineer, Geoffrey Pyke. The vehicle was small: Length – 4.8 m, Width – 1.68 m. The concept was to build a vehicle capable of transporting small commando units through the Norwegian snow to attack the occupying German heavy-water production facilities. The M29 was designed to be very light. In fact, with its thin steel body and 51cm tracks, the Weasel had ground weight of 2.1 psi, less than the average human foot. It was able to traverse snow, mud and sand with ease and could drive over anti-tank mines without triggering them. Although the Weasel never saw combat in Norway, it was extensively used as an all-weather/all-terrain vehicle in the European and Pacific theatres by US and allied forces. While the M29 was amphibious, it had a very low freeboard and a new fully amphibious model, the M29C, was added in 1944.
