radiator grille. It was Ford who first designed and implemented the now familiar and distinctive stamped, vertical-slot steel grille into its vehicles, which was lighter, used fewer resources, and was less costly to produce. Along with many other design features innovated by Ford, this was incorporated into the design and implemented by April 1942. In order to be able to get their grille design trademarked, Willys gave their post-war jeeps a seven-slot grille instead of the Ford nine-slot design. This applies both to Willys' "Civilian Jeeps", as well as the M38 and M38A1 military models. Through a series of corporate takeovers and mergers, AM General Corporation ended up with the rights to use the seven-slot grille as well, which they in turn extended to Chrysler when it acquired American Motors Corporation, then the manufacturer of Jeep, in 1987. Service The USA provided jeeps to almost all of the Allies in World War II. Britain, Canada, Australia, India, the Free French, USSR, and China all received jeeps, mostly under the American Lend-Lease program. Some 182,500 units were provided to Allies under Lend-Lease alone. Almost 105,000 to the British Empire, including Australia and India, plus over 8,000 to Canada, and some 50,000 to the Soviet Union. The Free French (almost 10,000) and China (almost 7,000) were medium takers, and many other countries received a small number. America shipped a total of 77,972 various "jeeps" to the Soviet Union – consisting of 49,250 tons, 25,200 Dodge tons, and 3,520 Ford GPA. In the deserts of the North African campaign, the jeep's abilities so far surpassed those of British vehicles that it was not unusual for jeeps to rescue a three-ton truck stuck in the sand. In combat, the British would use their jeeps in groups of up to fifty or sixty to raid Rommel's supply lines by surprise, exploiting the jeep's low silhouette; able to remain unseen, hide behind dunes, and surprise the enemy. Within the U.S. military, jeeps were used by every branch. In the U.S. Army, an average of 145 units were assigned to each infantry regiment. Around the world, jeeps served in every overseas theater of operation, in every environment, under all weather and climatic conditions — in North Africa and the Pacific Theater, the Western Allied invasion of Europe in 1944, as well as the Eastern Front. From deserts to mountains, from jungles to beachheads, jeeps could be pulled