Peenie Wallie

If you're not sure what a DUKW is, you can check out a video of my DUKW in action here. (It's the big green 6 wheel drive amphibian.)

You direct your readers to a 9 MB music video that still doesn't explain what a DUKW is. Out of about 3 1/2 minutes of video, the DUKW only appears in about 45 seconds (at 0:15 - 0:30, 0:34 - 0:40, 0:53 - 1:19).

So to find out what a DUKW is, your readers must download a very large file, which can take a minute on a broadband connection to 1/2 hour over a dial-up connection. After that, they must watch the video, and try to figure out what you're talking about. You've probably lost their interest a long time ago. It definitely violates the "Clear Only if Known" principle; you know what a DUKW is, I know what a DUKW is, but many readers may not.

What you need for this site is a dedicated DUKW page, that you can link to every time you mention your DUKW. It should be simple, so the page loads quickly, and keeps the attention of new readers.

For example (much of this text is taken from Wikipedia):

DUKW

The DUKW, pronounced "duck," is a six-wheel-drive amphibious truck developed by the United States during World War II for transporting goods and troops over land and water and for use approaching and crossing beaches in amphibious attacks.

The DUKW was used in landings in the Pacific, in North Africa, and on D-Day on the beaches of Normandy. At Normandy alone, DUKW carried 18 million tons of supplies ashore in the 90 days after the landing that the enemy held all available ports.

The DUKW was originally rejected by the armed services. When a US Coast Guard patrol craft ran aground on a sandbar near Provincetown, Massachusetts, an experimental DUKW happened to be in the area for a scheduled demonstration a few days later. Winds up to 60 knots (110 km/h), rain, and heavy surf prevented conventional craft from rescuing the seven stranded coast guardsmen, but the DUKW had no trouble, and military opposition melted. Subsequently, DUKWs have proved their seaworthiness by crossing the English Channel and many other exploits at sea.

The designation DUKW derives from the terminology developed for military vehicles in World War II:

D indicates a vehicle designed in 1942
U meant "utility (amphibious)"
K indicated all-wheel drive
W indicated two powered rear axles.

The DUKW is basically a CCKW truck modified with a watertight hull and a propeller. It was powered by a GMC Straight-6 engine of 270 cubic inches (4.4 L). The DUKW weighed 7.5 tons and operated at 6.4 mph (10 km/h) on water and 50 mph (80 km/h) on land. It was 31 feet (9.3 m) long, 8.25 feet (2.4 m) wide, and 8.8 feet (2.6 m) high with the folding canvas top up. More than 21,000 were manufactured.

The DUKW was the first vehicle which allowed the driver to inflate and deflate the tires from inside the cab, fully inflated for hard surfaces like roads and less inflated for softer surfaces - especially beach sand. This added to its great versatility as an amphibious vehicle and such arrangements are now a common feature on many military vehicles. The DUKWs were the only wheeled vehicles capable of operating on the beach at Iwo Jima, for instance.

[Maybe some photos of DUKWs in World War II go here]

My DUKW

As a collector of military vehicles, I spent several years travelling across the world searching for a DUKW to purchase. Like most World War II militaria, DUKW's available for private collectors are becoming increasingly rare; especially one's that aren't nearly destroyed by rust and neglect. Finally, in 2002... [fill in the rest of your story here]

[Maybe some photos of your DUKW here]

Hi There Peenie, Greetings from the UK.
Nice site! As you are a DUKW freak you should take a look at www.thelastviking.co.uk and/or www.amazon.com (search last viking heist ron dawson ) which features two of the lovely beasties in my new novel.
Happy New Year
Ron Dawson